Pete Rock first exploded onto the music scene in the late eighties as a DJ on New York radio station WBLS “In Control with Marley Marl,” which aired every Friday and Saturday night. With a solid fan base behind him, Pete decided he wanted to expand his musical talents, so in the early 90’s Pete began producing. Not content with being a producer and DJ, Pete hooked up with long time friend and rapper CL Smooth in 1991. The rest as they say is history. Today Pete Rock is regarded as an icon in hip hop.
With the release of the EP ‘All Souled Out’ in 1991 and two full-length albums ‘Mecca & The Soul Brother’ in 1992 and ‘Main Ingredient’ in 1994, Pete Rock & CL Smooth became
a major force in the rap community. After the solid Mecca/Creator 12″, the duo unleashed one of those all-time classic LP’s every MC dreams of having, “Mecca & The Soul Brother”. This album should serve as a model for what every hip-hop producer should strive for when they lay down tracks for an artist. Very rarely do you ever come across close to 80 minutes of music with little need to skip to the next track. That’s how good this album is. Quite a few of the songs on here are very monumental:
‘They Reminisce Over You’, ‘Straighten It Out’, ‘Ghettos
Of The Mind’, and even ‘Lots Of Lovin’ to name a few…
These are the types of songs that can literally make you cry – damn, they were playing TROY at funerals everywhere. While riding high on their success, Pete Rock & CL Smooth shocked their fans and the music industry by deciding to go their separate ways in 1994. Pete continued to work on his remix and producing skills – see discography below. In 1995 Chris LaMonica, National Director of Mix Shows at Loud Records hooked up with Pete who was now the DJ for Future Flavas with Marley Marl on Hot 97. From building a promotional relationship with Pete, Chris was able to bring the talent of Pete Rock to Loud, which resulted in the birth of a solo career.
Pete’s debut solo album on Loud Records ‘Soul Survivor’ was released in the summer of 1998. The album featured guest appearances from Raekwon (Wu Tang Clan), The Roots, OC, Rob-O, Black Thought (The Roots), CL Smooth and Kool G Rap.
In early 2000 BBE hooked up with Pete Rock and he decided to produce an eclectic beats album for our BEAT GENERATION series. Alongside Pete’s extensive record collection, he inherited from his fathers’ record collection a rich variety of music, which he and BBE both decided should be reflected on this groundbreaking release. The fusion of reggae, jazz, pop, folk, rock and soul would lace this intricate project. A scattering of MC tracks are present to wet the appetite’s of Pete’s traditional fan base. All three MC cuts feature a new crew called the UN. The UN features Rock Marciano from Busta Rhymes posse – Flipmode Squad and newcomers Divine, Godfree and Laku.