Nice & Smooth - Nice & Smooth 2xLP - Green & Yellow Split Vinyl

Priority Records (2017, 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 thirty 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.

I have told this story a bunch of times over the years, including on this website.  One day in 1991 I was at a Coconuts record store with my dad.  I'm not sure why I had money, but maybe it was saved up from mowing the lawn or something, but I had enough to buy three CDs.  The three I bought were Def Before Dishonor by The Hard Corps (Ended up not liking it at all, a purchase greatly influenced by my love for the PE/Anthrax version of "Bring The Noise"), Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest (Loved it to death and still do to this day) and Ain't A Damn Thing Changed by Nice & Smooth.

I didn't end up liking the Nice & Smooth record quite as much as I had hoped based on the strength of the videos they had on Yo! MTV Raps, but I did like it.  It was a totally solid record with a few high points that were pretty great.  I eventually got their follow up Jewel of the Nile a few years later, but wasn't really into that at all.  What I never did was work backwards and check out their first self titled record from 1989.  It wasn't until many years later that I finally gave that a listen.  I picked up this LP a few years ago, but it's been sitting in a pile of records to write about that has grown way too big.  I'm trying to get through those though.

So what to make of this record?  It's very good, certainly better than their 1994 album.  Is it as good as Ain't A Damn Thing Changed?  Not to me, but I also have 33 years of history with that record as opposed to maybe eight with this one?  But if I try to ignore emotional and nostalgic connections, it might be the actual better record.  Sure there's a few slow jam-y R&B tinged songs that are absolutely not my cup of tea, but for the most part the production is on point.  The beats have aged better than a lot of other albums that came out in 1989 with the highlights typically being the faster paced songs.

Greg Nice and Smooth B are always great on the mic.  They compliment each other perfectly, with B's slicker, laid bad flow being a balance point to Nice's high pitched, somewhat frantic delivery style.  On their own they're both good, but together there's a PB&J type chemistry going on that elevates both.  I'm not sure why Ain't A Damn Thing Changed never got a reissue, but this colored vinyl edition of their self titled album came out in 2017.  I'm a sucker for split color vinyl too, so that's a fun bonus.

Nice & Smooth - Nice & Smooth:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nBpWc5eL9OffVT9zwE9olWLCADOld0S7I