Corey Brent Penn, Sr. (born October 8, 1968,

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

), known by his stage name CL Smooth, is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

. He is best known as the vocal half of the hip-hop duo

Pete Rock & CL Smooth Pete Rock & CL Smooth were a hip hop duo from Mount Vernon, New York. They made their debut with their 1991 EP, ''All Souled Out'' and followed that with their 1992 LP ''Mecca and the Soul Brother''. Career 1991–1994: The Golden Age As a prod ...

Career

After the duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth split in 1995,

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...

produced (and

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed) tracks for dozens of other acts and released instrumental solo albums, while CL Smooth remained musically inactive. Since their split, the two managed to reconcile their differences only long enough to record five tracks over the course of ten years, namely "Da Two," "Back On Da Block," "Fly 'Til I Die," "Appreciate," and "It's A Love Thing." In 2004, there was talk of a reunion and a new album. This, however, was thwarted by another fallout. During this period, CL Smooth mostly declined to appear on other artists' albums, with the exception of "Only the Strong Survive" with

DJ Krush , better known by his stage name DJ Krush, is a record producer and DJ. He is known for his atmospheric instrumental production which incorporates sound elements from nature and extensive use of jazz and soul samples. Early life Ishi was born i ...

in 1996. Starting around the year 2006, CL Smooth began making guest appearances slightly more frequently. Among the artists to whose songs he has contributed guest vocals are AZ ("Magic Hour"),

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon (), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success ...

(“Silk”, also featuring

Sauce Money Todd Gaither (born September 6, 1969) also known as Sauce Money, is a rapper who worked with Jay-Z in his early career. He was also featured on Big Daddy Kane's album '' Daddy's Home''; he appears on the track "Show N' Prove", alongside Scoob ...

Nujabes , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer and arranger best known for his atmospheric instrumental mixes sampling from hip hop, soul, and jazz, as well as incorporating elements of trip hop, b ...

("Sky Is Falling"),

JR Writer Rusty Brito (born May 28, 1985) better known by his stage name J.R. Writer, is a Dominican American rapper and freestyle champion. He was also a member of East Coast hip hop group The Diplomats. Career Writer is from Harlem, New York. He has r ...

(the remix of "Mesmerize"), an
Supafuh
("Act of Faith"). As of 2022, his most recent guest appearance was on the song “The Masters” by the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rapper-producer duo of

Ghettosocks Darren Pyper, better known by his stage name Ghettosocks, is a Juno-nominated Canadian hip hop artist and member of the Backburner collective. In early 2010, Ghettosocks' album ''Treat of the Day'' spent several weeks at #1 on ChartAttack's Can ...

and DK. CL Smooth released his debut solo album, ''

American Me ''American Me'' is a 1992 American crime drama film produced and directed by Edward James Olmos, his first film as a director, and written by Floyd Mutrux and Desmond Nakano. Olmos also stars as the film's protagonist, Montoya Santana, loosely ...

'', in 2006. To promote the album, Shaman Work released a promotional mixtape compiled by DJ J Period called ''Man On Fire'' in late April 2006, featuring 36 minutes of

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

s and a remixed version of the track "Impossible". He was also featured on the

DJ Jazzy Jeff Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American disc jockey (DJ) and music producer. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, alon ...

album ''

The Return of the Magnificent ''The Return of the Magnificent'' is the second studio album by DJ Jazzy Jeff. It was released via BBE and Rapster Records in 2007. It is the official follow-up to '' The Magnificent'' (2002). It includes guest appearances from CL Smooth, Big Da ...

'' on the track "All I Know," which was also featured in the video game

NBA Live 08 ''NBA Live 08'' is the 2007 installment of the ''NBA Live'' series by EA Sports. It was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Windows and PlayStation Portable. This is the first '' NBA'' video game to include all three n ...

. Around the same time, he released a single called “Perfect Timing”, featuring

Skyzoo Gregory Skyler Taylor (born December 24, 1982), known professionally as Skyzoo, is an American Songwriter and rapper. He has released a number of notable solo and collaborative albums, including '' Cloud 9: The 3 Day High'' with 9th Wonder in ...

. In October 2010 Smooth and Pete Rock headlined the Clean Energy Tour. The tour had six shows all over

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and focused on voter mobilization leading up to the November 2010 midterm elections. CL Smooth has developed an interest in, and become an activist in opposition to,

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. He was a vocal opponent of Proposition 23. In February 2019, CL Smooth released a single entitled "Just In Town", featuring and produced by Fleezy E and Wayno Da Producer for Da Watchmen.

Discography

Solo albums

*''

'' (2006) *'' The Outsider'' (2007)

Pete Rock & CL Smooth albums

Collaborations

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and actor. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/ pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has released ...

featuring CL Smooth - "Rub You The Right Way (Extended Hype I)" (1990) * Basic Black featuring Pete Rock & CL Smooth "She's Mine" (1990) *

Heavy D & The Boyz Dwight Arrington MyersCuda, Heidi Sigmund Keeping it reel. ''Vibe'' ("born Dwight Arrington Myers")Samuels, Anita M. (January 12' 1996)Heavy D, the C.E.O. ''New York Times'' (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), known professionally as Heav ...

featuring

Big Daddy Kane Antonio Hardy (born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilled MCs in hi ...

Grand Puba Maxwell Dixon (born March 4, 1964), known professionally as Grand Puba, is an American rapper and emcee, best known as one of the members of the group Brand Nubian from New Rochelle, New York. Biography He made his debut as Grand Puba Maxw ...

Kool G Rap Nathaniel Thomas Wilson (born July 20, 1968), better known by his stage name Kool G Rap (or simply G Rap), is an American rapper from Queens, New York City. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as ...

, Q-Tip &

- "Don't Curse" (1991) *

Greg Osby Greg Osby (born August 3, 1960) is an American saxophonist and composer. Biography Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, then at the Berklee College of Music. He moved to New York City in 1982, where he played with Jaki ...

featuring CL Smooth - "Raise" (1993) *

Da Youngstas Da Youngsta's is an American rap group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great ...

featuring Pete Rock & CL Smooth -"Who's The Mic Wrecka" (1993) *

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

featuring Pete Rock & CL Smooth - "Down With the King" (1993) *

featuring CL Smooth - “Only the Strong Survive" (1996) * Pete Rock featuring CL Smooth - "Da Two" (1998) * Pete Rock featuring CL Smooth - "Back on the Block" (2001) * Pete Rock featuring CL Smooth - "Appreciate" (2004) * AZ featuring CL Smooth - "Magic Hour" (2006) *

featuring CL Smooth - "Sky Is Falling" (2007) * Vee featuring CL Smooth - "Da Piano" (2009) *

featuring CL Smooth - “Mesmerized” emix(2009) (alternate version also features Fishscales of

Nappy Roots Nappy Roots is an American alternative Southern rap group. The group met in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1995 while attending Western Kentucky University. They are best known for their hit singles " Po' Folks", "Awnaw", " Roun' The Globe" and "Go ...

) * Cradle Orchestra featuring CL Smooth - "All I Want" (2009) * Cradle Orchestra featuring CL Smooth & Jean Curley - "Married To The Game" (2010) *

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

featuring CL Smooth - "Our Generation (The Hope of the World)" (2010) * Supafuh featuring CL Smooth - �
Act Of Faith
�� (2011) *

featuring CL Smooth &

- “Silk” (2013) *

& DK featuring CL Smooth &

El Da Sensei William E. Williams, also known as El Da Sensei is an American rapper from Newark, New Jersey. During the 1990s he was a member of the hip hop duo, Artifacts. Since then he has released several solo albums. In 2015, at The 14th Annual Indepen ...

- “The Masters” (2022)

References

External links

* https://www.meccadonclsmooth.com * https://www.facebook.com/therealclsmooth * https://twitter.com/realclsmooth * https://instagram.com/therealclsmooth * https://soundcloud.com/realclsmooth * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smooth, CL 1968 births African-American male rappers East Coast hip hop musicians Five percenters Living people Musicians from New Rochelle, New York Rappers from New York (state) Pete Rock Underground rappers 21st-century American rappers