Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - The Basement

This past Saturday the legendary hip-hop duo Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth performed at Fortune Sound Club in Vancouver. They were touring behind the 20th anniversary of their classic 1992 album Mecca & The Soul Brother, playing the album in its entirety. Now these throwback/reunion shows can go one of two ways: the artist(s) simply show up to play their biggest hit songs in a lazy, just-give-me-my-paycheque-now sort of way, even making the crowd sing most of the songs. Or they can step up there and leave it all on the stage, making the audience wonder why they ever stopped making music together and put on an amazing show. Last Saturday Pete & C.L. definitely chose to do the latter. 

Holy shit can C.L. ever rap and work a crowd! The 45 year old was spitting rhymes like it was '92 and moving up, down and all around the stage, including standing on the front pillars for some intensely focused rapping. Today's young rappers can certainly learn a thing or two from the grizzled vet. And Pete was steady as ever in the back working the DJ booth like he's done countless times in the past. He came up to spit a couple verses and get the crowd going but his best moment came two thirds through the show when C.L. left the stage for a much deserved break and Rock did a mini DJ set of the classics. He spun and remixed tracks by the likes of Al Green, Dennis Edwards and the Bee Gees and the crowd was certainly digging it.

As for the rest of the set, highlights included the funky "For Pete's Sake", the sexy and smooth "Lots of Lovin'", the politically charged banger "Straighten It Out" which samples Ernie Hines' 1972 classic "Our Generation" and, of course, the final encore of the duo's most beloved track "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)". The crowd went wild when Pete played the opening sax bit from the track and C.L. got the crowd singing along to it. Then they launched fully into the song with C.L rapping with a ferocity that echoed the original. At the end of it all both guys hugged in front of the crowd and genuinely looked stoked to be there at this stage of their careers. It truly was amazing to see these guys get the respect they deserve while returning that same respect to their fans.

"The Basement" is one of my favourite tracks from Mecca & The Soul Brother. The beat is fucking ridiculously good with the short jazz horn breaks melding into the longer ones at the "chorus". The song is also only one of two tracks on the album to feature other rappers. Grap Luva, Heavy D, Rob-O and Deda all provide slick verses, making it an incredible crew cut. If you have never heard Pete & C.L. then I strongly recommend you educate yourself on classic, lyrical hip-hop and cop this album now. This was an early show and we decided to stick around for the DJ show with sets by Jerome LOL, Groundislava, and headliner Kaytranada. Review coming soon!