Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - The Main Ingredient 2xLP - Clear Vinyl

Elektra / Get On Down (2016, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Like pretty much everyone on the planet in 1992, I really dug the first Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth album, Mecca and the Soul Brother.  Fueled by the omnipresent single "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" you couldn't not be taken in by it if you were following hip hop at the time.  But not only that, it crossed over in a big way and is still pretty darn popular to this day.  I feel like I saw it in a wine commercial or something in the past few years.

For me, I kind of wore that song out and it was a bit overplayed in general.  It's good and that album is great, but that specific song isn't really something that I'm clamoring to hear on a daily basis anymore.  Their follow up, The Main Ingredient, came out two years later in 1994.  I have no memory of this album from back then. 1994 was definitely a transitional year for me when it comes to music, so it's possible I just didn't know it came out, but it's equally as possible that I hear a song or two and just wasn't as interested in it.  I don't really remember, but I picked it up recently after listening to a few of the songs online.

It's not quite as good as their debut.  The beats are top notch for sure and that's what really drives any hip hop record for me, but C.L. Smooth doesn't feel like he's bringing it quite as forcefully as he had two years earlier.  Not to say anything he's doing is bad, but it's very much a 'meets expectations' sort of performance.  Nothing all that special is going on vocally, but again, the beats elevate everything and make this a pretty enjoyable listen.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - The Main Ingredient:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kbHBrsTQ1JvU20N_Ft2a8H8NoNemeg07c