Pete Rock facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pete Rock
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Rock performing at Rahzel and Friends,
Brooklyn Bowl, 2016 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Peter O. Phillips |
| Also known as | Soul Brother No. 1, The Chocolate Boy Wonder |
| Born | June 21, 1970 The Bronx, New York City, U.S. |
| Origin | Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
| Died | Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day |
| Genres | East Coast hip hop, alternative hip hop, experimental hip hop, jazz rap, turntablism |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, DJ, rapper |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | Babygrande, Elektra, Loud, Rapster, BBE, Nature Sounds, Mello, Tru Soul |
| Associated acts | Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Ed O.G., Heavy D, INI, Skyzoo, Smif-N-Wessun, Smoke DZA |
Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), known as Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ, and rapper. Many people think he is one of the best hip hop producers ever. He is often mentioned with other famous producers like DJ Premier, RZA, and Q-Tip. These artists helped shape East Coast hip hop in the 1990s.
Pete Rock became well-known in the early 1990s as half of the popular group Pete Rock & CL Smooth. He was also famous for creating new versions of songs, called remixes. After the group split up, Pete Rock started a solo career. He earned a lot of respect around the world for his unique music. Pete Rock also helped mix elements of jazz into hip hop music, a style known as jazz rap. His older brother, Grap Luva, and younger cousin, Heavy D, are also rappers.
Contents
About Pete Rock
His Early Life
Pete Rock was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York. He was the fourth of five children. His parents were immigrants from Jamaica. When he was seven, his family moved to Mount Vernon, New York. In high school, he met CL Smooth, who would become his music partner.
Pete Rock's father was also a part-time DJ. He had a very large collection of records. Pete Rock often went with his father to a cricket club in The Bronx. There, he watched his father play music for the guests. Pete Rock's first job was delivering newspapers in his neighborhood.
His Solo Music Career
After his group with CL Smooth ended in 1995, Pete Rock kept busy. He continued to remix and produce music for other artists. In 1998, he released his first solo album called Soul Survivor. This album featured popular songs like "Tru Master" and "Take Your Time."
In the early 2000s, Pete Rock released PeteStrumentals. This album was mostly instrumental, meaning it had no vocals. He also released a collection of songs called Lost & Found: Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics in 2003. This album included music that had been recorded earlier but not released. He continued to release more albums, including Soul Survivor II in 2004.
Pete Rock also worked with other artists. In 2004, he teamed up with rapper Ed O.G. for an album called My Own Worst Enemy. In 2008, he released his fourth album, NY's Finest.
Pete Rock also helped with Jay Stay Paid, an album by the producer J Dilla after J Dilla passed away. Pete Rock later joined Kanye West in Hawaii to work on Kanye's album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. He has also announced plans to work on an album with DJ Premier.
Pete Rock has continued to release new music. He confirmed that PeteStrumentals 2 was finished and released it in 2015. In 2019, he announced more new music, including Return of the SP1200 and PeteStrumentals 3. He also worked on albums with rappers Smoke DZA and Skyzoo. In 2024, Pete Rock worked with rapper Common on an album called The Auditorium, Vol. 1.
His Musical Style
How He Makes Music
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Pete Rock creates his beats using samples. Samples are small pieces of sound taken from other recordings. He often uses sounds from old R&B, funk, and jazz records. This is his way of honoring the Black American music traditions that started hip hop.
He used special machines like the E-mu SP-1200 and the Akai S950 to make his music. Later, he started using the MPC. Pete Rock often cuts samples into smaller parts, changes their sound, and layers many samples together in one song. His music often sounds hazy and deep. He is also known for his strong basslines, horn sounds, and gritty drums. His beats sometimes sound like they are being played from an old vinyl record. He often records his sounds directly from these records.
Pete Rock also uses horn samples a lot in his music, especially in his earlier work. For example, in his famous song "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)", he used a horn sound from Tom Scott's "Today."
Pete Rock, along with groups like Gang Starr and A Tribe Called Quest, played a big part in mixing jazz and funk music into hip hop. He used many jazz samples in his albums. Pete Rock also often uses short instrumental parts at the beginning and end of his songs. These parts are different from the main song. They show off his large record collection and challenge other producers to guess where the sounds come from.
His Remixes
"Another Pete Rock Remix" is Pete Rock's special phrase. You can hear it on many songs he has remixed. He has remixed songs for hip-hop artists and also for artists from other music styles. For example, he remixed "Before You Walk Out Of My Life" for R&B singer Monica in 1995.
Pete Rock has said that he created the original beat for The Notorious B.I.G.'s famous song "Juicy". He also made the original demo beat for A Tribe Called Quest's "Jazz (We've Got)". He is known for being able to create many remixes quickly. For example, he remixed two Public Enemy songs in just one day.
Until 2003, he made all his music using the E-mu SP-1200. After that, he started using the Akai MPC2000XL. He has a huge collection of about 90,000 records and looks for new ones every week.
His Influence on Music
Pete Rock was greatly influenced by Black American music traditions like Soul, Jazz, and R&B. He then passed this influence on to others. Pete Rock has had a big impact on many record producers who came after him. Producers like J Dilla and 9th Wonder have been compared to Pete Rock. Both of them worked with him during their careers. These comparisons come from the fact that these producers also use many samples in their music. Their music also has a warm, mellow, and lively feel, similar to Pete Rock's work. Pete Rock himself has said that J Dilla was "just as serious" about music as he was.
His Personal Life
Pete Rock is a big fan of Marvel. He loves reading and collecting comic books featuring his favorite superheroes, like The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, and X-Men. He also enjoys watching sports. He is a fan of the NFL football team New York Giants and the NBA basketball team New York Knicks.
His Legacy
Many people see Pete Rock as one of the most important and respected hip-hop producers of all time. A writer from Yellow Brick said that Pete Rock's music has a "unique sound." This sound mixes jazz and soul samples with strong drums. It has inspired countless producers and helped shape the sound of hip hop music.
Discography
Studio albums
- Soul Survivor (1998)
- Soul Survivor II (2004)
- NY's Finest (2008)
- Soul Survivor 3 (To Be Announced)
Collaboration albums
- Mecca and the Soul Brother (with CL Smooth) (1992)
- The Main Ingredient (with CL Smooth) (1994)
- My Own Worst Enemy (with Ed O.G.) (2004)
- 80 Blocks from Tiffany's (with Camp Lo) (2011)
- Monumental (with Smif-N-Wessun) (2011)
- 80 Blocks from Tiffany's 2 (with Camp Lo) (2013, re-released in 2020)
- Don't Smoke Rock (with Smoke DZA) (2016)
- Retropolitan (with Skyzoo) (2019)
- 21 Grams: Worth It's Weight in Soul (with AMXXR) (2021)
- The Auditorium Vol. 1 (with Common) (2024)
Collaboration EPs
- All Souled Out (with CL Smooth) (1991)
- The Basement Demos (with CL Smooth) (2009)
- C (with Canibus) (2022)
- Baby Boy Beat Tape (with Bleq Saevan) (2023)
Instrumental albums
- PeteStrumentals (2001)
- The Surviving Elements: From Soul Survivor II Sessions (2005)
- PeteStrumentals 2 (2015)
- Lost Sessions (2017)
- Return of the SP1200 (2019)
- PeteStrumentals 3 (with the Soul Brothers) (2020)
- PeteStrumentals 4 (2022)
- Return of the SP1200 Vol. 2 (2022)
Compilation albums
- Pete's Treats (1999)
- Good Life: The Best of Pete Rock & CL Smooth (with CL Smooth) (2003)
- Lost & Found: Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics (2003)
See also
In Spanish: Pete Rock para niños
