"They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" is a song by Pete Rock & CL Smooth, inspired by the death of their close friend Troy Dixon (better known as "Trouble" T. Roy of Heavy D & the Boyz) in 1990. The song was the lead single off their debut album, Mecca and the Soul Brother, released in 1992, and later became a staple of early 1990s hip hop. The song peaked at #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. The song contains a sample from "Today" which is part of the album The Honeysuckle Breeze by Tom Scott and the California Dreamers.

Overview

Pete Rock in a 2007 interview with The Village Voice: "I had a friend of mine that passed away, and it was a shock to the community. I was kind of depressed when I made it. And to this day, I can't believe I made it through, the way I was feeling. I guess it was for my boy. When I found the record by Tom Scott, basically I just heard something incredible that touched me and made me cry. It had such a beautiful bassline, and I started with that first. I found some other sounds and then heard some sax in there and used that. Next thing you know, I have a beautiful beat made. When I mixed the song down, I had Charlie Brown from Leaders of the New School in the session with me, and we all just started crying."

Legacy

"They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" has since appeared on lists such as Q Magazines "1001 Best Songs Ever", Spin Magazines "Top 20 Singles of the 90s", and The Source's "100 Best Rap Singles Of All Time". It was voted #6 in About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs. It was also number 90 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. Pitchfork included the song at #35 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song #12 on its list of "The 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time." It was also ranked #430 on its "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2021. In 2012, Lupe Fiasco's song "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)" from Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 recreated with studio musicians and did not actually use any of the original Tom Scott sax or James Brown drums, it stirred up a controversy by infuriating Pete Rock, who said he felt "violated." Fiasco further references the song in the title of the final track of Tetsuo & Youth, "They.Resurrect.Over.New (T.R.O.N.)."

Track listing