Nice & Smooth

As if the name weren’t a dead giveaway, it makes sense that Nice & Smooth broke out in part because of an appearance alongside the Smooth Operator himself, Big Daddy Kane. While the duo of Greg Nice and Smooth B—backed by their collaborator DJ Teddy Tedd—had earned a reputation for themselves around New York City, beginning with their 1987 single “Dope on a Rope,” their guest turn on It’s a Big Daddy Thing’s “Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy” locates the two MCs as the kind of sophisticated, self-possessed rappers who could hold their own on the mic and look at home in a swanky hotel lounge. Songs like “More and More Hits,” from their 1989 self-titled debut, showcase charming singing voices, but it’s 1991’s “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow” that best distills their knowing, smooth-as-silk style.