Man, I can’t fucking believe that I hadn’t posted this one yet…yo, my bad, seriously. I can say without hesitation that Pete Rock is easily one of my top 5 favorite beatmakers ever! It’s not terribly often that a producer can lace some beats so dank & heavy that it makes your eyes well up a little bit, the collage of horns, bass & kick bringing the most reverent & regal of vibration, and it’s definitely a rarity for an MC to come with a flow so tough & fresh while managing to avoid the customary self-promoting braggadocio one always expects from street rhymes. For one reason or another, CL Smooth has sort of become an undervalued rapper, even though his skills easily stand up with the Q-Tips of the world; Pete Rock, on the other hand, has consistently sat high in both critical & fan circles, albeit existing happily in the underground. This particular number, an absolute masterpiece, was composed in memory of one of Heavy D’s boyz, Trouble T-Roy, (Pete Rock, from a 2007 interview) “…I had a friend of mine that passed away…I was kind of depressed when I made it, and to this day, I can't believe I made it through, the way I was feeling… when I mixed the song down, I had Charlie Brown from Leaders of the New School in the session with me, and we all just started crying…” I suppose knowing this is the reason that saxophone always transports my mind backwards, thinking about fallen friends & family, being grateful for all the close calls that fell in our favor. Hip-Hop doesn’t get much better than this one people.
