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Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s partnership was, ultimately, short-lived, ended by their creative and personal differences, but when things were good in the early days, their musical chemistry was palpable.

A creative synchronicity like that is something that often forms early. Pete and CL met when they were kids, studying at their shared high school in Mount Vernon, a suburb of New York City that’s close to the Bronx – the area is said to have a small-town sort of feel, but with easy access to the cultural vibrancy of the nearby borough, and for two kids growing up in the 1970s and ’80s with an interest in hip hop, that was important.

CL once described the pair’s upbringing in Mount Vernon to Spin in 2016, characterising it as being “like living in a movie”, referring to its unique combination of suburban calm and easy access to the urban jungle of Harlem. It was an unusual place, in that respect, and that is in some way reflected by the list of notable people who have emerged from there.

In addition to Pete and CL, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lived there when he was young, as did Pete’s pioneering rapper cousin Heavy D. Beyond the hip hop world, several other famous names emerged from Mount Vernon, such as Denzel Washington, as did several prominent sportspeople; it was a vibrant place.

Pete and CL first encountered each other at school in Mount Vernon through a mutual friend, who informed the former that the latter was a rapper and later brought them together. When Pete first heard CL do his thing, he immediately liked what he heard, and their partnership was born.

“I heard him rap, and he had a distinctive voice,” Pete recalled during a 2017 conversation with Ambrosia for Heads, “He didn’t sound like anyone. I was mesmerised by his voice”.

Pete, who was beginning to learn his craft as a producer, was sufficiently impressed to start making music in his neighbour’s basement with CL. “I did a party in my neighbour’s place and left my equipment there, so we just stayed and started doing demos,” he recalled to Wax Poetics in 2020, laughing, “We made about 50 songs there.”

In the conversation with Spin, CL reflected on what made the pair so good for each other during their early, productive days. They were, he said, “two guys who listened to each other”, who were capable of clear communication about what they were making. Their ability to collaborate in this way would ultimately break down, but, back when they were young, it was key to their success.

The demos they recorded in the basement formed the basis for the duo’s first-ever EP, All Souled Out, released in 1991. Their debut album followed in ’92, with their second and final album arriving in ’94. They ended their partnership a year later, with occasional reunions occurring in the years since, but their best days as a duo were undoubtedly in those early days, not long after they left high school.