I never heard either Pete Rock & CL Smooth album in full until now.

Why? They were both exhausting. 14-16 songs a piece, many of which clock in around the 5 minute mark. I was a fan (“The Creator” remains one of my favorite rap records to date), but somewhere around 75% of the way through both albums I just lost interest.

I only recently sat through Mecca & The Soul Brother and The Main Ingredient so that I could join some secret fraternal brotherhood amongst “real” Hip-Hoppers, if you will. The debut was hard hitting and the beat change ups were cool, but being that I’m not a producer it didn’t quite hype the shit out of me. Pete Rock’s style was a bit rough around the edges for my liking (I much more preferred DJ Premier/A Tribe Called Quest at the time) and CL Smooth said a whole lot of nothing to me. “For Pete’s Sake” has always been my shit, “Straighten It Out” is an eternal classic, and T.R.O.Y. is classic as well but for me it’s never been the end all be all “THIS IS REAL HIP-HOP” song as so many proclaim. But I’m glad to have sat this album out finally as “If It Aint Rough It Aint Right” was pretty dope. That much said, Mecca & The Soul Brother sounds dated going into 2010.

Now that I’ve risked never being able to get a haircut in Mt. Vernon, let me express my fondness for The Main Ingredient. This was a much more enjoyable experience for me. Songs like “Carmel City”, “I Got A Love”, “Searching” and “Take You There” were all passable at a time when catering rap to women and being dope weren’t mutually exclusive ideas. The bars still weren’t potent, but CL Smooth performed adequate enough to accompany the smooth melodic backdrops he was given. Pete Rock went in pretty hard with the raps on “Escape” but moments like that were few and far in between. “Sun Wont Come Out” has always been my favorite song on this album and I consider it the quintessential Pete & CL song as Pete’s talking for the hook accompany CL’s random nothingness over that beautiful track. By “Check it Out”, I was ready to quit on this album but I fought through just to say I made it all the way.

Rumor has it Pete Rock & CL Smooth have put their old differences behind them and reunited, at least for the sake of temporarily touring. Their short lived run paints a picture of individuality and soul as they fused elements of that era’s jazzy and harder Hip-Hop, at a time when most chose one extreme or the other. That much said, I don’t need to have about 70% of either album in regular rotation.

Tanya Morgan - Brooklynati



Trust my word on this if you've never trusted it before.


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The Consequences Of Asher Roth

Unlike that of other musical genres, Hip-Hop’s audience puts its talent under a magnifying glass that examines more than talent, it’s a double edged sword as we scrutinize erroneous details in a rapper’s background then decry when one’s reality isn’t rooted in struggle. While this image conscious state would cause some to find shame in clean and honorable pasts (i.e. Rick Ross’ former career as a correctional officer or Lupe Fiasco’s shunning of A Tribe Called Quest), Asher Roth hails from the suburbs of Philadelphia and presents the challenge of being happy, carefree and unabashedly white in a game fueled by what are generally perceived to be black interests.

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Tanya Morgan - The Beautiful Struggle



Amongst the legions who claim to “do it for the love” are a chosen few who place a higher premium on artistic authenticity than monetary gains and subsequently produce quality output deserving of major spotlight. Tanya Morgan’s story is one of hard work, dedication and unorthodox approaches towards reaching people who fell in love with Hip-Hop in its most captivating days of yore. The three man rap group has an undying penchant for creativity, having derived its moniker from the idealistic depiction of the woman Common painted on “I Used To Love H.E.R.” and cleverly putting their debut Moonlighting on promotional cassette tapes to coincide with the album’s plot of a tape being passed around and dismissed for not fitting within the closed minded parameters of consumer interests.

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Young H Radio Week 55 Episode 2

Musical Selections:
Jon Hope – The Most Important Song Of My Life
Lewis Taylor – Into You
The Co-Op – Don’t Know What It Is
Young Dro – House On Me
Black Milk – Mo Power
Uncut Raw – Throwback Sh*t
Rich Boy – What It Do
Common Sense – Real N*gga Quotes
TiRon feat Ayomari – My Wingman & Me
Black Spade – Her Perfume She Wore
Torae & Marco Polo – But Wait
U-N-I – Hammertime
Diz Gibran – Once Again
Chester French feat. Janelle Monae – Nerd Girl

Topic Of Discussion: Young H proves A Tribe Called Quest never fell off.

Pete Rock - Soul Survivor Documentary



Thanks to the homey Dart Adams here is a documentary celebrating the chocolate boy wonder/soul brother # 1. Highlights include footage from the recording of Soul Survivor featuring Prodigy, Cappadonna, Heavy D, Raekwon, Ghostface, Black Thought, MC Eiht and others (peep Rahzel's rendition of "The Creator").

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Doom - Born Like This Promo



Proof positive of why he's my second favorite MC of all time, to say I'm anticipating this album next month is a gross understatement.

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