Mecca and the Soul Brother is the 1992 debut album from hip-hop duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth. The album contains their best known song, "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)". Mecca and the Soul Brother has been widely acclaimed as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. The album was mostly produced by Pete Rock and executive produced by DJ Eddie F of Heavy D & the Boyz (co-group member with Trouble T-Roy).

Composition 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'").

Release and commercial performance Mecca and the Soul Brother was released soon after the duo's debut EP, All Souled Out (1991). Despite being a critical success, Mecca and the Soul Brother 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 song, but also one of hip hop's most highly regarded songs.

"Straighten It Out" is the second single taken from The Main Ingredient, which was released to critical acclaim in 1992. The song deals with bootleggers and sample clearance opportunists. Unlike the previous single, "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)", "Straighten It Out" did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The song contains a sample from "Our Generation" by Ernie Hines.

The third and final single, "Lots of Lovin'", was released in 1995. This is a downtempo and mellow song about relationships, with singer Vinia Mojica performing the chorus. Released just prior to the breakup of the group, the song received very little promotion. It was remixed and re-released at the beginning of 1996. The song features samples from the Roy Ayers song "Searching".

Reception

Mecca and the Soul Brother brought considerable acclaim to the duo. They were often compared to the group Gang Starr, which also featured one MC, and a producer/DJ. Although the album garnered a great amount of acclaim, sales were slow. The group only grew more popular, however, and next appeared on the Menace II Society soundtrack, followed by Who's the Man? and Poetic Justice respectively, before returning in 1994 with The Main Ingredient.

Accolades PublicationCountryAccoladeYearRankAbout.comUnited States100 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums200837Ego TripHip Hop's Greatest Albums by Year: 199219998Exclaim!Canada100 Records that Rocked 100 Issues2000*Rolling StoneUnited StatesThe Essential Recordings of the 90s1999*The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time2022130The SourceThe 100 Best Rap Albums of All Time1998*MojoUKMojo 1000, the Ultimate CD Buyers Guide2001* (*) designates lists that are unordered.

Track listing

All tracks produced by Pete Rock & CL Smooth, except #4 co-produced by Nevelle Hodge and #5 co-produced by Large Professor. #TitlePerformer(s)Time1"Return of the Mecca"Intro: Pete Rock Verses: C.L. Smooth Chorus: Pete Rock5:422"For Pete's Sake"Intro: Pete Rock First verse: C.L. Smooth Second verse: Pete Rock Third verse: C.L. Smooth Outro: Pete Rock5:483"Ghettos of the Mind"C.L. Smooth5:014"Lots of Lovin'"Verses: C.L. Smooth Chorus: Terri Robinson / Tabitha Brace5:075"Act Like You Know"Verses: C.L. Smooth Chorus: Pete Rock4:016"Straighten It Out"C.L. Smooth4:127"Soul Brother #1"Pete Rock4:308"Wig Out"Intro: Pete Rock Verses: C.L. Smooth4:109"Anger in the Nation"Intro: Adofo Abdullah Muhammad Verses: C.L. Smooth5:3110"They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)"C.L. Smooth4:4411"On and On"Intro: Grap Luva Verses: C.L. Smooth5:1012"It's Like That"Intro: Pete Rock Verses: C.L. Smooth3:5513"Can't Front on Me"Intro: Pete Rock Verses: C.L. Smooth4:1814"The Basement"First verse: C.L. Smooth Second verse: Grap Luva Third verse: Heavy D Fourth verse: Pete Rock Fifth verse: Rob-O Sixth verse: Deda5:2215"If It Ain't Rough, It Ain't Right"C.L. Smooth5:0416"Skinz"First verse: C.L. Smooth Second verse: Grand Puba Third verse: C.L. Smooth Fourth verse: Pete Rock Fifth verse: C.L. Smooth4:14 Notes The cassette and 2xLP versions contain two bonus tracks: "The Creator (Remix)" and "Mecca and the Soul Brother (Remix)" (*) Symbolizes co-producer

Album singles Single information"They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" Released: 1992 B-side: "The Creator""Straighten It Out" Released: 1992 B-side: "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) (Remix)""Lots of Lovin'" Released: February 1993 B-side: "It's Not A Game"

Chart history

Album Chart (1992)Peakpositionscope="row" scope="row"

Singles {| class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2"| Song !colspan="4"| Chart positions |- ! Billboard Hot 100 ! Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks ! Hot Rap Singles ! Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales |- |rowspan="2"| 1992 | They Reminisce Over You [T.R.O.Y.] | style="text-align:center;"|58 | style="text-align:center;"|10 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|20 |- | Straighten It Out | style="text-align:center;"| - | style="text-align:center;"|65 | style="text-align:center;"|7 | style="text-align:center;"|37 |- | 1993 | Lots of Lovin''' | style="text-align:center;"| - | style="text-align:center;"|66 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"| -

In popular culture The first single "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" appeared in the 2003 video game NBA Street Vol. 2, the 2011 video game Madden NFL 12 and NBA 2K18, as well as in the Netflix series Master of None. All of the episode titles of the season 2 of Luke Cage are titles of songs from this album. The song "Soul Brother #1" appeared in the video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2.

References

External links Mecca and the Soul Brother'' at Discogs Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide – Mecca and the Soul Brother — By Oliver Wang