The legendary Pete Rock will soon be dropping PeteStrumentals 2; the follow-up to his classic 2001 beat tape album. It’s set to be released on the insatiable Mellow Music Group label, and you can listen to a taste of what we can expect with new track One, Two, A Few More.
Category: Pete Rock
Edo.G – ‘Make Music’
Edo.G dropped his excellent After All These Years album a few months back, but today we get treated to a video for single Make Music, produced by none other than Pete Rock. Watch below and let us know your thoughts.
Dilla Day 2015
February 10, 2006. For many hip-hop heads, it was the day the music died, for it was the date that the great J Dilla passed away. His legacy lives on in all of us though, and for several years since his death, his mother, the much-loved Ma Dukes, has organized the annual Dilla Day event.
The 2015 edition is leaving Dilla’s hometown of Detroit for Miami instead, and the confirmed line-up of artists is already incredible. His old group Slum Village will be there, as will frequent Dilla collaborators Talib Kweli and Madlib, plus the legend Pete Rock. Other guests include Black Milk, whose music has been inspired by Jay Dee, alongside Joey Badas$$, Camp Lo and more. That adds up to a fine selection of talent paying their respect to one of the greatest of all time.
This year the event is also being extended to an entire weekend, from February 5-8. Tickets are available from here right now. Peep the flyer below for more.
Why we miss the classic hip-hop breakdown
Hip-hop production has changed and evolved many times since the late 80s, swaying back and forth between old styles and futuristic ones.
The basics don’t change much though, with most tracks roughly sticking to the classic structure of the first two golden eras: Short into with ad-libs, or cuts and scratches. Verse 1, hook. Verse 2, hook. Verse 3, hook. More hook, shout outs, extended cuts and scratches. Fade out.
We are know it well, not just from hip-hop but also most other popular music genres. Classic rap tracks sometimes had an extra special treat though, between the second hook and the start of verse 3. It was known as a breakdown, and we miss them like crazy.
A breakdown tended to include extra cutting and scratches, variations on the beat, extended use of the main samples, and various other types of niceness.
They provided a chance for the listener to pause for reflection, to take in the meaning of the first two verses, and get ready for the third, which was often the most powerful. They also gave the producer time to showcase their abilities, and flex their cutting skills if they also happened to be a deejay.
We’re not necessarily saying we need them back, and in fact producers like DJ Premier and Pete Rock still tend to produce beats in this way. Other modern hip-hop tracks still have them too.
Lest we forget how fucking dope they were though, so here’s a few of our personal favorites. The breakdowns all appear after the first couple of verses.
Nas, The World Is Yours. Produced by Pete Rock.
Lords of the Underground, What I’m After. Produced by K-Def.
LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out. Produced by Marley Marl.
Listen to a Time is Illmatic mix from Pete Rock
Time is Illmatic is showing in cinemas around the world right now, and to celebrate, Pete Rock has blessed up with a new Nas mixtape.
As the producer of one of the classic album’s finest tracks (The World is Yours), there’s few people more qualified than Pete, and he does a fine job reminding us of just how groundbreaking Illmatic was. Not that we’d forgotten of course.
Check below for the full stream, and see here for our review of the Time is Illmatic documentary.
Visit the Time is Illmatic website to find out if the film is showing in your town. It is also available from iTunes in some regions.