Maybe that's why for me, the MC is secondary to the producer. My first concern is the quality of the beats and music. That said, it's definitely going to take away from the music if the MC is "whack." That's why Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth are perfect. Pete Rock, along with Madlib, Dilla, and Primo, is one of my absolute favorite producers. Speaking of Dilla (creator of the masterpiece Donuts, my most recent 5-star rating on RYM), Pete Rock was his idol. Apparently Pete Rock showed up during the recording of Fantastic Vol. 2 (by Slum Village, Dilla's original Detroit group) and Dilla had this spinning at the time. He told Pete this about when he was starting out: "I was trying to be you."

C.L. is nearly as great. He makes rapping sound easy. I guess that's why they call him Smooth. His flow is so effortless, it's insane. The closest comparison I can think of is Nas. It's clear that these two were made for each other, the chemistry is that good. Gang Starr has something similar going on, but Guru just isn't on the level that C.L. is.

In terms of production, The Main Ingredient builds on the soulful, jazzy sound of their classic debut, Mecca & The Soul Brother. The sound this time around feels more inspired by Tribe's Midnight Marauders, which came out the year before. It definitely pushes that sound forward. In fact, the first voice you hear on the record is a sample of Q-Tip from one of the first tracks on Midnight Marauders declaring "Pete Rock is in the House." That's part of what I love about hip-hop, when there is a definite inspiration being taken from a specific source, it feels more like a respectful give-and-take than a rip-off (which is especially impressive seeing as when you get down to it, sampling is the most direct no-bullshit way to rip something off). There is such an incredible exchange of ideas and mutual respect among hip-hop artists (it's such a shame that white media only recognizes the "beefs"). In the early nineties this was the reason the genre seemed to be excelling so rapidly. I don't know what happened. That collective-mind seems to have been broken, and now the innovators seem like anomalies. Though it lacks a classic on the level of "T.R.O.Y." The Main Ingredient is overall of a more consistent quality, and I find that much more impressive than a patchy record with a handful of classics on it.