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Soul Strut 100: # 63 - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca & the Soul Brother

RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
edited February 2018 in The Soul Strut 100
I will slowly be unveiling the Top 100 Soul Strut Related Records as Voted by the Strutters Themselves.

# 63 - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca & the Soul Brother



The list so far:

# 100 - Jr. and His Soulettes - Psychodelic Sounds
# 99 - Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul
# 98 - Donny Hathaway - S/T (1971)
# 97 - Bernard Wright - ???Nard
# 96 - Tom Scott - Honeysuckle Breeze
# 95 - People Under the Stairs - Question in the Form of an Answer
# 94 - Harlem River Drive
# 93 - Black Moon - Enta Da Stage
# 92 - Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
# 91 - Muddy Waters - Electric Mud
# 90 - Les McCann - Layers
# 89 - Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
# 88 - Leroy Hutson - Hutson (1975)
# 87 - ESG - S/T (1981)
# 86 - Can - Tago Mago
# 85 - Bohannon - Stop & Go
# 84 - WILLIAM DEVAUGHN - Be Thankful For What You Got
# 83 - Power of Zeus - The Gospel According to Zeus
# 82 - Gang Starr - Hard To Earn
# 81 - The J.B.???s - Doing It to Death
# 80 - Parliament - Osmium
# 79 - McNeal & Niles - Thrust
# 78 - The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Malik
# 77 - Earth, Wind, and Fire (1971)
# 76 - Dr. Dre - The Chronic
# 75 - Black Sabbath (1970)
# 74 - Trap Door / An International Psychedelic Mystery Mix (2006)
# 73 - Bob James - One
# 72 - Matthew Larkin Cassell - Pieces
# 71 - The Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau
# 70 - Big Bear - Doin??? Thangs
# 69 - Steely Dan - Aja
# 68 - Quasimoto - The Unseen
# 67 - Curtis Mayfield - Curtis/Live! (1971)
# 66 - Al Green - Im still in love with you
# 65 - The Beatnuts - Street Level
# 64 - Archie Whitewater - Archie Whitewater (1970)

Please discuss your reactions to this record. The thread will be archived later here.

About


Mecca And The Soul Brother is the critically acclaimed 1992 debut album from the Mount Vernon duo, Pete Rock & CL Smooth. The album contains their best known song, "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)." To date, Mecca and the Soul Brother has been widely acclaimed as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.

Mecca And The Soul Brother followed on the heels of the duo's EP; All Souled Out, released in 1991. Despite being a critical success, it had little commercial success in comparison to other noteworthy releases of 1992, such as Dr. Dre's The Chronic. The first single, "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)", a dedication to their deceased friend; Trouble T Roy (a dance member of Heavy D. & The Boyz), has gone on to become not only their signature hit, but also one of hip hop's most highly regarded songs.[3][4]

Other topics on the album range from life in the ghetto ("Ghettos of the Mind"), the teachings of the Nation of Islam ("Anger in the Nation"), bootlegging ("Straighten It Out"), and love ("Lots of Lovin'").


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecca_and_the_Soul_Brother

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  Comments

  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    Yes!
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Great album.

    To this day I still get surprised by some of the lyrics CL drops on this shit.

    Grand Puba did a good job lacin' Pete Rock w/ rhymes.
    Pete Rock, Show Biz and Diamond D are cats that sink right into their beats when its time to get on the mic for a DJ/Producer.

    One of the best produced albums in Hip Hop. Keepin the beats dirty and jazzy yet so polished that it goes down easy.

    The interludes.
  • SpacechoSpacecho 176 Posts
    Masterpiece
  • asstroasstro 1,754 Posts
    Almost flawless, the definition of early 90's NY hip-hop. I rarely put it on because I heard it so many times back in the day, but whenever I do it still sounds fresh.
  • strataspherestratasphere Blastin' the Nasty 1,035 Posts
    A high water mark in East coast hip hop and production.
  • herbacios tweedherbacios tweed 445 Posts
    Impossible to listen to that track on the Beginning of the End record and not anticipate the sax and I REMINISCE I REMINISCE
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,475 Posts
    asstro said:
    Almost flawless, the definition of early 90's NY hip-hop.



    The deeper I get into figuring out how Pete put the tracks together, the more I'm like "got-DAMN he rocked that shit!" He must've used "Long Red" on 1/3 of the album, and it never got stale.
  • strataspherestratasphere Blastin' the Nasty 1,035 Posts
    DJ_Enki said:
    asstro said:
    Almost flawless, the definition of early 90's NY hip-hop.



    He must've used "Long Red" on 1/3 of the album, and it never got stale.



    And the Substitution drums as well.
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Got so much out of listening to this album repeatedly on college afternoons, deciding what I wanted to do next. It's one thing that the production is so nice, but like a Coltrane album or something, Mecca has a spiritual quality to it that never fades.
  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    batmon said:
    Great album.

    To this day I still get surprised by some of the lyrics CL drops on this shit.

    Grand Puba did a good job lacin' Pete Rock w/ rhymes.
    Pete Rock, Show Biz and Diamond D are cats that sink right into their beats when its time to get on the mic for a DJ/Producer.

    One of the best produced albums in Hip Hop. Keepin the beats dirty and jazzy yet so polished that it goes down easy.

    The interludes.

    "Mecca and the Soul Brother" is the blueprint on how to craft a classic, timeless hip-hop LP. I still spin this one constantly and its 20 years old!!! Another great aspect of this album is how wonderfully it was mixed, so hats off to Jamey Staub as well. I'm glad that this LP was recognized on the Soul Strut 100. "Mecca and the Soul Brother" is sheer greatness from beginning to end.

    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak
  • DanteDante 371 Posts
    yeah, i'm gonna go ahead and bitch about this being so low on the list.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Where are the 80's Hip Hop albums?
  • Juan CocktolstoyJuan Cocktolstoy 216 Posts
    batmon said:
    Where are the 80's Hip Hop albums?

    Excellent question... I do sincerely miss the "interludes". I used to scramble to find the original samples for those and even wish that they were used in future Pete Rock and CL albums. Where O' where is CL now?
  • SIRUSSIRUS 2,554 Posts
    did anybody ever listen to cl's solo albums? american me? how were they?
  • Juan CocktolstoyJuan Cocktolstoy 216 Posts
    SIRUS said:
    did anybody ever listen to cl's solo albums? american me? how were they?

    He had solo albums? I thought he was done back in 1998... CL was highly underrated in his time.
  • jdeezjdeez 638 Posts
    batmon said:


    The interludes.
  • CinisterCeeCinisterCee 863 Posts
    I listened to this all of 6th grade on cassette. The tape had bonus remixes (for "The Creator" and "Mecca And The Soul Brother") and the listening experience on CD or vinyl isn't the same for me.

    I can't say I notice different things when I listen to it now because it got sooo many plays, but I do identify a lot more elements now since discovering their sources, which makes me appreciate this work even more.

    This has got to be Pete Rock's masterpiece as the tracks are a lot more layered and all in correct pitch. Sure other squads produced songs with more layers but they were noisy.
  • CinisterCeeCinisterCee 863 Posts
    HarveyCanal said:
    Got so much out of listening to this album repeatedly on college afternoons, deciding what I wanted to do next. It's one thing that the production is so nice, but like a Coltrane album or something, Mecca has a spiritual quality to it that never fades.

  • eleveneleven 11 Posts
    This album has one of the greatest posse cuts of all time: The Basement.

    Best verses IMO: Pete Rock( Grand Puba),Rob O, and Heavy D.
  • Possum SlimPossum Slim 353 Posts
    Great album TROY was a mainstay of every hip hop night from the time it was released till a decade later where i was.
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