Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth |
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![]() ![]() Mecca And the Soul Brother (1992) ![]() The Main Ingredient (1994) Pete Rock C.L. Smooth T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You) |
As a producer, DJ Pete Rock (Peter Phillips) tended to prefer obscure soul and jazz sides for sample sources, frequently making use of horn-driven hooks. Lead vocalist CL Smooth (Corey Penn) tended to be philosophical in his raps, and he mostly avoided profanity. Their signature hit was They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.), a dirge for fallen friends--namely Troy "Trouble T-Roy" Dixon, a member of Heavy D & The Boyz, who died in 1990. 1994's The Main Ingredient was the follow up, and they appeared on a string of guest appearances for remixes, soundtracks, and other works. Public Enemy, EPMD, Heavy D and Johnny Gill were among the artists they collaborated with, and they can also claim credit for producing (and performing on) Run-DMC's 1993 comeback single 'Down with the King'. Despite all this, the duo failed to go gold on any of their own releases. Separating in 1995 (shortly after a Sprite TV commercial), they eventually reunited on a handful of cuts from Pete Rock's solo recordings: Soul Survivor (1998), PeteStrumentals (2001) and Soul Survivor II (2004). They also went on a brief reunion tour as a warm up for their then-anticipated new album, which ended with a show at London's famous Jazz Cafe. Despite these intermittent collaborations, the pair has exchanged dismissive comments toward each other in separate interviews, disavowing plans for a full-fledged reunion. Their best-of compilation, Good Life, was released on Elektra in 2003. ![]() Source(s):Wikipedia |