Mecca and the Soul Brother

"If It Ain't Rough, It Ain't Right" redirects here. For the Luke Cage episode, see If It Ain't Rough, It Ain't Right (Luke Cage).

"Can't Front on Me" redirects here. For the Luke Cage episode, see Can't Front on Me (Luke Cage).

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.^[2][3] 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).

Mecca and the Soul Brother
Studio album by Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Released	June 9, 1992[1]
Studio	Greene St. Recording (Manhattan, New York)
Genre	East Coast hip hop golden age hip hop jazz rap alternative hip hop
Length	77:23 (CD) 85:14 (2xLP/MC)
Label	Elektra
Producer	Pete Rock & CL Smooth Nevelle Hodge Large Professor
Pete Rock & CL Smooth chronology
All Souled Out (1991) Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992) The Main Ingredient (1994)
Singles from Mecca and the Soul Brother
"They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" Released: April 2, 1992 "Straighten It Out" Released: 1992 "Lots of Lovin'" Released: February 1993

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.^[4]

"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, "Searching", 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

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[7]
RapReviews	9.5/10[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]
The Source	[10]

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.^[11] 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

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
About.com	United States	100 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums[12]	2008	37
Ego Trip		Hip Hop's Greatest Albums by Year: 1992[13]	1999	8
Exclaim!	Canada	100 Records that Rocked 100 Issues[14]	2000	*
Rolling Stone	United States	The Essential Recordings of the 90s[15]	1999	*
		The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time[16]	2022	130
The Source		The 100 Best Rap Albums of All Time[17]	1998	*
Mojo	UK	Mojo 1000, the Ultimate CD Buyers Guide[18]	2001	*
(*) designates lists that are unordered.

Track listing

"Can't Front on Me" redirects here. For the Luke Cage episode, see Can't Front on Me (Luke Cage).

• All tracks produced by Pete Rock & CL Smooth, except #4 co-produced by Nevelle Hodge and #5 co-produced by Large Professor.

#	Title	Performer(s)	Time
1	"Return of the Mecca"	Intro: Pete Rock Verses: C.L. Smooth Chorus: Pete Rock	5:42
2	"For Pete's Sake"	Intro: Pete Rock First verse: C.L. Smooth Second verse: Pete Rock Third verse: C.L. Smooth Outro: Pete Rock	5:48
3	"Ghettos of the Mind"	C.L. Smooth	5:01
4	"Lots of Lovin'"	Verses: C.L. Smooth Chorus: Terri Robinson / Tabitha Brace	5:07
5	"Act Like You Know"	Verses: C.L. Smooth Chorus: Pete Rock	4:01
6	"Straighten It Out"	C.L. Smooth	4:12
7	"Soul Brother #1"	Pete Rock	4:30
8	"Wig Out"	Intro: Pete Rock Verses: C.L. Smooth	4:10
9	"Anger in the Nation"	Intro: Adofo Abdullah Muhammad Verses: C.L. Smooth	5:31
10	"They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)"	C.L. Smooth	4:44
11	"On and On"	Intro: Grap Luva Verses: C.L. Smooth	5:10
12	"It's Like That"	Intro: Pete Rock Verses: C.L. Smooth	3:55
13	"Can't Front on Me"	Intro: Pete Rock Verses: C.L. Smooth	4:18
14	"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: Deda	5:22
15	"If It Ain't Rough, It Ain't Right"	C.L. Smooth	5:04
16	"Skinz"	First verse: C.L. Smooth Second verse: Grand Puba Third verse: C.L. Smooth Fourth verse: Pete Rock Fifth verse: C.L. Smooth	4:14

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)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[19]	43
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[20]	7

Singles

Year	Song	Chart positions
		Billboard Hot 100	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	Hot Rap Singles	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
1992	They Reminisce Over You [T.R.O.Y.]	58	10	1	20
	Straighten It Out	-	65	7	37
1993	Lots of Lovin	-	66	1	-

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.