New York's Pete Rock is one of
hip-hop’s most influential and respected artists. The Long Island native got his
start in radio, during hip-hop’s “golden age,” working alongside the legendary
producer Marley Marl on the beloved radio show, In Control. In the early '90s, he reinvented
the art of hip-hop sampling with his classic albums (Mecca & The Soul
Brother and The Main Ingredient) with emcee C.L. Smooth. Since then, he’s worked
with nearly every major emcee to come out of NYC in the past two decades, and
he’s been cited as an influence by everyone from Kanye West to Pharrell Williams.
His recent release, NY’s Finest,
proves that he’s still got it. Appearing on this latest showcase of Rock’s beat
acumen is a cast of emcees that includes Wu-Tang Clan, Little Brother and Papoose. Rhapsody recently got the legendary producer’s opinion on a variety of topics.
On his early days
I was in high school [when I started]. I was doing regular jobs. No big money was rolling in, but I was among the big cats that were doing it. My cousin Heavy D gave me a shot. He believed in me and bragged about me to other people. That’s how I got in the door. Then I got a name for myself on the radio. I met Marley Marl and built a relationship with him. I was 15. I had been listening to Mr. Magic and Marley Marl before I even thought I’d be on the radio. I used to listen to WHBI, Jazzy Jay DJ’ing for 98.7 Kiss, and Mr. Magic and Marly Marl.
I met Marley Marl at his house. He was working with Heavy on “Overweight Lover in the House” and I was always with Heavy. It did something to me. It invested me with something great. I learned from watching him in the studio. The same with Howie T. and Teddy Reilly. It inspired me to be a producer. I did the radio thing with [ Marley Marl] for five, six, seven years. I was a DJ before I was a producer. And when I did my first project, the Groove B Chill, I was 16. Back in the day, they were signed to Uptown Records. Their album was Starting From Zero, and I did the title track.
It was an opening of my
mind; an awareness that there were records out there other than James Brown. We
were just coming out of the James Brown era of sampling. We needed a new sound.
That’s when I came with those jazzy, soulful beats. I concentrated on bringing
those elements to the table.
On his peers
I always loved to
compete. I was being competitive with cats and not even knowing it. Cats was
telling me, "It’s hard to compete with Pete." I didn’t realize I was competing
with A Tribe Called Quest. I had a conversation with Ali [Shaheed Muhammad], and
he told me that every time I would put out an album they would try to top it.
And I love Tribe Called Quest; I didn’t realize what they were doing with me.
Method Man was on the first Soul Survivor [Rock's debut solo album], which was a dear record to me because it was the first time I worked with the Wu. Once I got to know one member [of the Wu], everybody showed me love and respect. They do the kind of stuff that I like to hear, and I do the stuff they like to hear. We grew closer.
On his recent work with Talib Kweli
I love Talib’s “Holy
Moly.” It’s an Elton John song ["Border Song"] sung over by Aretha Franklin [Aretha's version can be heard here]. I gave him a beat
CD and he picked that out. I was like, "Wow," and it blew me away. I love that
album. The Norah Jones and Madlib song [“Soon the New Day”] is one of my
favorites.
J Dilla. Everything he
ever did was so sharp. There’s nothing that he ever did that I didn’t like.
From what I understand, there’s a rumor floating around that he produced the
first “Crooklyn Dodgers.” Dilla was the
closet to [matching] my sound. There was
cats who tried, and there were those who were close, and those that were right there
with me. And Dilla was right there with me. He actually did a couple things that
intrigued me, that made me say, "Oh sh*t." He beat me to the punch on a couple
of things. I admit that.
On NY’s Finest
Every business I know
goes through a stagnant point. With hip-hop, there were a few things. A lot of
people died. We had the attacks on the World
New York needs to come together. I’ve always been real,
and that’s all I request out of people. If you’re honest and real with me, I’ll
show you the same respect.
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
Pete's new record is definitely dope. It's great to not only hear a good New York rap record, but a good rap record. I recommend you give it a listen.