Emerging at the tail end of hip-hop’s golden age and during the era of gangsta rap, CL Smooth delivered conscious rhymes as the primary rapper of the Pete Rock & CL Smooth duo while Pete Rock provided the jazzy boom bap backdrops and occasional verses. The suave demeanor of his grandfather would influence CL’s smooth delivery and his alter ego as The Mecca Don.

Born in New Rochelle, New York on October 8, 1968, Corey Brent Penn Sr. was largely raised by his mother’s parents: Grandma Pam and Poppa Doc. Both led to his affinity for jazz music while the latter influenced the manner in which he carried himself. He would relocate to Queens in his late childhood at the same time hip-hop was in its infancy. As he grew to love the genre as much as he did with jazz, his mother saw it as “rebel music.” This clashing between them would last until CL decided to return to the comfort of his grandparents home at the age of 15.

Back in New Rochelle, CL would eventually encounter the likes of Heavy D and DJ Eddie F in the neighboring city of Mount Vernon, leading to him becoming fully content on pursuing a rap career following high school. Initially going by the alias Corey Love, he was given the moniker CL Smooth by Heavy D during a conversation with him and Big Daddy Kane. His first official appearance was in 1990 on a remix of Johnny Gill’s hit “Rub You The Right Way.” He would next establish himself as part of a duo with Pete Rock, a friend of his and also a younger cousin of Heavy D.

After his partnership with Pete Rock concluded in 1995 following the filming of a Sprite commercial, CL kept a low profile and mainly refrained from music, save for an appearance on DJ Krush’s 1995 track “Only The Strong Survive” and a few songs with Pete Rock between 1998-2004: “Da Two,” “Back on da Block,” “It’s a Love Thing,” “Fly Till I Die” and “Appreciate.” In 2006, CL opened himself up to making more featured appearances as well as putting out his own solo material. His only two albums to date, American Me and The Outsider, were released independently on October 31, 2006 and August 21, 2007 respectively.