THE TRACKMASTERS COLLECTION

Aside from Puffy, Poke & Tone were the most villified producers of the ’90s, synonymous with rap’s jiggy era after co-producing “Gettin’ Jiggy With It.” But their discography reveals more hip-hop and R&B classics than crossover cheese, beginning with singles from Chubb Rock, Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane in the early ’90s. Tone (a.k.a. Red Hot Lover Tone) released two solo albums, while Poke linked up with Puff Daddy to co-produce a ton of early Bad Boy/Uptown classics, from Mary J.’s “Be Happy” to Biggie’s “Juicy.” But the Trackmasters name really became infamous to most rap fans in 1995 and ’96 when they produced the majority of both LL Cool J’s Mr. Smith and Nas’ It Was Written.

Golden boys in the golden era of New York rap’s glossy makeover, their reputation as hitmakers was unparalleled by the end of the decade. They started to move away from samples in the early ’00s, and things were never quite the same. Their attempt to bring Jay-Z and R. Kelly together on The Best of Both Worlds turned out to be a debacle, and in 2003 they were perhaps unfairly branded “the guys who missed out on 50 Cent.” Remember the good times with my mixtape of 30 Poke & Tone classics…

THE TRACKMASTERS COLLECTION:
1. Nas f/ AZ, Cormega & Foxy Brown “Affirmative Action” (1996)
2. Soul For Real “Candy Rain” (1994)
3. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo “Ill Street Blues” (1992)
4. LL Cool J “Hollis To Hollywood” (1995)
5. Foxy Brown f/ Jay-Z “I’ll Be” (1997)
6. Little Bastards “Bitch Get A Job” (1992)
7. T.C.F. Crew “I Ain’t the One” (1993)
8. Allure f/ Nas “Head Over Heels” (1996)
9. Shante “Straight Razor” (1992)
10. Chubb Rock “Just the Two of Us (Trackmasterz Remix)” (1991)
11. Nature “Nature’s Shine” (1999)
12. R.Kelly & Jay-Z “Take You Home With Me A.K.A. Body” (2002)
13. Little Shawn “Dom Perignon” (1995)
14. Will Smith “Miami” (1997)
15. The Firm f/ Noreaga & Nature “I’m Leaving” (1997)
16. LL Cool J “I Shot Ya (Remix)” (1995)
17. Mary J Blige “Round & Round” (1997)
18. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo “On The Run (Al Capone Version)” (1992)
19. Mariah Carey “The Roof” (1997)
20. LL Cool J “Hey Lover” (1995)
21. Total f/ Da Brat “No One Else” (1995)
22. Faith Evans “No Other Love” (1995)
23. Big Daddy Kane “How U Get A Record Deal” (1993)
24. Rihanna “If It’s Lovin’ That You Want” (2005)
25. Red Hot Lover Lover Tone “Give It Up” (1992)
26. Mary J. Blige “Be Happy” (1994)
27. Mya f/ Jay-Z “Best Of Me Part 2” (2000)
28. 50 Cent “Ghetto Qu’ran (Forgive Me)” (2000)
29. Bravehearts f/ Nas “I Wanna Live” (1998)
30. Nas “The Message” (1996)
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ALL SONGS WERE PRODUCED, WRITTEN, REMIXED OR PERFORMED BY POKE AND/OR TONE