# Mecca and the Soul Brother

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. 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).

## Background

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.
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'").

## Reception

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+ |
| RapReviews | 9.5/10 |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| The Source | |
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. 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 | 2008 | 37 |
| Ego Trip | United States | Hip Hop's Greatest Albums by Year: 1992 | 1999 | 8 |
| Exclaim! | Canada | 100 Records that Rocked 100 Issues | 2000 | * |
| Rolling Stone | United States | The Essential Recordings of the 90s | 1999 | * |
| Rolling Stone | United States | The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time | 2022 | 130 |
| The Source | United States | The 100 Best Rap Albums of All Time | 1998 | * |
| Mojo | UK | Mojo 1000, the Ultimate CD Buyers Guide | 2001 | * |
| (*) designates lists that are unordered. |||||

## Track listing

* 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 | 43 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) | 7 |

### Singles

| Year | Song | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions |
| Year | Song | 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 |
| 1992 | 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.