Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Greg Nice (Greg Mays) and Smooth B (Daryl Barnes), plus their DJ Teddy Tedd (Tedd Whiting). The duo released four albums between 1989 and 1997. Their first collaborative appearance was on the song “Skill Trade” on Strange Family Records in 1988. On the strength of that underground single they managed a guest spot on the song “Pimpin Ain’t Easy” by Big Daddy Kane on his 1989 album, It’s a Big Daddy Thing.
Nice & Smooth’s biggest radio fame came from “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow…,” from the group’s second album, Ain’t a Damn Thing Changed, released in 1991. 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 music 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’ comedy/variety TV show, In Living Color. The duo is known for their humorous rhymes and catchy hooks. They often appeared as guest emcees on albums by the Beatnuts, Gang Starr, and Tony Touch, among many others. They were represented by Reggie Osse.
2Pac intended to sign Greg Nice to his Makaveli Records label[citation needed] and even recorded tracks with the duo for his One Nation album, which featured other artists such as Smif-n-Wessun, Luniz, Snoop Dogg. Trugoy from De La Soul paid homage to Nice & Smooth by using each member’s rhyming style in verses on the song “Simply Havin'” from De La Soul’s AOI: Bionix album.
Smooth B wrote rhymes for Bobby Brown that appeared on his debut album King of Stage and second album Don’t Be Cruel. In 2005, he released a single titled “Game Over”, produced by DJ Premier, and released a single in 2014 called “Set It Off”.