Rap has had many magical once-in-a-lifetime eras, but here’s one of them.

In 1992, people were just starting to figure out that it probably wasn’t legal to sample anything and everything without permission or repercussion, but rap producers were still doing it, possibly understanding that the clock was running out on the way they were making music.

Sampling technology was improving all the time, and visionary producers were figuring out different ways to layer up shards of other people’s music, to build their own pocket orchestras. West Coast rap was about to have its biggest moment ever, but New York was still the complete center of the rap universe, and it seemed entirely secure in that position, not showing any bluster or fury at all the other cities that were developing their own styles.

New York’s rappers and producers had something like a generation or two to get really, really good at what they were doing. And the major labels of the world were starting to figure out that rap albums could be something other than singles-plus-filler, and that they wouldn’t necessarily need to pressure every rap group to throw love songs or hip-house tracks onto their records. That’s the climate that made it possible for Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s calm, unassuming masterpiece to make it into the world 20 years ago.