Pete Rock

Pete Rock

Pete Rock (born Peter Phillips, June 21, 1970 in Bronx, New York) is an American hip hop DJ, producer and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 90s 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, if little in the way of mainstream success. Rock played a major role in the merging of elements from jazz into hip hop music, along with Stetsasonic, A Tribe Called Quest and Gang Starr. Considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, he 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 younger cousin of rapper Heavy D.

Biography

Early Life

The third of seven children, Pete Rock was born in the borough of Bronx, New York. His family moved to Mount Vernon in 1977, when he was 7 years old. He attended High School in Mount Vernon, where he would meet 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 people present.

Early career

His first major exposure to the hip-hop audience was in 1988 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 1991 he joined with CL Smooth to released the EP All Souled Out. Two full length albums followed, 1992's Mecca and the Soul Brother - considered by many to be a classic. After the release of the sophomore effort and admist of the success, Pete Rock began to produce for other acts on projects such as ("The World Is Yours"), to Nas' Illmatic, as well remixing singles for Jeru The Damaja ("You Can't Stop The Prophet"), Lords of the Underground ("Chief Rocka"), and The Notorious B.I.G. ("Juicy" - the original of which was allegedly based on Rock's own demo - see trivia). In 1994, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth once again collaborated and relesed The Main Ingredient. Both "The Main Ingredient" and "Mecca and the Soul Brother" were released to wide critical acclaim, cementing their positions as classics in hip hop history.

Soon after The Main Ingredient, the duo went their separate ways but Rock continued to do production work with other artists.

The following year, he formed the group INI, with Grap Luva, Rob-O and Rass and released the classic 12" "Fakin' Jax". The trio recorded an album, Center Of Attention, which was heavily bootlegged and remained unreleased until 2003, through BBE Records. The release of this album was coupled with another mid-90s 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. 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 of Edo 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 featured Inspectah Deck, Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon on various tracks, and continued on its follow-up, which featured both GZA and RZA. He also has produced three tracks on Ghostface's release Fishscale and Nature Sounds labelmate Masta Killa's sophomore 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 also plans to release an album entitled NY's Finest in the spring of 2007 featuring Raekwon, Masta Killa, Ghostface Killah, Cappadonna, MF Doom, D-Block, Redman, Papoose, Slum Village & 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, Pitch Black, 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).

Protégés

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 Puffy," I just knew it wasn't going to work out.

Another mid-90s 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:

We've been on tour, we know every rhymer and producer in this business. We've influenced people, even people we've never met have said that we changed the face of hip-hop. So we're going to try to do some more.

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, 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 Smoothbut stated that he holds no grudges against his former partner.

Production technique

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 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 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, 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, 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.

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 producer J Dilla, and North Carolina's 9th 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.

Other producers such as 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". 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 influence as being Marley Marl.

Selected Discography

Visit Pete Rock discography for a comprehensive list of Pete Rock productions.

Solo Albums

Album cover	Album information
File:Soulsurvivor.jpg	Soul Survivor Released: November 10, 1998 Billboard 200 chart position: #39 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #7 Singles: "Tru Master", "Take Your Time" b/w "Tha Game"
	PeteStrumentals Released: May 1, 2001 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #61 Singles: "Back On The Block" b/w "Mind Frame", & "Nothin' Lesser"
	Lost & Found: Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics Released: November 4, 2003 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles: "Fakin' Jax" b/w "Props"
	Soul Survivor II Released: May 11, 2004 Billboard 200 chart position: #155 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #27 Singles: "Warzone" & "It's A Love Thing" b/w "Appreciate"
	The Surviving Elements: From Soul Survivor II Sessions Released: January 25, 2005 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:
	NY's Finest Released: TBA Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles: "914" b/w "PJs"

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth

Album cover	Album information
	All Souled Out Released: June 25, 1991 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #53 Singles: "The Creator", & "Mecca And The Soul Brother (Remix)"
	Mecca and the Soul Brother Released: June 9, 1992 Billboard 200 chart position: #43 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #7 Singles: "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)", "Straighten It Out" & "Lots Of Lovin'"
	The Main Ingredient Released: November 8, 1994 Billboard 200 chart position: #51 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #9 Singles: "I Got A Love", "Take You There", & "Searching"

Compilations

Album cover	Album information
File:PetesTreats.jpg	Pete's Treats Released: March 22, 1999 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:
File:GoodLife.jpg	Diggin' On Blue Released: 1999 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:
File:GoodLife.jpg	Good Life: The Best of Pete Rock & CL Smooth Released: June 10, 2003 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:
	Underground Classics Released: July 11, 2006 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:

Trivia

• 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.
• 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 SP1200, thereafter using the MPC2000XL
• His first job was as a paperboy, in his neighborhood.
• Has a collection of about 90,000 records.
• Digs for records at least once a week.

See also

• Pete Rock & CL Smooth

External links

• Interview with NYCNN.com
• Pete Rock Lyrics
• Pete Rock at MySpace.com
• Pete Rock at Discogs.com