- Pete Rock
Infobox musical artist
Name = Pete Rock
Img_capt = Pete Rock, October 2007
Img_size =
Landscape = Pete Rock, October 2007
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Peter Phillips
Alias = Soul Brother #1
The Chocolate Boy Wonder
Born = birth date and age|1970|6|21|
Died =
Origin =Mount Vernon, New York ,United States
Instrument = Turntable, sampler, Keyboard
Genre = Hip hop,East Coast hip hop
Occupation =Rapper , music producer,disc jockey
Years_active = 1987 – present
Label =Elektra Records
Loud/RCA/BMG Records
Rapster/BBE
Nature Sounds/Caroline/Virgin/EMI Records
Associated_acts =CL Smooth Marley Marl
INIHeavy D
The UN
YGz
URL =Pete Rock (born Peter Phillips,
June 21 1970 [ [http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Pete-Rock-and-CL-Smooth-Biography/8806E29CAA7F9E3548256A34000B3A8B Pete Rock And Cl Smooth Biography ] ] inBronx, New York ) is an AmericanDJ ,record producer , and emcee ofJamaican descent. He rose to prominence in the early '90s as one half of the critically acclaimed groupPete Rock & CL Smooth . After the duo went their separate ways, Rock continued with a [SoundSlam.com 2008 [http://www.soundslam.com/articles/news/news.php?news=080131_peterock Pete Rock Enlisted As "NY's Finest"] RetrievedJanuary 31 ,2008 ] solo career that has garnered him worldwide respect, if little in the way of mainstream success. Rock played a major role in the merging of elements fromjazz into hip hop music, along withStetsasonic ,A Tribe Called Quest , The Roots andGang Starr . Considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time [ [http://rap.about.com/od/toppicks/ss/Top50Producers_8.htm Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers ] ] [ [http://supertalk.superfuture.com/archive/index.php/t-1957.html Top 5 best hip-hop producers and WHY [supertalk archive - superfuture :: supertalk ] ] [ [http://cratekings.com/top-50-greatest-producers-in-hip-hop-and-rap/ Top 50 Greatest Producers In Hip Hop and Rap ] ] , he is often mentioned alongsideDJ Premier ,RZA andJ Dilla , as one of the mainstays of 1990sEast Coast hip hop production. Pete Rock is also the older brother and younger cousin, respectively, of rappersGrap Luva andHeavy D .Biography
Early life
The third of seven children, Pete Rock was born in the borough of
Bronx, New York . His family moved toMount Vernon, NY when he was 7 years old. He attended High School in Mount Vernon, where he would meet his future recording partnerCL Smooth . According to Rock, hisJamaica n father was also a part time DJ, who had an impressive record collection. Rock would often accompany his father to acricket club called Wembley in the Bronx, and watch as he spun records for the people present. [http://peterock.tribe.net/thread/032f66d2-a223-400c-a902-fe166be14676 Wax Poetic interview - Pete Rock - tribe.net ] ]His first job was as a
paperboy , in his neighborhood.Early career
His first major exposure to the hip-hop audience was in 1987 with
Marley Marl , as a DJ onNew York 'sWBLS radio show "In Control With Marley Marl." The 17-year-old Phillips was recognized by the listening audience as the man "puttin' in work", as he would use double copies of each record to cut up every song he played, when most New York DJs would only use double copies on every 3rd or 4th song. Propelled by the growth of his popularity, he began producing in the early 1990s. In 1991 he joined with CL Smooth to released theEP "All Souled Out ".The following year saw "
Mecca and the Soul Brother ", the first of two full length albums, released to critical acclaim and hailed as a classic by many. During this period, Pete Rock began to produce songs for other acts such as "Down With the King" forRun-DMC , and "The World Is Yours" forNas , as well remixing singles forJeru The Damaja ("You Can't Stop The Prophet"), Public Enemy ("Shut 'em Down"), andThe Notorious B.I.G. ("Juicy" - the original of which was allegedly based on Rock's own demo). Pete and CL followed up "Mecca" in 1994 with "The Main Ingredient". Like its predecessor, "The Main Ingredient" also received wide critical acclaim, however soon after the albums release the duo went their separate ways, with Rock focusing on production work for other artists.In 1995, he formed the group INI, with
Grap Luva , andRob-O and released the classic 12" "Fakin' Jax". The trio recorded an album, "Center Of Attention ", which was heavily bootlegged and remained unreleased until 2003, when BBE Records picked it up for distribution. The release of this album was coupled with another mid-90s Pete Rock-produced album, DeDa's "The Original Baby Pa ".olo career
While working as a DJ with Marley Marl on
Hot 97 's Future Flavas show, Rock was able to forge a relationship with Loud Records, allowing him to release his solo album "Soul Survivor" in the summer of 1998. After being dropped from the Loud imprint, Rock signed with Rapster/BBE under his own label Soul Brother Recordings. He has since continued to release solo albums, including "PeteStrumentals " in 2001 and 2004's "Soul Survivor II ". In that same year he also produced the bulk ofEdo G 's "My Own Worst Enemy", as well as a track for the all-girl rap group Northern State.Recently, Pete Rock has returned to greater visibility, mainly through a closer relationship with the
Wu-Tang Clan . Their collaborations began with "Soul Survivor", which featuredInspectah Deck ,Method Man ,Ghostface Killah andRaekwon on various tracks, and continued on its follow-up, which featured bothGZA andRZA . He also has produced three tracks on Ghostface's release "Fishscale " andNature Sounds labelmateMasta Killa 's second album, "Made in Brooklyn".Pete Rock has cultivated a relationship with Brooklyn, NY based Nature Sounds Records. He recorded the song "The PJs", which features Raekwon and Masta Killa, released on the Nature Sounds compilation "Natural Selection". He released an album entitled "
NY's Finest " in February 2008, featuringRaekwon , Masta Killa,D-Block , Redman, Papoose,Slum Village andJim Jones , among others, also on Nature Sounds. The lead single from the album is entitled "914" and features rappersSheek Louch andStyles P . He is scheduled to appear on albums byBishop Lamont ,Cannibal Ox , Termanology,Freddie Foxxx , Royal Flush,Verbal Threat ,LL Cool J ,JoJo Pellegrino ,La The Darkman ,Cormega ,R.A. The Rugged Man , and others. He is also working with DJ/Rapper Doo Wop under the name Tango & Cash (taken from the film of the same name).Affiliates
Proteges
Through the years, Rock has helped to jumpstart the careers of several artists. His first project outside of Pete Rock & CL Smooth was the hardcore duo YG'z, who released an
EP called "Street Nigga" in 1993, with 4 out of the 6 tracks produced by Rock, however they were quickly dropped from their deal with Reprise Records.His next venture, INI, was a group featuring Rock, his younger brother
Grap Luva , Rass and rapperRob-O . They released a single, "Fakin' Jax", throughElektra Records in 1995, before their debut album, "", was shelved by the label. The other two members continue to record solo material, albeit only sporadically. In an interview Rock elaborated on the situation:Another mid-1990s artist, DeDa, also met the same fate with his album "The Original Baby Pa", although both this and INI's album were eventually released as a double album package in 2003. Other associated artists include Meccalicious, who recorded a few songs under Pete Rock's guidance (sometime around 1997), before disappearing from the music scene altogether.
Rock has had some success, however, overseeing and jumpstarting the career of hardcore underground favorites The UN; a group featuring 4 MCs, including former
Flipmode Squad member Rock Marciano. Rock premiered the group on the single "Nothin' Lesser" from his "PeteStrumentals" album, and they went on to release the fairly successful album, "UN Or U Out", in July 2004, featuring production by Rock,Large Professor , and several others.Relationship with CL Smooth
Since their split in 1995, Pete Rock's relationship with CL Smooth has been highly unpredictable. Although the pair briefly united for the reflective "Da Two" from Rock's "Soul Survivor" album in 1998, they avoided entertaining requests for a reunion album until 2001, when they once again teamed up for "Back on Da Block" from Rock's "PeteStrumentals".
In their interviews during this period, it appeared as though a new album was underway. As Rock would explain:
The pair went on a short international tour culminating in their well-received show at London's Jazz Cafe, however, soon after this they declined to comment any further on the new album, which never materialized (although Smooth did make three separate appearances on "Soul Survivor II"). Eventually Smooth would confirm rumors of a rift in an interview with AllHipHop.com, [http://www.allhiphop.com/features/?ID=882] in which he appeared angry and frustrated with his former partner, saying "I didn’t ask him to be a superhero" and "I’m not the problem." In an interview taken in December 2006, Rock [http://youtube.com/watch?v=qhswoGRXhls ruled out any further collaborations with Smooth] but stated that he holds no grudges against his former partner.
Music
Production style
Pete Rock builds his beats from samples, the majority of which are taken from obscure R&B, funk, and jazz records. Early on in his career he would also sample drum breaks such as
Black Heat 's "Zimba Ku" forHeavy D & The Boyz 's "Letter To The Future". Pete Rock heavily used the E-MU SP1200 as well as theAKAI [S950] —he's currently moved onto using the MPC—for his productions.Pete Rock tends to use the samples as palettes for his beats, chopping (cutting the sample into smaller parts), filtering (altering the frequencies of the sample), and layering several samples, often within the same song.While this technique was applied long before Rock (on
De La Soul 's "Three Feet High and Rising " or the work ofThe Bomb Squad for example), Rock's work is distinctive for the way in which he uses samples to achieve a hazy, droning effect. He is also noted for his resonant basslines, horn samples, and gritty sounding drums. His beats will sometimes sound as though they were being played from an old vinyl record. Much of this has to do with the fact that he samples many of his sounds straight off vinyl records, [http://youtube.com/watch?v=jQWxrWSsI2k as he mentions in this interview] .Another trait of his, more so in the earlier part of his career, is the way he uses horn samples to supplement his grooves. With perhaps the most famous example being "
They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) " (on which he uses a horn sample from Tom Scott's "Today"), Rock has also used horns on several other productions such as "Straighten It Out", Public Enemy's "Shut 'Em Down",Rah Digga 's "What They Call Me", and A.D.O.R.'s "Let It All Hang Out".Along with
Gang Starr , The Roots andA Tribe Called Quest , Pete Rock played a large role in the fusing of jazz and funk music into Hip hop. The aforementioned "Reminisce..." withstanding, Rock used many jazz samples on his album "Mecca and The Soul Brother", such asCannonball Adderley 's "Country Preacher", for the song "Return of the Mecca", or "Capricorn" for the song "In The House" from "The Main Ingredient".Pete Rock's heavy use of intro and outro beats has also been widely influential. To introduce feature songs, he often plays a short instrumental excerpt, completely different from the rest of the song. Aside from their role as transitions, these are widely regarded as a way of displaying his large collection and as a challenge to other hip-hop producers to identify the records that the breaks come from. [Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip Hop. p. 57 (Middletown, Connecticut:
Wesleyan University Press . ISBN 0-8195-6696-9)] "Mecca & the Soul Brother" and "The Main Ingredient" use intro/outro beats on nearly every track to great effect, and the tradition continues to the present on Rock's recent releases.Remixing
"Another Pete Rock remix" is Pete's trademark term, heard on countless singles which he has
remix ed. Claims to have produced the original beat forThe Notorious B.I.G. 's "Juicy", and that it was recreated byP. Diddy and Poke (of Tone & Poke fame), without consent. However, he was invited to produce the remix, which utilizes the same sample as the original -Mtume 's "Juicyfruit".Although he received no official producer credit, he made the original demo beat for
A Tribe Called Quest 's "Jazz (We've Got) ", which was recreated by Q-Tip.He remixed Public Enemy's "Shut 'em Down" and "Nighttrain", in the same day, starting at 12pm and finishing at 12am.
Claims to have done several high profile remixes which remain unreleased including one of Madonna's "Secret".
Up until 2003, created all of his productions on the E-mu SP1200, thereafter using the
AKAI MPC2000XL.Pete has a collection of about 90,000 records and digs for records at least once a week. [ [http://peterock.tribe.net/thread/032f66d2-a223-400c-a902-fe166be14676 Wax Poetic interview - Pete Rock - tribe.net] ]
Influence
Pete Rock has had a considerable impact on a number of producers who have emerged since the late 90s. Many critics have compared newcomers to him, sometimes favorably. Perhaps, most notable among these comparisons are the late
Detroit producerJ Dilla , andNorth Carolina 's9th Wonder , both of whom have worked with Rock during their careers. Many of the comparisons stem from the fact that these producers create the bulk of their productions out of samples, as well as the warm, mellow, and exuberant undertones apparent in their work. Pete Rock himself has added validation to the comparisons with J Dilla by stating "he's the only producer in this game that was just as serious [as me] ." [ [http://artofrhyme.com/interviews/artist/Pete-Rock/88/ ArtOfRhyme.com Interview with Pete Rock] ]Other producers such as
Kev Brown , andKanye West , have also found themselves compared to Pete Rock, with the latter approvingly referring to himself as "the new version of Pete Rock" onSlum Village 's "Selfish". Pete Rock has acknowledged his relevance to these artists, releasing an instrumental record with 9th Wonder ("Class Is in Session"), and recording his own remix of West's "Heard 'Em Say ". Rock himself has named his main musical influences as being his close friendMarley Marl and soul legendJames Brown .Discography
*"Soul Survivor" (1998)
*"PeteStrumentals " (2001)
*"" (2003)
*"Soul Survivor II " (2004)
*"" (2005)
*"NY's Finest " (2008)References
External links
* [http://until-the-train-stops.blogspot.com/2007/03/for-petes-sake.html Interview with Pete Rock]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Pete+Rock Pete Rock] atDiscogs.com
* [http://www.myspace.com/peterock Pete Rock] atMySpace.com
* [http://www.prefixmag.com/features/pete-rock/pete-rock-interview/17354/ Pete Rock Interview - February 2008]
* [http://www.jerrylbarrow.com/wordpress/?p=55 Pete Rock Interview Part 1]
* [http://www.jerrylbarrow.com/wordpress/?p=56 Pete Rock Interview Part 2]
* [http://www.riotsound.com/hip-hop/rap/interviews/Pete-Rock/index.php Riot Sound, Hip-Hop, Rap & Urban Culture - Pete Rock Interview]
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