Pete Rock

Encyclopedia : P : PE : PET : Pete Rock

Pete Rock (born Peter Phillips, June 21, 1970, in Mount Vernon) is an American rapper, DJ, and producer. Along with A Tribe Called Quest and Gang Starr, Pete Rock was largely responsible for the merging of jazzy elements in hip hop music.

Contents

1 History
2 Solo Career
3 Legacy
4 Selected Discography
5 See also
6 External links

History

His first major exposure to the hip-hop audience was in the late 1980s with Marley Marl as a DJ on New York's WBLS radio show "In Control With Marley Marl". Propelled by the growth of his popularity, he began producing in the early 1990s. In 1991 he joined with his friend and partner CL Smooth (Corey Penn) to form the aptly named group Pete Rock & CL Smooth. That same year they 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, and 1994's The Main Ingredient. Both albums were released to wide critical acclaim, cementing their positions as classics in hip hop history.

The duo went their separate ways in 1994, following the release of The Main Ingredient. In 1995 Rock 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 2004, 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.

Recently, Pete Rock has returned to greater visibility, mainly through a closer relationship with the Wu-Tang Clan. This began with Soul Survivor, which featured Inspectah Deck, Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon on various tracks, and also it's follow-up, which featured both GZA and RZA. More recently, he has produced for Ghostface's newest release Fishscale and Raekwon's anticipated Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, and committed to Nature Sounds labelmate Masta Killah's sophomore album, Made in Brooklyn. On the Nature Sounds compilation Natural Selection appears a Pete Rock-produced track called "The PJs," which features Raekwon and Masta Killa.

Pete also has a collaboration with The Black Eyed Peas and James Brown on their remix E.P., Renegotiations. Pete's upcoming album, NY's Finest, is in the works and will be released on Nature Sounds.

Legacy

Pete Rock is often considered by true hip hop and underground fans as a forgotten legend and is seen as artistically comparable to or better than DJ Premier. Coincidentally, the pair have shared production slots on classic albums such as Heavy D's Blue Funk, Nas' Illmatic, and Freddie Foxxx's Industry Shakedown. Rock's distinctive jazz and groove style continues to influence hip-hop producers world-wide.

Selected Discography

Pete Rock & CL Smooth

All Souled Out (1991, Elektra)
Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992, Elektra)
The Main Ingredient (1994, Elektra)
(2003, Elektra)

Solo

Soul Survivor (1998, Loud)
PeteStrumentals (2001, BBE)
(2003, BBE/Rapster)
Soul Survivor II (2004, BBE)
(2005, BBE/Rapster)

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

External links