Pete Rock

Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American music producer, DJ and rapper.

He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongside DJ Premier, RZA, and Q-Tip as one of the mainstays of 1990s East Coast hip hop production.

He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth.

Early on in his career, he was also famed for his remix work.

After the duo went their separate ways, Rock continued with a solo career that has garnered him worldwide respect, though little in the way of mainstream success.

Along with groups such as Stetsasonic, Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest and The Roots, Rock played a major role in the merging of elements from jazz into hip hop music (also known as jazz rap).

Pete Rock is also the older brother and younger cousin, respectively, of rappers Grap Luva and Heavy D.

Pete Rock was born in The Bronx in New York City, New York the fourth of five children born to Jamaican immigrant parents.

His family moved to Mount Vernon, New York when he was seven years old.

During high school, he met his future recording partner CL Smooth.

He briefly attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice but was not a serious student and left to focus on his music career.

According to Rock, his father was also a part-time DJ who had an impressive record collection.

Rock would often accompany his father to a cricket club called Wembley in The Bronx and watch as he spun records for the guests.

His first job was as a paperboy, in his neighborhood.

His first project outside of Pete Rock & CL Smooth was the hardcore duo YG'z, who released an EP called Street Nigga in 1993, with four out of the six tracks produced by Rock; however, they were quickly dropped from their deal with Reprise Records.

His next venture, INI, was a group featuring Rock, his younger brother Grap Luva, Ras G and rapper Rob-O.

They released a single, "Fakin' Jax", through Elektra Records in 1995, before their debut album, Center of Attention, was shelved by the label.

The other two members continue to record solo material, albeit only sporadically.

In an interview Rock elaborated on the situation:

"We finished the album, turned it into Elektra and they never put it out, they only put out a single. Sylvia [Rhone] really didn't cooperate, she didn't break bread with me when it came down to resolving that. It was all about her changing everything around. She wanted to change my whole sound. When she said, 'You gotta make a beat like Puffy', I just knew it wasn't going to work out."

Since their split in 1995, Pete Rock's relationship with CL Smooth has been highly unpredictable.

Although the pair briefly united for the reflective "Da Two" from Rock's Soul Survivor album in 1998, they avoided entertaining requests for a reunion album until 2001, when they once again teamed up for "Back on Da Block" from Rock's PeteStrumentals.

In their interviews during this period, it appeared as though a new album was underway.

As Rock would explain:

"We've been on tour, we know every rhymer and producer in this business. We've influenced people, even people we've never met have said that we changed the face of hip-hop. So we're going to try to do some more."

The pair went on a short international tour culminating in their well-received show at London's Jazz Cafe; however, soon after this they declined to comment any further on the new album, which never materialized (although Smooth did make three separate appearances on Soul Survivor II).

Rock oversaw the production of Jay Stay Paid, a posthumous album by the producer J Dilla, released June 2, 2009, on Nature Sounds.

Following that, Pete Rock joined Kanye West in Hawaii, who traveled there to work on the latter's fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

In addition, he and DJ Premier have announced that they are working on a joint album together, although further details are unknown.

In London, he confirmed that Big Pooh and C.L. Smooth will be on his half of the VS album and he planned on releasing five albums in 2011, including reuniting with C.L. Smooth for a third album, and dropping his fourth album on Nature Sounds.

His next few collaborative albums are both due for a summer release with Monumental first then with Camp Lo's "80 Blocks From Tiffanys" LP.

In an April 2011 interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, Pete Rock discussed his new solo work including his album with DJ Premier, as well as exploring the fact that he has had numerous beats rejected by Eminem over the years Pete Rock Uncensored Radio Interview.

In an August 2011 interview, he has confirmed the completion of the Camp Lo album "80 Blocks from Tiffany's" and that he is currently working on production for Torae's album, Elzhi & his own solo album PeteStrumentals 2.

Pete Rock announced on Twitter that PeteStrumentals 2 is indeed confirmed finished and scheduled for a 2015 release.

The project was released on June 23, 2015, on the indie label Mello Music Group.

On January 2, 2019, Rock posted a trailer video on his Instagram page announcing that new works will be coming soon, including Return of the SP1200 (which was released on April 13, 2019, exclusively on vinyl (Record Store Day) and released digitally on April 26, 2019), PeteStrumentals 3 (a continuation to 2001's PeteStrumentals and 2015's 2), Don't Smoke Rock 2 (also a continuation to Don't Smoke Rock) featuring Smoke DZA, and an album with rapper Skyzoo.

Rock confirms to Okayplayer that he is working on his sixth instrumental album called PeteStrumentals 4, another continuation to Rock's previous PeteStrumentals series releases.

The project was finished on June 30 and it's scheduled for a 2022 release on Tru Soul records.

The project was released on March 31, 2022.

Through the years, Rock has helped to jump-start the careers of several artists.