Pete Rock: New York is Back

The legendary producer talks about his brand-new album, hip-hop in 2008, digital vs. analog, and the time he met James Brown.

Audio Pete Rock
NY's Finest

Without question one of the most important and influential producers in the history of hip-hop, Pete Rock is responsible for some of the greatest rap music ever made. Known for his impeccable crate-digging skills, rugged drum work, and affinity for soul-jazz loops, he has crafted timeless hits for the likes of Nas, Biggie, Run-D.M.C., Ghostface, Public Enemy, and his former partner C.L. Smooth, among countless others. He has amassed a discography that is almost unparalleled in modern music, and is widely regarded as one of the top beat maestros of all time. On his latest release, NY's Finest, he collaborates with emcees both new (Little Brother, Papoose) and old (Lords of the Underground, Chip Fu), lacing them all with his undeniably dope tracks.

MP3: Hey, what's going on, man? Pete Rock: What's up, bro? How you doing? Not too bad. How are you? I'm all right. Right on. So, yeah, I just wanted to talk about the new album and try to get a taste of where you came from when you were putting it together and what you've got in store for us. Well basically it's called NY's Finest. I've got the Lox on there. I've got a track with Dipset, you know, Jim Jones. Is that going to be the lead single, the "We Roll"? Yeah. Nice. Then I've got a joint with... I've got Little Brother on the album. Excellent. I've got Papoose on the album. I've got Redman on the album. I've got Chip Fu on the album. Nice! Renee Neufville from Zhane on the album. So you know, I've got a couple of people that I think make the album sound really great. Yeah, I noticed that, I mean, you've got new artists on there but then you've also got like Chip Fu that a lot of people haven't heard from in a minute. Yeah, we did a reggae track, it's good. And also Lords of the Underground. I was psyched to see that those guys are on there. Are those guys still busy making music on their own or did they just--or did you reach out to them and say, "Do you want to try to do it again?" Yeah, we worked together back in the day, you know what I'm saying. So we basically got--he heard I was doing an album and he came by the studio and then we kind of mapped something out together. Cool. And as far as the equipment that you're using making this record, is it more on the MPC or strictly MPC instead of the SP? Well on this album I did MPC. And there's maybe two SP beats on there, you know what I'm saying. It's mostly MPC, though, because I'm real comfortable with that drum machine. I really like it a lot. Right on. And now, obviously, back in the day when you first, first started out, you were making like pause tapes and stuff like that and messing with doubles and then to the SP and now you're doing the MP, whereas a lot of producers or sort of fledgling producers that are working now, you know, that's all foreign to them. It's basically they got a computer that's got certain programs on it. Do you feel like you had an advantage being that you had to learn really from scratch? Yeah, of course, because the manual work is always the important part of it. Once you look at all the digital stuff, you're just like, "Oh, man, come on." But then at the same time, you know, it's a clearer sound, cleaner sound and faster work and you get your work done much faster and quicker. I look back on the all hard work that I did, and I'm like, you know what--I remember spending nights in the studio and having to sleep in a studio where they had showers and stuff so I could take a shower and brush my teeth and do s*** like that. I mean, I worked on records like that for three, four days straight, you know. Totally. A lot of the stuff I did in one night, but then there were R&B records that I did that always take a little longer to do because the major record labels always have high expectations on what they want out of you. I hear you. So what do you think--I mean, being that you've been doing this for 20 years now and you're constantly mentioned as one of the best producers in hip-hop, it seems like nowadays there's kind of two schools of production. It's either everything's all real simple keyboard-type stuff, or the flip side, people are still sampling records and sort of looking back to the work that you were putting in, along with people like Diamond D and Premier and stuff. Mm-hmm. Now do you feel like...just on a personal level, what's your opinion on the sound of hip-hop production in 2008? I just feel it needs balance today. There's not enough balance in the music. There's not enough effort being put into the beats. A lot of it is real simple and just, like, done with ease. And it sounds like they made the beat in five seconds, you know what I'm saying. There's no effort in the music. There's no effort really put into the song. The subject matter is not really intriguing. There's nothing to really learn from. And I've got two kids and I like--I want them to know about my history and rap music and stuff like that. But when you're not really talking about much and not really having nothing really good to say to offer to children, then it doesn't make sense for you to even like that type of stuff, you know what I'm saying? Sure. It's just the people are being selfish and doing it for their own selfish reasons and destroying what we built, you know what I'm saying. Like, it's important that the kids know what real hip-hop is and the important artists that successfully inspired lots of other artists and fans of the real hip-hop world. Do you feel like this sort of current--what they're calling "ringtone rap," these sort of disposable hits, do you think that is just one phase that's going to burn itself out and then it'll be something else or what? Yeah, I mean, I don't knock nobody for getting the paper that comes out of that. But at the same time, you know, yeah, it's going to get tired. Like everything else, it gets tired and it's over with, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, totally. Because nothing lasts forever, nothing at all. So get it while it's hot, and that's the attitude of most of these rap people in the game. It's like they're getting it while it's hot, man. But what they don't realize is what they're putting out there, you know what I'm saying. No doubt. Now I know that you also, in addition to producing, you're also still heavy in the DJing and you travel the world doing parties and whatnot. You know, a lot of cats from your generation, whether it's like Jazzy Jeff or Biz, dudes have kind of made the switch to Serato, doing it all digital. Yeah. Do you still mess with vinyl exclusively or do you do both? Of course I do. I mean, the difference between Serato and what I do is that Serato is good too. I like it and I'm working with it too, a lot. It's just an advantage as far as not taking crates on the plane, you know what I'm saying. And not having to worry about your records being stolen or broken. So you just have your laptop and you've got your party and records with you on your laptop, which I think is... Convenient. Clever, very clever. But you know, you have times when the laptop freezes on you and s*** happens with the Serato. It hasn't happened to me yet, but I've heard stories. I've seen it happen before with other DJs. So I'm like, I know it may happen to me one day, but hopefully I'll be able to prepare myself to get something popping real quick right after that. I also wanted to talk a bit about just New York in general. Obviously, the album is called NY's Finest, and when people talk about that classic New York sound, your name is right up there. Do you feel like the biggest issue with other regions sort of taking over, in terms of what's on the radio and stuff, do you feel like it's just that New York lacks kind of unity or is disorganized or what? I mean, of course it's disorganized. We've been through a lot. We had rappers, personal friends of ours, that passed away, you know what I'm saying, people that I've worked with before, that I've actually built relationships with, you know what I'm saying. We lost Big L, Freaky Tah, Biggie, Pac, you know what I'm saying. Man, it's like--then we got hit, 9/11, you know what I'm saying, it just changed New Yorkers, you know what I mean.

But right at this moment in time, in rap music, I feel like there's no unification and every man's for themselves. And I feel like that's not how it was coming up in this game before. I mean, I know things change, you know, and there's a time for change, but then there's also time to unify as well, you know what I'm saying, to make the music more powerful than it is right now. With unification, you know how much more powerful we could be as black people starting this music, you know what I'm saying. So like, yeah, man, it's important. Now, I also wanted to go back a ways. I know that you had some projects that at the time that you did them didn't come out, like the INI record and the Deda Baby Pa record and stuff like that...people loved it, but because of the situation... Yeah, that was just actually a mistake I made, putting that stuff out. Really? It was the wrong label that I did it with. I shouldn't have did it with the label that I did it with. But you live and you learn, and I learned a great, great lesson from a all the mistakes that I made and I'm glad that I'm cleaning my life up as far as the business side of hip-hop goes. You know what I mean, there's a lot of mistakes that I made coming up. You have your ups and your downs and stuff like that. And when you realize your downs and you're still around and you're still passionate about fixing your career and so you can be happy with doing what you love doing, then it was a mission for me. So that's where I was at with it. And with the support of my family, I made it happen. Right on. I assume you've probably got vaults full of classic unreleased stuff that nobody's ever heard. Do you ever think about putting that out? Yeah, I've got a bunch of that stuff. But I've just got to find the right people who I want to do that kind of stuff with where I can be getting my just--what I'm worth or what the music is worth to me. Totally. Now I've also heard rumors of you doing the beats of some real classic hits and then not getting credited, like, specifically [Biggie's] "Juicy" and [A Tribe Called Quest's]"We Got the Jazz." Is that true that you did both of those beats? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. That's true. I mean, I got a shout out at the end of the record. Right. But at that time that wasn't appropriate. I wished I had just gotten the proper credit for it. I don't feel like, you know, if you're going to take an idea from me, the least you can do is put my name on the record, you know what I'm saying. If you're not going to pay me for the song, at least put my name on the record. So that's how I feel about that, and enough said. You know, I ain't got much to say about that.

Also, I also did--now that you mentioned that, I also did a song on Keyshia Cole's new album called Just Like You, a song called "Got to Get My Heart Back," [where] the same situation happened. The manager forgot I sent him beats because the only way we was communicating was through the e-mail. So I felt like, you know, I don't know, maybe he just couldn't--they said they couldn't get in touch with me to get me credited. But if that was the case, then they shouldn't have really did the song. But I love the way the song came out, glad she did do it, and they're actually taking care of the situation with me right now. OK. Right on. Now obviously, like you said, you had problems with the label. But would you ever consider doing another instrumental album again? Oh, yeah, definitely. I can do that at the drop of a dime. You know, I've got so many things that I can put out there and do instrumental albums and touch them up and make them hotter, you know what I'm saying. I also wanted to ask you what's up with Heavy D. I know, like a year ago or two years ago there was a rumor that he was maybe getting picked up by Bad Boy or something. Are you guys still in touch and close? Yeah, of course we're in touch. That's family, you know what I'm saying. I don't know if he's doing the Bad Boy situation. I'm not too sure. But I know he's doing something. What's the deal with Tango & Cash? That's the new group with Doo Wop? Yeah, that's something that we're doing together. We have actually an album almost done, you know what I'm saying. So we were doing that and a couple other things I got in the works that I'm working with. Cool. Excellent. And now the album--the cover art is obviously kind of a tribute to James Brown. Yeah, man, rest in peace to the Godfather of Hip-Hop and Soul music. Definitely. I wanted to ask you about that because obviously he's a huge influence on yourself and really in everybody involved in hip-hop. Oh yeah. Of course. Did you ever get a chance to meet him or cross paths with him at any point? Yeah, man, when I was a kid. Oh, yeah? I met him on the stage. I watched him and the JBs perform, you know. Nice. And he played the organ and the Fender Rhodes, and I was like, "Whoa." You know, I was blown away. It was when I was about 8 or 9 years old, when we first moved to Mount Vernon, they did a show in a place called The Left Bank that used to be in Mount Vernon and my mom took me and my younger brother to see James Brown. And she took me backstage to meet him. That's awesome. And I was 8, 9 years old. Yeah, I saw him about 10 years ago out in California. And you know, he was old back then but he was incredible, just totally incredible. Yeah, man. Yeah, and I was fortunate enough before he passed to do a remix with him and Black Eyed Peas. It didn't come out commercially. It just came out for iTunes purposes. I've heard you've also got some kind of secret-stash remixes with Mick Jagger and Madonna and all kinds of famous people. Yeah, it's stuff that I did for people that didn't--never came out. I've got a bunch of that kind of stuff. Right on. So, the album drops on the 26th? Yeah, February 26th. OK. And are going to be doing--are you going to be touring it or what? Yeah, definitely. Excellent, man. Is there anything else we should be looking out for you in terms of just producing on other people's joints? Yeah, I'm definitely working with some folks that are... It's not officially stamped yet, I would tell you who I'm working with, but I just want to make sure it goes through first and then I can run my mouth. I hear you. Well I've got one more question for you and then I'll let you roll. I just wanted to ask, you know, so many kids are getting into it, everybody wants to--you know, if they're not a rapper, then they want to be a producer, they want to run their label and this and that. Everybody wants to get in the business somehow. Obviously, a lot of these cats, or most of them, probably aren't going to follow through or don't have the dedication to really make it happen. But for those kids out there, what kind of advice would you offer up to the ones just trying to get on and get their foot in the door nowadays? Well see, the thing is, like, these people have to learn, like, it ain't about "getting on," you know what I'm saying. Right. You have to love what you do. You can't just do it because everybody else is doing it. That's the way people get it so twisted, man. Like, growing up, I loved music, man. You know, you can't just come out of nowhere and want to do music all of a sudden with no love in it. You know, you've got to love it first, you know what I'm saying. It starts with loving the music first and then things will happen for you if you love the music, if you're passionate about loving music and wanting to make music. You know, you've got to be passionate about what you want in life, you know what I'm saying. Absolutely. Because, you can't just want to do music if you've never done it or if you haven't been intrigued by it as a child, like myself, you know what I'm saying, it's just not going to work out. I mean, period, that's it. Love what you do, man. That's what's up. Well thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Pete. I appreciate it, man. Word. No doubt, no doubt. And I'm looking forward to the album. Everything I've heard off it so far has been dope. Thank you, man. And hopefully I'll catch up with you next time you're in San Fran. Word. That's what's up. All right. Take it easy, man. Have a good one. All right, man, you too. Peace.