I grew up familiar with jazz but not loving it. My Grandfather played in Duke Ellingtons orchestra so I had a faint curiosity about the music. This curiosity became a motivation once I witnessed in living color in the movie Mo Better Blues, and heard it used as the bed in some of my favorite hip hop records. Few producers manipulated jazz samples as adeptly as Pete Rock. His loops boasted an affinity for horns that became his signature sound. Here he uses a snippet of a Cannonball Adderley record which happened to be my first jazz purchase. What is often lost in the discussions of Pete's brilliance is CL's microphone mastery. He was never going to be anyone's Rakim but like Ra he had a breezy lyricism. When it was coupled with the right track he shined like a new penny.
1 comment:
Still holds a place in the Top 5 duo debuts, IMO. It's some big names there so maybe Top 10! Honestly, there just may not be a single album where producer and emcee were at their respective summits for one project at such an early moment in their run. Peace.
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