Nice & Smooth

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Nice & Smooth
Origin	New York City
Genre(s)	Hip hop
Years active	1988-Present
Label(s)	Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records RAL/Columbia/SME Records RAL/PolyGram Records Street Life/Scotti Brothers Records
Associated acts	Native Tongues Gang Starr Kurtis Mantronik T La Rock
Members
Greg Nice Smooth B

Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York that consists of Greg Nice (Greg Mays) and Smooth B (Daryl Barnes). The duo released four albums from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s.

While never gaining large pop appeal, each of the duo’s albums were certified for gold-level sales by the RIAA, with its biggest radio fame coming from "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow...," from its second album, Ain't a Damn Thang Changed, released in 1992. The song was a moderately somber rhyme with introspective lines about poverty, AIDS, and drugs that was set to the guitar loop from Tracy Chapman's hit "Fast Car." In the summer of 1992, the video received heavy rotation on MTV. "Hip-Hop Junkies," which featured a sample from The Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You" was also a hit, and it was once performed live on Keenan Ivory Wayans’ "In Living Color". The duo is known for its humorous rhymes and catchy hooks. They often appeared as guest emcees on albums by the Beatnuts, Gang Starr, and Tony Touch among many others.

The duo’s most-noted contribution to hip-hop is its second single, "Funky For You," released in 1990 with the following lyrics:

A--yo, Dizzy Gillespie played the sax!/Me myself, I like to max!/Red-Bone booties, I'm out to wax!/Stick-up kids is out to tax!

Tupac Shakur intended to sign Nice & Smooth to his Makaveli label prior to his death.

Smooth B wrote rhymes for Bobby Brown that appeared his debut album King of Stage and second album Don't Be Cruel.^[1] In 2005, he released a single titled "Game Over," which was produced by DJ Premier.^[2]

[edit] Discography

Album Information
Nice and Smooth Released: 1989 Chart Positions: #26 Top Hip Hop/R&B Last RIAA certification: Gold Singles: “More & More Hits,” “Early to Rise,” “Perfect Harmony,” "Funky for You"
Ain't a Damn Thing Changed Released: 1991 Chart Positions: #141 US, #29 R&B/Hip-Hop Last RIAA certification: Gold Singles: "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow," "How to Flow," "Hip-Hop Junkies", "Cake"
Jewel of the Nile Released: 1994 Chart Positions: #66 US, #13 Top Hip Hop/R&B Last RIAA certification: Gold Singles: "Old to New," "Return of the Hip Hop Freaks"
Blazing Hot, Vol. 4 Released: 1997 Chart Positions: #75 Top Hip-Hop/R&B Last RIAA certification: Gold Singles: "Blazing Hot," "Let it Go"

[edit] References