Rewind: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'The Main Ingredient' (Part 3)

Welcome to our third and final look at Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's second and final album 'The Main Ingredient'.

On 'Searching', Pete Rock sampled the Roy Ayers Ubiquity track 'Searching' from 1976's 'Vibrations'. The track 'Check it Out' finds C.L. rhyming on Young-Holt Unlimited's 'Bumpin' on Young Street' from 1972'2 'Oh Girl'. 'In the Flesh' features a sample from 1966's 'Ralph's New Blues' by the Modern Jazz Quartet as well as a sample from Steve Miller Band's 1976 hit 'Fly Like an Eagle' from the album of the same name. The outro of 'In the Flesh' features two very samplable funk joints: Kool and the Gang's 'Duji' from the 1974 album 'Kool Jazz' and Average White Band's breakbeat 'School Boy Crush' from the 1975 album 'Cut the Cake'. Pete Rock returns to Tom Scott's 'The Honeysuckle Breeze' on 'It's on You' by sampling 'Never My Love'. The song also samples Ahmad Jamal's 'The Awakening' from his 1970 album of the same name. On the closing track 'Get on the Mic', Pete Rock samples the Stax single 'Soul Girl' by Jeanne and the Darlings. On the album's final outro, he samples another cut from Ahmad Jamal's 'The Awakening': 'You're My Everything'.

Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth parted ways in 1995, following some commercial success with 'The Main Ingredient''s singles. Pete Rock followed up with a series of well received solo albums while C.L. Smooth appeared sporadically on other albums as cameos before his 2006 debut solo album 'American Me' (featuring one track produced by Pete Rock).

The Lowdown:
Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'Searching', 'Check it Out', 'In the Flesh', 'It's on You', and 'Get on the Mic'
from 'The Main Ingredient' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Roy Ayers Ubiquity 'Searching'
from 'Vibrations' (1976) (MP3/CD)
Young-Holt Unlimited 'Bumpin' on Young Street'
from 'Oh Girl' (1972) (MP3/CD)
Modern Jazz Quartet 'Ralph's New Blues'
from 'Blues at Carnegie Hall' (1966) (MP3/CD not available)
Steve Miller Band 'Fly Like an Eagle'
from 'Fly Like an Eagle' (1976) (MP3/CD)
Kool and the Gang 'Duji'
from 'Kool Jazz' (1974) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Average White Band 'School Boy Crush'
from 'Cut the Cake' (1975) (MP3/CD)
Tom Scott 'Never My Love'
from 'The Honeysuckle Breeze' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Ahmad Jamal 'The Awakening' and 'You are My Everything'
from 'The Awakening' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Jeanne and the Darlings 'Soul Girl'
from 'Soul Girl' 7" (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 4, 1995-1996)

Welcome to our fourth look at DJ Premier's production career, this look will cover the years 1995 and 1996 of Primo's beats.

In 1995, KRS-One collaborated with DJ Premier again for his album simply titled 'KRS ONE'. The track 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know' utilizes a sample from Clifford Brown's 'Yesterdays' from his 1955 album 'Clifford Brown with Strings' and Kurtis Blow's old school classic 'The Breaks'. Primo's beat for KRS-One's 'Wannabemceez' samples Isaac Hayes' 1974 'Tough Guys' soundtrack cut 'Buns O' Plenty'.

In 1996, Primo produced the single 'Me or the Papes' for Jeru the Damaja's album 'Wrath of the Math' by cutting up the Ahmad Jamal Trio's 1970 'The Awakening''s album cut 'I Love Music' as well as sampling the sound effects from Pink Floyd's 'Money' from 'Dark Side of the Moon'. The same year, Premier sampled Ahmad Jamal again for Nas's 'I Gave You Power', this time sampling Ahmad Jamal's 'Theme Bahamas' from the 1974 album 'Jamaica'. Finally, Primo and M.O.P. also collaborated in 1996 on 'New Jack City'. The song samples the Modern Jazz Quartet's 'Spanish Steps' from the album 'The Comedy'.

The Lowdown:
KRS-One 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know' and 'Wannabemceez'
from 'KRS ONE' (1995) (MP3/CD)
Clifford Brown 'Yesterdays'
from 'Clifford Brown with Strings' (1955) (MP3/CD)
Kurtis Blow 'The Breaks'
from 'Kurtis Blow' (1980) (MP3 not available/CD)
Isaac Hayes 'Buns O' Plenty'
from 'Tough Guys' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Jeru the Damaja 'Me or the Papes'
from 'Wrath of the Math' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Ahmad Jamal Trio 'I Love Music'
from 'The Awakening' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Pink Floyd 'Money'
from 'Dark Side of the Moon' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Nas 'I Gave You Power'
from 'It Was Written' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'I Gave You Power'
Ahmad Jamal 'Theme Bahamas'
from 'Jamaica' (1974) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
M.O.P. 'New Jack City'
from 'Firing Squad' (1996) (MP3 not available/CD)
Modern Jazz Quartet 'Spanish Steps'
from 'The Comedy' (1962) (MP3/CD)

Related Posts:
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 1, 1989-1990)
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 2, 1991-1993)
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 3, 1994)

Producer Profile: Pete Rock (Part 2, 1994)

Following the success of singles for Heavy D and the Boyz and his own project with C.L. Smooth, Pete Rock continued lacing the rap world with classics in 1994. One of hip-hop's most revered albums is Nas' debut 'Illmatic'. Pete Rock supplied the beat for one of the album's most memorable singles: 'The World is Yours'. Though it was not the album's biggest single and failed to break the Billboard 100, it is an East Coast rap necessity. The track pulls loops from the Ahmad Jamal Trio's 'I Love Music' from their heavily sampled 1970 album 'Awakening' as well as some vocal snippets from T La Rock's 1984 hip-hop single 'It's Yours' (notably the first production credit for Rick Rubin).

Pete Rock's chart success with Heavy D and the Boyz carried over to their fifth album, 1994's 'Nuttin' But Love'. The Pete Rock produced 'Got Me Waiting' was a top 20 single and one of Heavy D and Boyz' biggest hits. The track samples 'Dont' You Know That?' from Luther Vandross' 1980 album 'Never Too Much'. Another Pete Rock track from 'Nuttin' But Love' was released as a single: 'Black Coffee'. 'Coffee' contains elements of Vaughn Mason's roller skate rink jam 'Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll' and James Brown's funk atom bomb 'The Payback'.

The Lowdown:
Nas 'The World Is Yours'
from 'Illmatic' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Ahmad Jamal Trio 'I Love Music'
from 'Awakening' (1970) (MP3/CD)
T La Rock 'It's Yours'
Heavy D and the Boyz 'Got Me Waiting' and 'Black Coffee'
from 'Nuttin' but Love' (1994) (MP3/CD not available)
Luther Vandross 'Don't You Know That?'
from 'Never Too Much' (1980) (MP3/CD)
Vaughn Mason 'Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll'
James Brown 'The Payback'
from 'The Payback' (1974) (MP3/CD)