PETE ROCK IN CONCERT:
Legendary DJ and producer Pete Rock pioneered the sound of East Coast hip hop in the '90s, and he continues to innovate today as a battle DJ on tour. His latest opponent? Fellow scene mainstay DJ Premier, one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. The two are longtime friends and collaborators, but that doesn't mean they wear kid gloves come battle time -- quite the contrary, Premier and Pete Rock put their skills to the ultimate test at their live shows, chopping and screwing each other’s tracks to the point of unrecognizability. It's competitive, sure, but the amount of work these two put into their sets reveals the immense respect they have for each other -- a fact fans will easily recognize among all the beat-heavy one-upping going on at the show.
BACKGROUND SNAPSHOT:
Bronx-born Pete Rock, a.k.a. Peter Phillips, grew up surrounded by music -- his father was a popular DJ with an extensive record collection. In the late '80s Rock gained his first major exposure on New York's WBLS, where he DJ'd alongside legendary producer Marley Marl. He made his debut as a producer in 1991 with the EP All Souled Out, a collaboration with former high school classmate CL Smooth. Working under the name Pete Rock & CL Smooth, the duo went on to achieve considerable success in the early '90s with two landmark albums -- 1992's Mecca and the Soul Brother and 1994's The Main Ingredient -- before parting ways in 1995. Rock launched his solo career in 1998 with the album Soul Survivor, a star-studded release that featured guest appearances by Inspectah Deck, Method Man, and Ghostface Killah. Since then he has released three more acclaimed albums, dropped numerous collaboration albums, and made his indelible mark as a producer on tracks by everyone from Nas and Run-DMC to Public Enemy and Wu-Tang Clan. A legendary live performer known for his unparalleled skills on the ones and twos, Pete Rock continues get the party started every time he takes the stage on tour.
