Peter Phillips
(born June 21, 1970 in Bronx, New York [1]), [2] better known by his stage name Pete Rock
, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper of Jamaican descent. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth. After the duo went their separate ways, Rock continued with a solo career that has garnered him worldwide respect, though little in the way of mainstream success. [3] Along with groups such as Stetsasonic, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and Gang Starr, Rock played a major role in the merging of elements from jazz into hip hop music (also known as jazz rap). He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongside DJ Premier and RZA as one of the mainstays of 1990s East Coast hip hop production. Pete Rock is also the older brother and younger cousin, respectively, of rappers Grap Luva and Heavy D. [4] [5] [6]
Editors from About.com ranked him as #3 in their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list. [4]
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PETE ROCK TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
The sixth of seven children, Pete Rock was born in
Bronx, New York in 1970. His family moved to
Mount Vernon, NY when he was 7 years old. During high school, he met his future recording partner
CL Smooth. According to Rock, his
Jamaican father was also a part time DJ, who had an impressive record collection. Rock would often accompany his father to a
cricket club called Wembley in the Bronx, and watch as he spun records for the guests.
[8] 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 on
New York's
WBLS 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 1990 he joined with CL Smooth to released the
EP 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" for
Run-DMC, and "
The World Is Yours" for
Nas, as well remixing singles for
Jeru The Damaja ("You Can't Stop The Prophet"),
Public Enemy ("
Shut 'em Down"), and
The 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 album's release, the duo split and went their separate ways, with Rock focusing on production work for other artists.
In 1995, he formed the group
INI, with
Grap Luva, and
Rob-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 previously unreleased mid-90's Pete Rock-produced album, DeDa's
The Original Baby Pa
.
Solo 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. His first release on the imprint was
PeteStrumentals
, which was mostly made up of previously unreleased Rock beats; all recorded between 1990 and 1995 but remixed and mastered for the 2001 BBE Project. The album did however feature two additional 2001 songs that featured the vocals from The UN. An expanded and revisited version of the album was released less than one year later; 3 instrumentals had been replaced with 3 new songs performed by
C.L. Smooth,
Freddie Foxxx and
Nature separately.
Since then he has continued releasing solo albums including 2004's
Soul Survivor II
. In that same year he also produced the bulk of
Edo G's
My Own Worst Enemy
, as well as a track for the all-girl rap group
Northern State.
Pete Rock returned to greater visibility through a closer relationship with the
Wu-Tang Clan. Their collaborations began with
Soul Survivor
, which featured
Inspectah Deck,
Method Man,
Ghostface Killah and
Raekwon on various tracks as well as producing a track each for
Inspectah Deck's ("Trouble Man") and
Raekwon's ("Sneakers") respective 1999 albums. Rock continued to work with the Wu on
Soul Survivor II
which featured both
GZA and
RZA. In 2006 he also produced four tracks for
Ghostface's release
Fishscale
, including the first single, and
Nature Sounds labelmate
Masta 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 also features Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon and Masta Killa, released on the Nature Sounds compilation
Natural Selection
. He released an album entitled
NY's Finest
in February 2008, featuring
Raekwon, Masta Killa,
D-Block,
Redman,
Papoose,
Slum Village and
Jim Jones, among others, also on Nature Sounds. The lead single from the album is entitled "914" and features rappers
Sheek Louch and
Styles P. He is scheduled to appear on albums by
Bishop 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).
Planet Asia has recently claimed that later on in 2009 he will release a collaboration fully produced album with Pete Rock called "Planet Rock"
[9]
Pete Rock has overseen the production of
Jay Stay Paid
, a posthumous album by the producer
J Dilla to be released June 2, 2009 on
Nature Sounds.
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 rapper
Rob-O. They released a single, "Fakin' Jax", through
Elektra Records in 1995, before their debut album,
Center Of Attention
, 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:
We finished the album, turned it in to Elektra and they never put it out, they only put out a single. Sylvia [Rhone] really didn't cooperate, she didn't break bread with me when it came down to resolving that. It was all about her changing everything around. She wanted to change my whole sound. When she said, "You gotta make a beat like Sean Combs
—autogenerated1 />
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 four 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:
autogenerated1 />
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,
[10] 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 ruled out any further collaborations with Smooth but stated that he holds no grudges against his former partner.
[11]
Musical style
Production
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" for
Heavy D & The Boyz's "Letter To The Future". Pete Rock heavily used the
E-mu SP-1200 as well as the
AKAI [S950]—later moving 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 of
The 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 often sound as though they were being played from an old
vinyl record; he samples many of his sounds straight off these records.
[12]
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 and
A 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 as
Cannonball 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.
[13] 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.
Remixes
"Another Pete Rock Remix" is Pete Rock's trademark catchphrase, heard on countless singles which he has
remixed. In addition to Hip-hop artists he has done remix work for artists from other genres such as his 1995 remix of "
Before You Walk Out Of My Life" for
R&B singer
Monica. In 1992 he collaborated with
Mary J. Blige on the
What's the 411?
single "Reminisce", which utililized the same sample from his own single "T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You)". Rock claims to have done several high profile remixes which remain unreleased including one of
Madonna's "
Secret".
He also claims to have produced the original beat for
The Notorious B.I.G.'s "
Juicy", and that it was recreated by
P. 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.
Up until 2003, he created all of his productions on the
E-mu SP1200, thereafter using the
AKAI MPC2000XL. He also has a collection of about 90,000 records and looks for records at least once a week.
Pete Rock was one of 9 artists who participated in
thetruth.com’s Remix Project, where he remixed the Sunny Side song “Magical Amount”.
Influence
Pete Rock has had a considerable impact on a number of record producers who have emerged in the hip hop scene since the late 1990s. Many critics have compared newcomers to him, generally favorably. Perhaps, most notable among these comparisons are the late
Detroit producer
J Dilla, and
North Carolina's
9th Wonder, both of whom have worked with Rock during their recording careers. Several of the comparisons stem from the fact that these producers have created 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]."
[14]
Many other producers, including
Kev Brown and
Kanye West, have also found themselves compared to Pete Rock, with the latter approvingly referring to himself as "the new version of Pete Rock" on
Slum Village's "Selfish" from the group's 2004 album
Detroit Deli (A Taste of Detroit)
. Pete Rock has acknowledged his relevance to these artists, releasing an instrumental record with 9th Wonder (
Class Is in Session
), as well as recording his own remix of West's "
Heard 'Em Say". Rock himself has named his main musical influences as being his influential hip hop producer and close friend
Marley Marl and legendary soul musician
James Brown.
Discography
;Studio albums
- Soul Survivor
(1998)
- PeteStrumentals
(2001)
- Lost & Found: Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics
(2003)
- Soul Survivor II
(2004)
- The Surviving Elements: From Soul Survivor II Sessions
(2005)
- NY's Finest
(2008)
References
- Wax Poetic interview - Pete Rock - tribe.net
- Pete Rock And Cl Smooth Biography
- SoundSlam.com 2008 Pete Rock Enlisted As "NY's Finest" Retrieved January 31, 2008
- Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers
- Top 5 best hip-hop producers and WHY [supertalk archive - superfuture :: supertalk]
- Top 50 Greatest Producers In Hip Hop and Rap
- Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers
- Wax Poetic interview - Pete Rock - tribe.net
- [1]
- http://www.allhiphop.com/features/?ID=882
- Pete Rock - 'Interview Pt. 1 (Live At UGHH.com - 12/5/06)'. YouTube, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-12-25.
- YouTube - Pete Rock interview. YouTube, LLC. Retrieved on 2008-12-25.
- Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip Hop. p. 57 (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6696-9)
- ArtOfRhyme.com Interview with Pete Rock