The Main Ingredient
by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth

The Main Ingredient by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth
Year: 1994
Overall rank: 9,417th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 41 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1994 (178th)
Award Top albums of the 1990s (1,523rd)
Award Best albums of all time (9,417th)

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The Main Ingredient By Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth (CD, 1994, Hip-Hop) Excellent
Condition: Like New


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PETE ROCK & C.L. SMOOTH THE MAIN INGREDIENT LP UK PRESSING OG RARE 90's T.R.O.Y.
Condition: Used


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Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - The Main Ingredient (CD, 1994) Hip-Hop, Rap
Condition: Good


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Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth bestography

The Main Ingredient is ranked 2nd best out of 3 albums by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth is Mecca And The Soul Brother which is ranked number 3814 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 382.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth album bestography « Higher ranked (3,814th)
Mecca And The Soul Brother
This album (9,417th)
The Main Ingredient
Lower ranked (33,766th) »
All Souled Out

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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The Main Ingredient track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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The Main Ingredient rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 9,417th | 1990s rank: 1,523rd | 1994 rank: 178th
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 HaydenTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s24/10015
2026 baystateoftheartTop 100 Music Albums of 199438/1003
2026 HaydenTop 50 Music Albums of 19943/505
2026saltysurpriseTop 67 Music Albums of 199445/672
2025 Larcx1320th Century Hip Hop Revision51/100 -
2025AlienCinemaTop 99 Music Albums of 199444/993
2025 Larcx13Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s82/1004
2025UnliveableWiltsMy Top 250 Albums (201-250)35/50 -
2025 RepoTop 100 Music Albums of 199464/1002
2025HyggevinylTop 63 Music Albums of 199435/632
2025 Larcx13Top 72 Music Albums of 199414/724
2025 cestuneblagueTop 100 Music Albums of 199429/1004
2025 zags7000Top 100 Music Albums of 199464/1002
2025 Larcx13Best Hip Hop Records 19946/25 -
2024OFarrioTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s67/1007
2024JamieTop 45 Music Albums of 199423/453
2023 danielmuller1990Top 77 Music Albums of the 1990s76/771
2022 MercuryTop 71 Music Albums of 199417/714
2022 MercuryTop 100 Music Albums of the 1990s100/1000
2022 Mercurypart 2 of You must listen to the album below you:canon edition83/100 -
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 46
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 128
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

The Main Ingredient collection

The Main Ingredient ratings

Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 41 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 41 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 
02/07/2026 22:40 saltysurprise  Ratings distribution  2,94283/100
 
65/100
 
03/27/2025 16:23 conallmalone  Ratings distribution  1,73274/100
 
60/100
 
01/13/2025 11:42 TonySayers61  Ratings distribution  23,81364/100
 
80/100
 
12/24/2024 02:45 PapaShiz86  Ratings distribution  11,08679/100
 
85/100
 
11/22/2024 17:52 travelful  Ratings distribution  3,78672/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.9/100, a mean average of 76.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.8.

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The Main Ingredient favourites

Showing all 7 members who have added this album as a favourite

The Main Ingredient comments

Showing all 4 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
85/100
From 11/17/2020 14:27 | #260957
The same people who dislike gangsta rap and hardcore hip hop look over this record for being too soft.... lol this is the alternative for people who can't listen to Live and Let Die or Death Certificate. Grow up and open up your ears. I prefer this one to Mecca And The Soul Brother.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 10/26/2015 20:16 | #152049
Does this seriously only have 8 vote? Come on BEA...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/24/2013 20:58 | #74376
While much of the rest of the Hip Hop world was becoming immersed in the violence of street life (not necessarily bad) these two were still keeping things real cool.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 10/20/2012 18:27 | #52870
I prefer this to Mecca and the Soul Brother. Just great boom bap hip-hop, perfect for a summer day.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1994
1. Grace by Jeff Buckley
2. Dummy by Portishead
3. Illmatic by Nas
4. Weezer (Blue Album) by Weezer
5. Definitely Maybe by Oasis
6. The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails
7. MTV Unplugged In New York by Nirvana
8. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain by Pavement
9. Superunknown by Soundgarden
10. Parklife by Blur
11. Dookie by Green Day
12. Ready To Die by The Notorious B.I.G.
13. Dog Man Star by Suede
14. The Holy Bible by Manic Street Preachers
15. Let Love In by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
16. Bee Thousand by Guided By Voices
17. Jar Of Flies by Alice In Chains
18. The Division Bell by Pink Floyd
19. Purple by Stone Temple Pilots
20. Live Through This by Hole
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