| Pete Rock is widely considered one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time. Born in the Bronx to Jamaican parents, a teenage Pete Rock first hit the scene in the late 80s when he joined legendary DJ/producer Marley Marl on his show “In Control With Marley Marl,” on seminal New York radio station WBLS. The popularity of the show soon led Pete to experiment with production. In 1991, he linked up-and-coming rapper CL Smooth and released the debut EP All Souled Out. In 1992, the duo dropped Mecca And The Soul Brother, one of the most critically acclaimed hip-hop albums of all time. Pete and CL went on to release the equally revered The Main Ingredient in 1994, which proved to be the last effort for the duo. Since then, Pete has lent his production skills to some of the greatest MCs of all time. He crafted and remixed hits for Nas, AZ, The Notorious B.I.G., Public Enemy, Run-DMC, and, more recently, Jim Jones, Talib Kweli, Redman, and Ghostface Killah, for whom he produced tracks for Fishscale, one of the best-reviewed hip-hop albums of the 2000s.
Pete Rock has also released a number of solo projects. In 1998, Loud Records released Soul Survivor, which saw Pete collaborating with a host of MCs, from Method Man to Kurupt to Big Punisher. That was followed in 2001 by a collection of instrumental tracks aptly titled Petestrumentals. In 2004, he released Soul Survivor II on his own imprint Soul Brother Recordings. Showing that he remains sharp as ever, the Mount Vernon native returned in 2008 with NY’s Finest. “I called it that because I feel like that’s me,” Pete Rock explains. “I’m one of New York’s finest producers.” Featuring legends like Raekwon, Redman, and Lords Of The Underground alongside 21st-century heroes like Jim Jones, Papoose, and Little Brother, NY’s Finest may be Pete’s best moment as an artist. “I wanted to big myself up,” he says, “because if you don’t do it, nobody else will.” Truthfully, though, Pete Rock’s music does the talking for him.
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