QLS Classic: Pete Rock

Producer, rapper and hip hop legend Pete Rock talks about his deep knowledge of music, recording and the art of sampling.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Of course, Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio.
This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.
Yo Yo Yo, what up? This is Fonte Fonticcolo. We're
gonna take it back to the simple fourteen sixteen with
my big brother Pete Chocolate Boy Wonder, the number one
soul brother, producer, rapper, hippop legend. Pete Rock told us

(00:23):
about his deep knowledge of music recording and the art
of sampling. My man Smoked Gizza joins him on this one.
I think he says like one word can. He was
just like overwhelmed with all the nerdship we're talking. But anyway,
this is a great episode. Pete Rock one of my
biggest influences, the reason why I quit my fucking job.
QLs classic Pete Rock. Let's go Crema Suprema role called,

(00:56):
Suprema Suprema role call, su Prima su su prima road call,
Subprima su prima roll call. My name is quest Love.
Yeah here there's still no thunder, Yeah, but I'm really honored. Yeah.
So with Shockling Boy one Suprema roll call, Subprima su

(01:22):
Prima road car I named is Fonte. Yeah, it ain't
no other Yeah, I haven't been to Mecca. Yeah with
the soul brother ro Suprema Suprema roll call, Subprima su
su Frema roll call Sugar. Yeah. Yeah, what's up you guys. Yeah,

(01:46):
O call Srima, Surema roll call Suprima s Frema road call. Yeah,
and you know I'm bugging yeah rock here, Yeah, Suprema
road called, Suprema Suprema road call on Bill is here. Yeah,

(02:13):
so have no fear. Yeah, very down to earth. Yeah,
and I didn't have to curse Suprema roll call Suprima
something Suprema roll call. I name this desert Yeah, the
flex is crazy. Yeah, I'm super hot. Yeah, so I

(02:33):
might sound later. Subprima road call, Suprima Subprima role call.
I name is Pete Rock Yeah. Sometimes I wrap yeah,
no times I sing yeah, ding ding lane small Prima

(02:58):
roll So so pretty much, Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to
another edition of Course Love Supreme, This Quest Love. Welcome
to Team Supreme. How you guys doing. We're good baby?

(03:22):
Uh right now we are with Oh we got two
special guests. Actually this is our first combo yeah combo
show that we've done besides Revolution. Well Revolution was like
that was like a special news super Bowl. Yeah, breaking news.
Yeah that was. It was like a very special episode

(03:43):
of an eight sitcom. Yes, but they talked about child abuse.
It was like every one of these things are deadly
a special difference where he was with that ship could
never get aired. The deaf guy least doing our ads
for Uber? Now, yeah, I saw it was on I

(04:04):
saw on Facebook he's gonna ad for Uber? How do
you know this? It was? It was on Facebook? Get
out of Like did you spot Oh that's Dutley just
someone somebody else. Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to
the show. Smoke does it And they wanted only Pete rocking.
Yeah alright, so we're going to get into everything nerd out.

(04:27):
I mean, Pete, this is as as as a person
obsessed with music. Um I I love picking the brain
of of just someone who is majorly, majorly, majorly majorly
obsessed with music. So this is this is an honor
for us. Oh god, bless man, you know privilege. Alright, So, uh, Pete,

(04:49):
welcome to uh the show. It's my first time on
your show. I think this is our first time, like
it's I don't feel like a veteran til week's episode
one like hunt to you know till that time it'll
be around. Um Man, I don't. I don't even know
where to start, So man, I will start with I've

(05:11):
told the story before, but I've never told him. You're
the reason I quit my job. Where everyone mad, Here's
the reason I quit my job. So what song was
it that just made you like, well, it wasn't a song.
It was a phone call. It was a phone call.
And this is back in two thousand and two when

(05:32):
we hit the listening had just it hadn't come out,
come out, but it was kind of just selling on
hip hop site and it was just kind of circulating
and uh, homeboy Darryl Pow worked up Above Records, called
my house and left. He had Pete on three way
and called my house and left the message. And Pete like, Yo,

(05:52):
what up a little brother. You know what I'm saying.
It's chocolate boyd want to Pete Rock gotta get you
all on the piece of my album. I got your album.
Listen that's crazy. And I quit my job at Belt
that very next day because he said your album was
crazy crazy and it was even more came from circle
because I told you before to my and I was

(06:15):
in tenth grade. This is when main and gredient came out.
A girl that went to my high school named Deborah Jones.
She was in a poetry contest and the winner of
the portry contest got a performance from Pete and c L.
Wait what this is? I swept Page High School, Greensboro, Northlina.
She she wanted poetry contest and she read the poem.
I don't even remember what the poem was about. What

(06:35):
does she she want? What she wanted poetry contest? Right?
And it was like a poem. It was like a
black poem about a black issue. I don't remember what
the issue was, but I just remember Pete and Cell
came out school. That was all that matter, and then
they got to perform. The winner of the portry contest

(06:55):
got a performance by Pete and c L at their
school like a radio promotion. Wasn't radio, it was something.
I don't know who was doing it, but obviously was
in February, but maybe Greedy came out. I don't think
it was cold because it was during track season because
I remember I was late to track practice because I

(07:17):
was in the front and I had my mecha. No
I'm sorry. I had main ingredients CD, and I remember
holding it up, and I remember you came to the
side of one of those guys that hold up the record.
I held up the record because I knew because I
was at like a predominantly white high school, but like
it was like maybe like seventy thirty, but like it
was a lot of white people, but like the black

(07:37):
people we had were like black. How many how many people? Yo?
How many people could fit in the auditory? Oh? Man?
All the term it was a couple of hundred. It
was like this this this is my worst nightmare doing
in my career. The high school visits my worst nightmare

(08:01):
because it's never ever worked out. It only worked out once.
And that's because me and to Read gave a gang
load of money to our high school. Time I ever
worked out one. So Pe Rockins Shales move, came to
your high school, came to high school and what year
was this? This is nine five? This main ingredient hit
like just came out and you guys were receptive. Oh

(08:23):
my god, I was losing it, dude. So I have nightmares,
like my first time in a in a school scenario.
You know. The first question was asked, do you don't
know real famous people? Like I'm sorry, yeah, yeah that

(08:45):
all day? Uh this was like two thousand, Yeah, oh yeah,
I was. I was that my stuff really famous? My
daughter asked me if I knew Kendrick Lamar. Yeah, she
loves Kendrick. Well that's excusable, but I mean she knows

(09:07):
who daddy is, right, Yeah, yeah, that's that's the point.
But what was your answer to What was your answer?
Do you know Kendra Lamar? No? I don't know Ken
because I just want to know, do you go? You
know kend Lamar knows me? That's the bigger point, that
you don't know each other. Yeah, but he probably knew
me first. How old are they now? Hold? There kids? Now?

(09:28):
My kids eleven and seventeen, Okay, yeah, I remember I
was around the same age, around around the same way, absolutely,
but yeah. But he came out of school that day,
ten grade, and I remember I was late to drag
practice because I gave him, which I hope and pray
to god he never heard. I had a homie working alltc.

(09:49):
That was like outside the dressing room, and I was like, yo,
many to take the peak and I made like the
wackiest demo ever, but you know what, all our demos
were whacking them begin and even mind really terrible. Really
beat making was horrible. But I mean, you know that's
want to you because I at your crib. You played

(10:10):
me some stuff from like early and I'm like, dude,
this ship of that stuff old from the twelve every
day I still like, all right, So there's like no
feeling in the world. There's a period I'll say, like
like seven maybe because actually Pete was the first hip

(10:37):
hop like celebrity or royalty that made us no no, no, no, no,
no no. I just mean like that kicked it with us.
Now the roots. I mean because we instantly moved to
London like two or three years. We really didn't bust
it out with none of our like contemporaries or whatever.
But like when we came back, I remember we met

(11:00):
you at a college and that was the first time
like I felt like, oh, like legitimate, not like I
don't even want to use me for me anymore. But
you know, nah we it was Jesus. This was in
North Carolina. It was a people, it was it was
a Pete rock uh route show. It was like it

(11:22):
was like a homecoming thing. But because the promotion was
a little messed up. We were in a big giant stadium,
but there was only like sixty people. Was like, was
it dude? Was it all I canna say? Was? I
definitely know it was because you know, by this point,

(11:42):
I was like, damn, Like we didn't like we really
didn't start meeting our heroes in hip hop and contemporaries
in hip hop to like, so to go from like
nine to seven with a complete draft of not knowing
any Wu Tang members, any like nobody in hip hop.
And so that's what I remember. But the other part

(12:06):
of that story is the fact that I'll say that
between you and the whip that you had always playing
beats in the car, like him and Premiere are always
always known. Premiere was known for his van, like cats
were called Premiere to bring his van to to bring
his van to the studio to test it. I'm one

(12:27):
of those people for him to like always just sitting
in the passenger seat listen to listen to do you
still test records like that? It's still the car test
to because I am too on the same way I
have to. I'm I'm from the old school, so you know, hey,
you know or the Truth School was a people say,
but yeah, that was one of the things we did.
We we make about ten beats in the crib. Then

(12:51):
you know, when you come out, you're just getting the
whip and drive around the yok city and buy about
So how old were you doing that with Big All
in the car one time? Really? Yeah? Just yeah, hunt
A courting me and Hall. I'm chilling Bronx. He's riding
around freestyle into my Beats cassettes. Yeah, I had, you know,

(13:11):
listening cassettes was cracking. I had the Benzi you know
you take the Benzi box. Oh yeah, you know the music.
You could turn the base notes like you know, the
Mega hurts up or down in my car, and when
you turned it down it sounded so loud coming down
the block. And then when you turned it up it

(13:32):
was it was kind of like off, but you still
heard the effect. I loved my car that that. That
was a crazy system in there. That must have been
pre Giuliani, because, like Erison post Giuliani, New York has
been a very quiet siy like the idea of a
loud car. Yeah, I'm one of those guys like look
at people like shaking my head, like turn that music down.

(13:53):
So how how old were you when you I know
that you started record collecting at a young age, but
what what got you into? Just um my pops? You know,
just you know, I was young, like say three or
four years old, just intrigued by a little round piece

(14:14):
of wax with with good sound coming off it. So
I was, you know at that time, that's all I
knew what it was. And and then I would go
in the living room and my pops had all his records,
all its forty fives. And one time he came home
from work and he seen me stacking his forty fives
up in a pile like like this, and then he
just sat in and told me what it was and

(14:36):
taught me about it. You know. So there's no I'm like,
I mean, no, no whipping. But you know, he scolded me,
and then he taught me because I was allowed to
touch nah see me, and I didn't you know, that
wasn't the right thing to do, to be messing with
his records, But I was a young kid, you know

(14:57):
what I mean. My my worst punishment came after the
Adventures a Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels is still like
hearing that even trying to scratch getting caught in the summer. Yeah,
flash drove me crazy as a kid. So he like,
what's your father DJ? Or he just collected record? Yeah,
DJ DJ and record collect Where would he? Where would he?

(15:19):
Cricket player? You know, you know Matt cricket trophies. Both
of your parents make the right. So you had all
kinds of music, reggae, classical, so fun, jazz especially, and
you know, but reggae being that with Jamaican so but
he had everything. So as a youngster, like what what

(15:41):
was playing in James Brown all day? J B S,
James Brown, Bobby Bird, you know, Barry White and all
the usually Barry White, Isaac you know, yeah, you know
what I'm saying. All right, So besides the the A
b cs of of breaks, like what's the what's an unusual?

(16:02):
Like I joined that? I would have to pay two
hundred dollars for that? You like, Oh, I grew up
on disco text sold like I had that? What rare break?
Did your dad just happened to have that? Oh? He
had all of that stuff. I mean he had all
the cooler gang, he had Maula, James Brown, he had
all of Isaac. He had all of um like Bregga
joints that have break beats on. You also have to

(16:22):
remember that a lot of those records got inflated in
price because of that man right there, we're gonna get
to We're gonna get that dig today, and I just
look at the prices like, wow, reminisce Tom Scott Scott,
I've seen that joint for like a thousand dollarge. Serious,
you know, I'm not lying to you not Yeah, even

(16:45):
dealers stuff that I find. Oh yeah, yeah, a lot
of money for it. I was gonna say that, Yeah,
that record shopping and the adventures of you record shopping
is crazy. So at what point does this become a
thing where you want to actually did he have DJ
equipment or just like a record collection. He had DJ equipment,

(17:08):
But when I was like three or four years old,
he had the one turntable with the Macintosh amps and
these these speakers that and you know, just a whole
Maintosh household. Yeah. Yeah, especially for a black family. Yeah,
he had the black with the green lights, you know,
the black amp with the green lights and the silver

(17:30):
yeah electric lady. Yeah, yeah, those amps are incredible right
now to get a Macintosh system. Now, yeah, it's rare.
It's rare. It's a house payment, that's very rare. And
you're gonna pay. You're gonna pay a nothing nothing like
so good. Oh my god. You grew up in a
So he was a serious record Yeah, serious with sound,

(17:52):
very serious, very serious. Is he still still with us?
Oh no, he left us in two thousands, so he
was here long enough to see Yeah, yeah, he's seen reminisce,
he's seen all. But obviously his collection became your collection. Yeah.
So it's in my mother's basement, and you know, he
left the records with me and my brother. You know

(18:13):
what I'm saying. I see it's a lot. That's how
I started my collection from him. All right, So at
what point does this become a profession? Um? Probably m hm.
You know when I got this job and steady gigs,
you know what does it? Starting the part like started

(18:36):
started young age? Now this is a mountain vernon right
you were born up? Yeah, I was buying like, you know,
twelve inches, sucking mcs, all of you know, King Tom
the Third, all that stuff, Fat boys, all that stuff
on Sutra records and so was there hip hop folklore
as far as like the folklore we here about parties
in the Bronx and stuff like what is what is

(18:57):
Mount Vernon's version of that legends that you grew up
watching like my cousin Floyd Chiba m and DJ Speed
and and Bomb two and have. You know, everybody had
different names at the time. My name wasn't Pete rock
um Have. His name wasn't Heavy d CL's name wasn't
cl s Move. You know what I'm saying. Everybody took

(19:19):
on different names. But you know, you know when he
started everything, you know, he was the first artist to
start rapping and you know, actually trying to make a
record and get signed. And then we just followed him. Okay,
you know what I'm saying. And you know it started
for me early man, early age. So who's the one that,

(19:42):
like as my cousin well Eddie f had had showed
me how to work it, you know what I'm saying. Um,
And then I picked up tips from like everybody I
was around, from Teddy Riley to to um Molly mall
Lode professor. You know. So take a good busy on
a hundred I've seen it in the studio I'm pretty

(20:08):
sure he used it for something that I was about
to say, because like now you don't think of him
using he's not. Yeah, but that was something that I married.
You know what I'm saying. I just you know, uh hundred,
because I remember the twelve before the twelve hundred. Yeah,
did you ever use the US the twelve on the
separate hard drive? And I was just doing kicking, kicking

(20:28):
snare beats with little rim shot sounds, and you know
how many seconds could the twelve hold? Not many? Like
it was like ten? No, No, that's the twelve hundred
was ten point two. It was like five seconds. Yeah,
so the twelve was last put everything in speeded up.
Well on the twelve you did that. But well, how okay,
here's a secret. I'm about to let y'all know the secret. Okay,

(20:50):
with the twelve hundred, right, I would sample what I
needed to sample. Weather was the baseline, whatever time I
used up drums baseline. If it was just those two,
then I would, you know, get that right right, tighten that,
then save it right, then erase it, then erase the

(21:12):
baseline out of the drums, and then add more music
in the drums. I didn't I wasn't doing the forty
five trick yet, Oh you just yeah, I wasn't doing that.
I wasn't putting records on forty five to get all
what I need now. I was just getting it regular.
Why uh, I don't know. It was just the way
I learned, and it was the hard to me. Now

(21:34):
that I looked at what I did, I'm like, damn,
that was a lot of work. I did, like super
extra crazy, but I didn't care. I was I had.
I was having fun. So when you're having fun, you know,
you're not thinking about you know, none of that. And
just to give the listener some perspective, I mean, this
is like when you talk about sampling records and sampling

(21:55):
time for machine, I meant ten seconds to sample whatever
you want. So sometimes I got the whole like the
world is yours got the whole loop in one you
know what I'm saying. Didn't have to you know, erase.
But with Reminisce, I had to do that. Yeah, I
mean because you were like one of the first producers

(22:18):
I remember that would layer samples and all of it
would be in key and I was just like doing
this ship. But if you notice, if you listen not
that wasn't like that at first. I used to just
sample whatever out of key or I don't care. I
was just I learned that from sitting in in Bomb
Squad sessions when I was just watching the ice Cube

(22:39):
album Go Down Dog. Wait oh wait. You can't just
say that I was watching Hankin and Keith and that
and that I picked that up, you know, listening to
the Public Enemy. Of course, you just sit in on sessions. Yeah. Yeah.
Do you think Green Street we worked in the same studio.

(23:03):
Was Jamie Was he engineering at James He was Jamie.
I met Jamie and Chung King, and then that's how
me and Jamie hooked up. Then I met Rod Way,
who's an Asian cat engineer in Green Street. I was
working with Rod first. So during those Bomb Squad sessions,
how old were you at that time? And your first

(23:26):
record you produced was um Google be Chill starting from zero.
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. And I didn't know what I
was doing in the studio, and something me and Jamie
wasn't was arguing a lot, and you know, I didn't
know what I was doing like that. Yeah, you know,

(23:48):
I was just trying to get it the way you
know the way I made it at home and it
wasn't working out, and then all of a sudden, you know,
it started working out, you know what I mean. And
then you know, next thing you know, I'm at another
session using Amy and then next thing you know, we
developed you started jelling. Yeah, so in the beginning, were

(24:10):
you one of the cats like back when I'm like, like,
like I ever had a beach making period It was
a periods No, but like yeah I would, but you know,
cats would just come over with a bunch of records
to me and be like, all right, now, loot this
part here, loot that part there. So was that like

(24:32):
your beginnings, you would? Um, I had very few people
that did that. But I remember a story that Biz
told me that he used to, you know, give Molly
right as Molly would hook up. You know, that's how
nobody business. Nobody used to bids happen and a couple
of the choints. But yeah, I barely did that. I
was just I was just cranking them out, man, just

(24:55):
you know, having fun, you know what I'm saying. Like, so,
how many hours a day with you all day wouldn't
come all right from your from your first time that
you like, we're trying to get up. How many hours
would you invest the days in my room from the
morning until I could start, until until I got tired
and then get up and do it again, you know
what I'm saying. So how long was it until you

(25:17):
were like I might I might have something here? Like
how long did you think I was like nineteen when
I was like like starting to lock in, because that's
when I got to shut them down. Job. Now that's
before that, I was doing like, you know, remixes with
Eddie F. From stuff Johnny Gill basically black he did
at Alexander. I did that. Yeah, I got in the middle,

(25:41):
and then uh, we'll see Ill wrapped on it. I
wrapped on it, and then you know the remixes. That's
where it started. And then when I guess, you know,
being as that my name was attached to a lot
of this stuff, untouchables or whatever, and I got it.
I got it. I got a public enemy job. So
the Untouchables was kind of your version of the bomb

(26:03):
Squad kind of amount. So we were it was me
Eddie F. Dave Hall Never Hides Neville novel, yep yep, um,
my man, my man, Kenny, my man Kenny was in
the Yeah Spunk Bigger Cat from Mount Vernon and and
I said, I think and my man Willie Willie from

(26:26):
from from New Chefs like eight of y'all, Yeah, Willie guns,
my man Willie guns. So when working on a heavy
D record, like do y'all just sit in the room
and that wasn't all of us all the time, like
Dave Hall would do his own beats and then like
for instance, you know the group intro come on, you

(26:46):
know I did you know ghosts produce, So you didn't
let me be the one you gave him that. I
did that. I did that first on on with them
always have no No, it was yeah, I think I
can't remember it was it was. It was with Head
first because Blue Funk was two yeah, and then yeah

(27:11):
so when when when when they heard Heaven, when they
heard heavy record, you know how they do the R
and bach taking hip hop like everyone wanted. But then
I gave Dave Hall He's drawing program the drums and
I said, here, you know, on the disk I just
gave you know, a floppy disk and I said, the
drums on that just you know, And then he made

(27:31):
that joint. Wow, I had no clue because I played
that record topic I love that record yet blast bro.
So wait, I just gotta I got a non music
professional question. When was the blown Niggers Away moment? Was
your blow Niggers away moment? And when you were seven?
Like when you first started shut up down away? But
where heavier? Everybody who wanted to impress it, even my

(27:54):
own family yea cousins. Everybody got it for me though. Yeah,
all right your remix now I knew, yes, yes, shut
him down like changed the game. But the remix to
E P. M D S Rampage Rampage, which came out

(28:15):
before then, Yeah, I did two different versions that. Yeah,
but the disco texts over all. Right, wait now now
I'm getting I have to play VI Ricky Williams. Yes,
that that is joint. That to me, that that made

(28:36):
me aware of who you were. And I'm shocked that
that didn't get more more more run. I mean, I
think I was running a lot when I was on
the rail DJ, I was playing my own remixes like whatever,
you know what I mean? But yeah, so the remixes
this was before all sold out? Was this before? That's

(28:59):
right at the same time, I was doing a lot
of stuff. Okay, here's the story. I did Down with
the King and jump Around remix in the same night
and hit Factory on forty seconds the same night. No
mixing it in the studio, Yeah, like finishing it because
they were stressing for me to get stuff done, so
I would, you know, do well. Actually, it was Down

(29:21):
with the King's session and they booked another room for
me to finish the remix to the page that's and
then they wanted me to rap on it, and I
was like, I don't know if I want to rap
on it. Uh, you know, I wasn't big on my
rap back then, but it was like please please, And
I was like all right, you know I did one
with the one without you know what I mean. I

(29:42):
did some Jon casey't like, yeah, that was one of
my favorite ones because you really took that record like
it gave it another feel. It still had energy. Yeah,
the original was really it was still really great till
to till this day, but the remix was something. Yeah,
just kind of put the cherry on top of that record. Period. Okay,

(30:03):
let me explain to our listeners to put in perspective, Um,
if you Uh, we're around for our our Dante the
scrub Ross episode when I when I tried to explain
the idea of the renaissance period of hip hop. So

(30:24):
um for a lot of our listeners. Uh, I've mentioned
this this volume of breakbeats, this compilation called Ultimate Beats
and Breaks, which essentially would be the Wikipedia of hip
hop breakbeats, where they would just give you all the answers.
You don't have to do much digging. You would just

(30:46):
take these records and then start uh looping beats. And
sometimes they would take make beats out of the entire record,
like take us sil Johnson's different strokes and mix it
with Bobby Birds. I knew you soul knowledge stuff. Um.
So where you coming to play is that you're part
of a renaissance period that starts emerging in you along

(31:11):
with uh Tipanali, uh Premier is getting his game up
day lie Yeah, Prince Paul professor um, and you know
I'm from Philly. I gotta include Jeff in the yeah,
I mean even cash Money and Marvelous. Yeah. So, what
what is happening is cats are now finding other sources

(31:35):
to sample their music from that's not from YouTube Samplers.
That's that's the new altimate pizza breaks, you know, but
for people that don't want to go out there and
you know, do what I do. Yeah, but it's like
can you really tell though? Like na, not really you
can't tell that. Yeah, there was a period where you

(31:58):
knew who was serious about the crap and who wasn't.
And then I'm not taking away because again, uh, the
Bomb Squad is one of my favorite oh yeah production
companies of all time. And yeah, but heard ice Cube
Sister Soldier Remix I did came out on Epic Records.
No back in the day, No, what's the name is?

(32:21):
I gotta get that. Sister Sister Soldier. Sister Soldier made records.
I have Google ice Cube Sister Soldier Remix came out
on Wax and everything. You just brought it to my
attention when you mentioned, you know something, I gotta research that. Yeah. No,

(32:46):
I had the album, but I didn't get the twelve min.
But yeah, where you come to play is that? I
mean when I joke about you taken the portion of
the record collection my my that I didn't go to
my father's record like a lot of the jazz stuff

(33:07):
and stuff I was just like, yeah, this is old stuff.
I don't want that, and just you know, just go
for the obviously, like if it's everyone and fire Stevie
one of the stuff I knew, but I mean, you're
going to Tom Scott and so like what is I
watched and and study other producers methods and see how
they do it, some of them well collecting them, scire

(33:30):
record and just sit and listen to it, sort of
skim through it, like what is your what is your
your record listening process? That that tells you, wait, I
can make something out of that. It starts at eight
am in the morning. You get because there's three people

(33:51):
I know that get up in the morning that Dilly
used to do it as well. Premiere also like and
they like morning. And then it starts also with a
messy house. So it's it's even better because you know,
that's how you get to play the whole record only
do and you you know, you're listening and something grab

(34:12):
you something, so you thoroughly listen to a record, yeah
and obsorb it and you know, you know, cleaning up
the crib. That's how I killed the time and until
I hear something I like, So what I mean what
if you don't get that pay off moment, because there's yeah,

(34:34):
I've been there, you know, get stuck and kid, you know,
you know, Or I get a record that has totally
nothing on it. But now I learned that you can
just grab a record that has nothing, totally nothing with
all the equipment they have. Now you can make nothing.
You can mold it, you can mold it crazy. So yeah,

(34:56):
it was. It starts from that. That's my process of
listening to records. And it's time consuming, but at least
I take five to six hours just listening, not even
making beats, it's listening. Then I know what to attack
when it's time to rock out. That's what separates you
from the pack. Dud. I remember at his crib. We
came up to his crib. This is Christmas two thousand two.

(35:19):
We all drove up this crib and we just all
slept on the floor in the basement and he did.
The thing that was amazing to me was how you're
able to take very familiar songs and flip him in
a new way. He did a flip of Oh my god,
it was a little child running. While Curtis may feel
strength the strings Man ninth loves that beat. The string

(35:43):
he took, No, he took the beginning of it. Yeah,
and then I put that organ in there, and then
he put the organ in from the beginning to organ.
That one, like I think two of my like most
favorite Pete Robbies that just made me really want to
just like quit music forever was like that one. And

(36:03):
take the d Train, oh man, ye, take the rap
god man, that's my favorite disco record in the eighties.
But when I heard the B side, you know, if
you're familiar with disco, twelve inches on the other side
of that record is an amazing intro pianos. It's a

(36:28):
slow yeah yeah yeah. D Train is wow. Yeah, but
you know it was you know those were you know
the records right there. Man. I want to ask you
a question. How do people how do these musicians or
drummers tune their snares to sound like they're hitting on

(36:50):
a horse shoe or or like a not See here's
the thing. It don't sound like a drum set, you
know what I'm saying. It sounds like the lesson that
I learned for really good break me drummond? Uh really
is the debtor? Like would you imagine would you imagine

(37:15):
in your head how powerful the break is? Like take uh,
all right, I'll give an example with with let's take Zeppel.
Now in your mind, you're thinking that Bonzo is just
rocking out like using every you know, like air drumming.
What what you imagine air drummons to do? But what
I found out was because of the particular Michael Steve

(37:39):
Stevens our engineer. All right, so what like what veneage
microphones am I using, like like doing the Voodoo era
and all that stuff, Like what am I using a well,
a lot of the stuff we had the Noyman's forty
seven's like that's what I believe, that's what sort of
John Bonham had the mono overhead, right, you know, oh

(38:01):
the mono it's like one mike, right, you know over
the kicks. That's because how's that snare sound? Like? I mean,
you're you're you've been. I think our best results for
actually recording breakbeats has been less mike's further away. So
that's the thing, Like now cats will mike every drum

(38:22):
an engineering drum, which is why it sounds so sterile. Yeah,
two thousands, Uh, I mean, you just gotta think of
the environment. Like, yeah, there were professional recording units, but
it's like in Motown and all that stuff. They was
like cats with Sharon one Mike damn. So when I
found my zone as far as like really finding that gritty,

(38:45):
dirty sound that you're looking for. Um, like you said,
like the U forty seven and then the ribbon Mike's
you know, yeah, Ribbon Royer Mike's. But even at that,
it's also how you play it. Like a lot of
the Tea Well drums, the drums that I use, like
my drum company will try to be like, yo, these

(39:05):
are special trees from Japan. We're gonna cut down, you know,
all this stuff. But no, but I'll tell them like, yo,
I want the cheap high school setting. And they look
at me, They're like, why do you want? I want
the cheap high school set. That sounds horrible because that's
what all the Classic ship was made. Yeah, dollar drum sets.

(39:28):
They were using five dollars sets from like Sears and
and just tune fine tuning it and micing it. And
but then also the way but yeah, the less velocity.
Here's the thing. Here's the trick with those old microphones.
The harder you hit the more compression and the more
you squeeze it out, the I mean, I try to

(39:52):
almost use nothing but risks like very very very light
touching that way when you EQ it, it comes off
super vintage and super you know, so it's almost like
it's it's an anti climatic answer. What I'm saying is
that basically, uh, the less I play and the quieter
I play, the better it sounds. But but in this

(40:18):
in this age of and I've got in trouble with
making snarky remarks about gospel drumming and stuff. But like, look,
gospel drumming is something that I can't overcome, and I'm
not trying to turn the world to my religion. What

(40:40):
about what about the no, no no, like modern, like
the cat you see playing for like unnamed Acte. No,
we're talking about like modern when you see modern music
today and you wonder why this guy doesn't make you

(41:01):
feel when you hear Clyde stubble Field playing um, it's
no one trusts that less is more. And when I drum,
I'm always thinking of would Pete Rock want to take
this part of the song. So anytime I'm drumming, but

(41:21):
that's you you need, you need something basic and something regular.
I mean it's like bread just storing the static. I
was sampling from that. I mean really, I mean to
beat out of that. Wait, I gotta I gotta find it.
I gotta tell you something. I made a beat from
that it. Yeah, I took a loop, a little quick loop,

(41:44):
and flipped it, you know what I'm saying, and then
put some ship in there, and then deleted it, and
then then I put more on top, you know. But yeah,
side note. Yeah, um, it's really weird when you hear
your own break beats uh in a porn at one time.

(42:13):
I've heard the see you know what I'm saying in
an amateur film. You literally heard the see they just
want some music. No, I heard, uh, someone loot the
distortion the static break at the beginning, and I thought,
you really must be a fan of the roots too. Yeah.
It was fans everywhere. Yeah, yeah, yes, the adult world has,

(42:38):
especially the remix. Oh my god. All right, so when
the Shut Them Down remix, can't I don't even know
how to explain to someone how important like shutting Shut
them Down? To me, changed really changed. I mean, he

(43:02):
gave it movement, like because the original, but it was original,
was cool, it was baseline drums and you know it
was a good record. It's good record. But I mean,
when we really consider that comedy the first did it
the first? I mean it was that wasn't the first
remix per se that totally re imagined a song, did it?

(43:24):
I don't know if it was the first, it was
one of them because I mean, it wasn't the first
because I just you know, Molly. The first one was
something he did. Molly did remixes. If you remember, like
dropping Science, the original version was different the drums right right,
and then he flipped it right, you're right, but he
did with the what you called it the yeah Molly uh,

(43:46):
I would say in terms of first you talk my
remix that kind of changed the game or changed the
song Jingling Baby. I was, yes, remember the original, yeah, yeah,
but that remix and killed it. And when that remix hit,
so I feel like the the the summer or no,

(44:09):
the fall of between the Scenario remix and the shut
Them Down remix. Really, I mean that to me was
the changing of the guards for for hip hop because
you know, and the thing is, I know that we

(44:29):
all have like our own romantic feelings of what like
classic hip hop should be or whatever. But it's like
in my head and especially as a DJ now, like
some of the stuff that I like doesn't really transfer
well to the dance floor. Like I love speaking of
America's most wanted. I love the ship out of like

(44:52):
that that that cut and nigger you love to hate,
but it's like sonically that doesn't work well in a
nightclub at Sphere, and it really wasn't working when you
spent off Wax like with Ratto. It's louder ship. But
for me, what's classic about shutting down? It was like
it was made under ten minutes. The yes, I lied

(45:14):
to y'all not It's no exaggeration, it was. It was
a rush job. I had to be at the studio
at four. I was late. I left, you know, together,
no time to overthink. No, I didn't even leave my cript.
I was like, you know what, let me just and
then I've seen some albums Lane, man, I hate you
right now, man, you know grab the brothers, Grab Tom Scott,

(45:36):
Grab what is that Tom Scott? Now? I know that?
But what song? Is it? Um? Not the same Honeysuckle
Rose record? Is it? Never? My love, I Hate you
right now? Man never three songs. Yeah, that's a POOLBA

(45:58):
used the version of it too, but Tom Scott yeah yeah,
oh for the I like it. Yeah, okay, but I
don't know what it when when I heard it. But
to me, it's so complex and so us first of all, like, yeah,

(46:19):
the drums, the fact that you separated, I mean, besides Marley,
like with nobody beats a business taking drums and re
imagine it, like, why didn't you just think like an
amateur like me would have just took long red, An
amateur like me would have took long red and just
looped it. Yeah, yeah, that's what I was doing. I no,

(46:41):
but you chopped it, thus giving you the ability to
eat it better. Yeah, I'm assuming that you didn't mix
that in stereo. When I found a dope snare that
hit hard and made a drum track with it and
rubbed long red against it, it was just like, Wow,
I'm gonna explain to you what long when it hit

(47:02):
with the long red? And so what what he is
explaining that? So this group named Mountain Mountain On one
of the few groups that uh wasn't documented on the
woodstock No on the Woodstock documentary. Yeah, long Redood from Woodstock, right, yeah,
it was from Woodstock, and it's actually him. There's a

(47:26):
version without the breakbeat also yeah yeah, yeah, the studio version.
But this particular version from Woodstock, that hip the live one,
that that's hip hop staple um is actually him mocking
the audience for not knowing where the one was, because
if you hear them, they're all clapping. They're clapping what

(47:47):
he's doing. So he's like on tempo Jack, like Tempo Gang,
so on Tempo Jack, like, don't mess up my group. Yes,
it took that louder. Yeah, everyone takes that louder. But
the thing is is that you know, an average person

(48:07):
would it just looped the four bars from it, whereas
now the Renaissance Crew it's taking these breaks and doing
the early phases of what we called just flipping, where
you take the snare of the kick and you reinvented. Yeah,
he was, and I mean around the time because I

(48:27):
remember you chopped up. This was a couple of years
later when you talk about maybe we talk about flipping records,
a Z give me yours, Well, you took the many
ribbons I had that original sample. I mean you know
my mom was played all the time, and I was like, yo,
uh no, no, no, it was no, it's it's not

(48:48):
the song, it's many the okay, yeah, it's here we Go?
Is here we Go bout many rooms? And that was
the song I heard, you know, a million times, but
I never heard it done in that way. I used
to love that song. But that's how I by I
looked it because I used to be like, oh, I

(49:09):
used to listen to this on tape. Yeah, slow, damn.
I just totally made it something new. Million people person
shut them down as the burger. But you know you
you you have the perfect chopped onions tomatoes on that joint.
But the thing is that a song like h and

(49:31):
I've Been Good to You by the Osley. But now
when you take this, uh, it's not quantized, all right,
you know what you gotta be my you gotta be
my Negro translator with quantized meaning that it's not imperfect.
It's not I didn't loop it. I actually chopped a

(49:51):
half a bar each of it. Then if you telling
me that you made this in ten minutes, this means
you're working at the yes speed lightning. Because I had
to go so you know, he didn't have to. I
had to be out son. I had to you know,
I was at that time and being late in the
music business was like a big deal. So you know,

(50:13):
I was just trying to and then I was still late,
but you know, I had a hot joint with me,
so that's why I was like, So, what was the
look on their face? When? Who? Who did you play for?
When you When I got there, Jamie stopped, you know
in the studio with him and him bugging out and saying,

(50:33):
you know, he got something. Yeah, we're gonna play around
with these sounds and didn't take long to line up, Like, nah,
it probably took a little while, but you know, once
I got once, I had to beat in the baseline.
Everything else was like So what was Chuck's reaction when
he heard it? I wish I could have seen his face,

(50:54):
but I don't know. I wasn't around when There's the
two best public endity stories I ever heard. Both came
from Buster Rhymes. Yeah, Buster knows. Buster has a story
of being like Buster and Charlie Brown and Thinko used
to always be uh at their studio. Chuck named them

(51:16):
named right so after high school like leaders of the
New School used to always just hang at the studio
and it was there for reminisce. Yeah, Charlie Brown was
in the in the mix when when I first listening
down to the first listening down was done, Charlie was

(51:37):
there well, and I was saying that Buster Buster told
me that he's like a hip hop song never made
him cry real tears until the moment where after school
they heard Rebel without a pause first time and he says,
but man, when I heard shut him down, like he like,

(52:00):
I went out my mind because yeah, it was just
it was just unheard of Genesis album. He was like,
he did it. Yeah, I want to do that again beat.
Come on, man, you know I busted talk. I can't
do bus. One thing I wanted to ask you in
terms of, like with the remixes, because it's very different now.
You know what you got computers, you just line things up.

(52:23):
How are you able to get the vocals to sink
with the track that was that? That was Jamie's job.
But I was good because I'll be like, look, man,
make him ride that beat. This is a new remix joint.
I want you know, I wanted to sound totally different
from the original and Jamie know it was it was

(52:44):
s empty and all that stuff, so you have to
fly the vocal from the Yeah. And Jamie was nice
because he's the splice So anything that he would time wise,
he would splice tape. And it was crazy with him. Man, Wow,
I think about the way we used to work and
it was just like wow, all that's cut off. It's

(53:04):
the work today is much easier's faster. We were doing
it like the hard way, the long way. So when
when this comes out, then suddenly, what's what's Pete Rocks
life like after this? My life? What was this? Nah?

(53:27):
But yeah, man, it's just my life just went from
being you know, paper boy delivering papers in my hood,
from flipping stakes in the mall too, hanging with my cousin,
going to the studio, hanging out with have you know,
taking you know, acting like a little sponge around Howie
T and Teddy Riley and Molly and made my mind

(53:50):
up and saying, yeah, this is what I want to do.
From that, just from that experience, I was, you know, yeah,
was like him because he's another clean beat maker. I
know clean. This ship is still bang. He'll take a
record like I never heard impeache sounds so clean. Yeah,

(54:12):
he he did it on How We t was the
producer special special for job right. He chopped up on
especially at second album, You wish you could impeach over
the Superman? Yes, my favorite, my favorite joint and how
do you remember that specialized? I wish you could? I

(54:38):
wish you would. I played that all the time. Man. Yeah,
that's how he was amazing, Like it was him and
Molly for me, you know, coming up of course Rick
Ruman and and you know I listened to like Curtis
Blow and the Live Musician. Give me, give me your
give me if you can't find I'll say three for

(54:58):
now sessions. Were you there to Witness that were history?
Give me give me your five most historical, Like yeah,
I'm working on this song and then it's a game.
Teddy Riley Molly mall, but wait what I mean? What songs?
New Jack swing? You know? Uh yeah, I was Heaven

(55:21):
always with Teddy Riley. They used to hang out a lot,
Like you know what I'm saying. I used to be
with Heaven, you know, be Witness and things he's doing
you know his you know, exclusive stuff. What do you work?
He wants change child, remember that group. That's my favorite
ty Ley. Let's talk about no, let's talk about it

(55:43):
all his stuff. Let's talk about basing. So what what
equipment was he using? Because everything but he told me
so basic. You know, SSL board, you know pro tools
wasn't out the end. It was straight board, you know
what I mean. He told me that he I don't
know which Michael Jackson needs from Dangerous that he did

(56:06):
all there was either remember the time or no, no,
no she did. She's driving wild, he says, I did it,
and uh a project kitchen like he had a setup
in He's like he kept his old apartment set up
that he used for the Guy album, did yeah and
the Keiths West stuff, And he did all most of

(56:28):
Michael Jackson's Dangerous inside of his project kitchen. But the producer,
it's it's about that that comfortability spot. Like if you're comfortable,
it can happen anyway. Bro, You know what hit record
can happen anywhere. So you do a majority of production prep,
like do you do it in this actual studio and

(56:49):
you drop it off. I always do beats at home first,
and then I go in and you know, and then
when when I'm in the studio like this, and I'm
laying the beat down than we're playing around with it,
and I'm playing with records, and then maybe I'll add
some some more stuff that matches with it, you know
what I'm saying, Man, So all right what you said Rowley?

(57:13):
What else? What other historical songs were there to see?
I mean I was around Molly a lot, so you
know all that have stuff, all of some some Kane stuff,
some big stuff I saw was alb Was he hanging right?
To be sure? You know what I'm saying. Wow, I
was gonna say, what is your obsession with just robbing

(57:35):
with this man? He is that? So many times? I
think that record just how did how did? How did
the publisher of problem? I know said James Brown? Sample?
But it just reminded me of James Brown, even when
Kane and this on this ship? Right, No, I knew
you didn't use it for the James Brown voices, their

(57:58):
voices like all of man Ingreedy. It was man like,
did you have to cut a special deal? I think so?
And I think Molly won the case with Wanna or
something like that. And you know he owns all this
stuff now, so he does. Yeah, he owns at all. Yeah. Yeah, wow,

(58:21):
that from what I understand I wanted to ask you
about in terms of you know, we talked about the
first EP all sold out, Um, how is Thatly did
you and cl get signed to a lecture? And how
did you all first? How in high school? In high school,
you know, a couple of neighborhood guys you know, introduced
me to him. He had a distinctive voice. He didn't

(58:41):
sound like nobody I've ever heard, so I thought it
would be good to do some stuff on him. When
I heard him rap, I was like, Okay, he can
he can ride a beat. Let's listen. We were doing
Basement that was like got like forty or fifty of them,
you know what I'm saying. And we made a song
off of Dance to the Drummers beat. You know, Oh
really that was your first demo? Yep, yep. Some of

(59:04):
our first demos was taking common stuff and and then
that's when I started getting wrong with the beats and
using like stuff that people want the wort using. We
were making demos and we got signed off of my
basement demos off a four track. Yeah do you still
have this stuff? Or yeah? I have I have. Well,
they put out a somebody I don't know that must

(59:27):
have lost the tape or something. Somebody like I put
it out. They put it out, and there's some stuff
on that I got it though, I got. I got
a lot of this stuff. Wow, y'all have like a
full commitment. Like when y'all got together, were y'all like, Okay,
we're gonna make a few records and then we're going
like we did demos first and then at the time,
I was DJ on the radio with Molly, so I

(59:47):
would test it out and played on the radio. You
know what I'm saying, people will respond. And you know
when were your DJ Molly on eighties seven ye nine.
I was on there for like three years straight bls
with Clark and then we rotated like me and Clark Kent.

(01:00:07):
First it was just me the whole weekend. Then it
was me Clark Kent and then um, you know, once
in a while he'll pull in a DJ from somewhere.
But back then it was great because you know, Kitten
played had the hot new stuff out back then. Um,
you know, Mike Tyson was in his prime. They were
all coming up there to visit the station. The two interviews.

(01:00:30):
I was just a little young kid there. Like it
took me watching straight out of Compton to realize that
some of the most successful hip hop producers had to
cut their teeth. DJ in first my thing was like reverse.
My my situation was the reverse. But I never considered

(01:00:53):
myself like jumping in the pool of you know, when
I played his beat the nightclub, like this nightclub that
comes from that, You're gonna clean your house real good
to this route. But like would for you, um, being
a DJ withold audience reaction, or would you ever have
a fear of like this might not work on them?

(01:01:15):
More like it's who who do you imagine when you
make a beat? Who are you imagining? Yo? They're gonna
go crazy when they hear this, Like what's what's the
vision in your mind where you're like, I'm, I'm it's
the feeling that I just get overjoyed, you know what
I mean? So it's a goose bump feeling. Yeah, Like

(01:01:36):
and I want to you know, call an artist yo, yo, yo,
listen to what I do. You know, like the world
is yours. It happened, um when he came over and
I just went through a couple of disks. I had
that beat made already. You know what I'm saying that
I went through a couple of disks and I popped
that one in first, and I didn't play no more

(01:01:58):
beats after that. That was the one that was it?
Did you I mean working on Nettlematic, did you since
already that Okay, this might be something special? Or was
it just like after he heard it and liked it,
and then after I heard what he wanted me to
sing on it, so they came afterwards? You didn't have

(01:02:21):
the rhymes? Man, I was like, yeah, that's when you
were killing Did you know that? Like Tip and lodge
for and everybody else was working on it too. Yeah,
we all knew was Premo Tip, you know, but like
about it at the time, I think in everybody else's mind,

(01:02:41):
I think that's what was going on. It was all competing,
and um I think when Primo heard the world is
yours he went back. Yeah. I mean, but you know
Tip only had one love you know, the one love joint,
and Elis had one joint. I had one joint and
Premon had three. Okay, so that that environment, I mean,

(01:03:07):
were you guys record shopping on the on the yeah.
We used to walk in on each other digging right
one time, I this is Jazz records. You know jazz.
You would never know where this record store is his
record store next to Jive Records. The label. It looks

(01:03:28):
like a mechanic building. There's nothing on it that says
it's a record store. So it's upstairs. They had all
the great jazz records in there, like Predicular and Tip
his in there on the ground and you know, going
through records with his glasses on, and he's you know,
on the floor. I'm like, okay, this is this is

(01:03:50):
about to get serious. What's your boy? Because I see
how hard he's going, so I gotta go even harder.
So is it a breathless race of the finish? Like? Okay,
now when I record shop, let's say later later in
man thousand one, Um, I would meet a few dealers

(01:04:11):
that would be like Pete bought this. You would buy
the entire stark reality only only you, You and bisin
market the only cats I know, or at least her.
Like the urban legend is that you will buy out
an entire section of record so that no one else

(01:04:31):
get well. I also spent the night in the hotel
where the convention would be, and I would have a
room upstairs and just come downstairs at seven o'clock am,
so they would come. One time one time I was born,
I was finished with digging and I was, you know,
carrying boxes to the car to come back in bringing,

(01:04:52):
and Tipples was looking at me like it looked like
he just wanted to turn around and go home. So
here's a question. I've heard a lot of people say
that they don't want to see you in the record
show that they know there's nothing left? Is there anybody
that you don't want to come behind? Of course he
wants no one to come on. Man, I'm just saying,
is there anybody that you don't want to come to
the stoo before you? Yeah? I mean one time I

(01:05:19):
walked up Okay, same thing on twenties another record store
Jazz Street with no it's in the buildings in there.
I walk up in there thinking I'm I got something
all to myself, and Premos in there getting all the
great you know, all that gang star ship. You know

(01:05:40):
that's what that jazz store was. Dope, But did you
know what you were looking for was just based on
like kind of new but cover but we used to
just take chances, take chances. See some mathros and some
it's still the one he's talking about. Still there is
that you told me about words? Yeah, that's what she

(01:06:02):
was talking about it on the show, Oh Sex Lives
and videotape. What's his name? Actor the Blacklist? What's his name?
James Spader stops at market. I think it's called like
Jazz market wise, Yeah, Jazz Market. That's actually going so
wait your job records. That's near Battery Studios. It was

(01:06:26):
right next door, dude. I recorded my first floor. It's
like an office building. It's not like the eighth floor.
Like you don't even know what's a restaurant to get
to the door, to get to the door. But don't
you think somebody secretly keeping it from you at this point?
You know what I mean? Two things I learned about

(01:06:47):
recording at Battery Studios. One, all the tales of my
my coming to Fort Street was like, oh, it's all
Disney Like I didn't know about the New York City
version of Batteries where I did, But the rest of
the roots were like all the time. But I'm the
one at the studio, like working on the forty duce,

(01:07:13):
But now I'm not. I can't believe that the spot
was here and I didn't know about Yeah Battery. I
did the Will Smith and Jeff stuff there too, really,
but the home base, Damn? Who haven't know? Who you?
Who do you want? Is there anybody who's left? Who's left?

(01:07:35):
Well kidn't play? Um? Who else I work? I mean?
But who is left that you haven't that you would
want to? Is there? Actually? Really? You know a couple
of g unit dudes? Man? Yeah, I've never worked with
Does he know that you? I just gotta bump into him.
We got I gotta catch him in the studio or something.

(01:07:58):
Gotta have my beats on me and something. How does
the environment of I mean, the chemistry between you and
cel right now? I mean no, no no, no, no. I
just meant back then when the album comes out, because
we were young kids having fun. Man, you know what

(01:08:20):
I'm saying, like we found something. You know what I'm saying,
something so so touring. But I'm saying that because Meccan
the Soul Brother was such a New York record. How
is this translating across the United States? I mean, you
still have the aid of of MTV and you still

(01:08:41):
had Rap City, So you know, it wasn't that regional way.
The soul train was still around because we did we did.
You definitely did sold train. So I mean like, if
you guys are doing a show in uh, Mississippi or
something like, what's the reception? Like it was pretty good?
You know? Okay? You know what's funny that you mentioned.
Have you ever had a moment where it's like Pete

(01:09:03):
rockets move and then on a promotional toy you know,
promotional toys used to go on promotional toyks for a
month or a month and a half and you don't
get paid. You know what I'm saying. You're out there
busting your ass just to get known, you know what
I'm saying. And when we would perform in a place
like that, people will be there, you know, show up,
you know what I'm saying. Like, so it wasn't a

(01:09:25):
thing where it's like y'all at a strip club and
they're like this ain't luke, No, y'all New York and
y'all talk about you know what? Do you have your
people who are very adamant about what they like and
you know they you know, they rock with what they
Rock with So do you feel left out in the
cold sometimes? Do you feel like the regional divide started?

(01:09:45):
Say posts chronic posts like where did where did you?
Where did you? What was your role? Or where did
you lie in the I guess the like when did
that start rearing its head? Um ninety five ninety six? Yeah,

(01:10:07):
and you know, so when did you know? Like, oh,
I had my own stress going, you know me and
see how breaking up and all that. So then the
East West thing then you know me thinking everyone in
hip hop was invincible, and then motherfuckers started dropping, you
know what I mean. So it's like, you know, we
were shocked. We were in shock, like wow, he got shot,

(01:10:28):
like and he's dead, like you know what I mean?
Wait a minute, you gotta tell me the story. Dude,
you originally did juicy Ye tell me? Can you tell
me juicy story? Yeah? You know, all right, Puff Big,
everybody came over. Puff brought Big to my house to
the basement. Wait, let me just introduce like the idea
of rhyming over like it started with Pete Rock and

(01:10:51):
then I think puppetized Yeah soe, but but but he
rhyming over just a very known on looke like it's not.
When Biggie was rhyming over juicy Pete rocks, the one
that like, yo was like it was a pete rock beat. Yeah,
initially yeah, and then well pop has done this before,

(01:11:15):
because like even Maria Carry's honey was a cute tip beating.
But then he should have been like, y'all young board though, right,
because he from Mount Vernon, but he was young. He's
from Dull Avenue in Mount Vernon. We we all grew
up together, all right, yeah, but but with him, um
with the juice, Okay, when the juicy thing happened, he
brought Big over, you know, and Big came in there,

(01:11:37):
and you know he was he stood against the wall, humble, quiet.
He was just like yo, yo, yo, I just want
to see I just want to see how you make
a beat. Just show me how you make a beat.
And then I made in the flesh, in the flesh,
in front of flesh, in front of Biggie. That's on
the main Can I can we talk about we got

(01:12:01):
to talk about can we take wait? I gotta he's
standing right there. That's the story. I want like what historical? Yeah,
he made that in the flesh and what was Big
his reactions in the flesh. He was loving it. You know,
Ben started picking like these beats, you know, like he

(01:12:24):
was picked over ten beats. But we never did none,
you know. I mean, all right, wait, Steve, Okay, I
want to explain something that this is what this is,
what's going to blue Steve's mind. Steve, do you know
my obsession with a certain symon story. I'm gonna fensih

(01:12:48):
the story. No, my obsession with using Steve Miller band
space basically, like Steve hates nothing more than that than
hearing that are Peggio happened. No, because I over like that.
But I it's just it constantly. It's at the top

(01:13:12):
of this little toolbox. Yeah, it's it's it's it's there.
But it's only I'm gonna tell you this. The thing
was is that when the Roots we exiled to to
to to London and we were broke cold, it was
the worst feeling. We only had two cassettes to hold

(01:13:35):
us down for like most of and that was to
cal and that was the main ingredients. And even in
I mean it was some of the most it was
the worst. I mean, every group grows through basic training

(01:13:57):
to to to to soldier up and and and you know,
really established themselves. And so this was the hungry year.
Everyone has those hungry years where you just starving, you know,
if you're coming up going. But for me, like in
the Flesh wasn't even a song, but it was more
meditation and it was just like the way you layered

(01:14:20):
Steve miller bands space, which that to me, I mean
me and two Reek's only fist fighting history half and
post fist Fighter's just like, yeah, it's funny because Rieki
used to come to the crib a lot too. We

(01:14:41):
used to have fun, you know what I mean, you
still have the same crib, the same house. I've never
been to the rock come what do you call it?
What do you call it? The basement? Oh my god,
you've been there front. Yeah, that slept on the left
on the floor. But when we first like after shortly
after I quit my job, I mean like, yeah, wait
this out, like listen, I'm homeless nigger. But but now, ok,

(01:15:05):
we all drove that me ninth from ten uh poo,
all of us, everybody, we drove up there and slip
on the floor and like nine of them. Yeah, we
was all in the crib. I think we ordered like
we might have eight once in like three days and
ordered pizza. But but yeah, we was in the basement,
and that was the first time I really understood just

(01:15:26):
how much work he put in. I mean, he has
a closet. I don't know if I was still there,
and he was just like showing us bags of this.
He was like, yeah, so these remain ingredient beats and
this is stuff from making the Soul Brother and this
is stuff. I'm like, kidding me, you still have that stuff? Yeah,
I got the world with yours on this. Still, that's amazing.
How did Biggie lose this? I don't know, man like

(01:15:50):
or what's puff making this decisions for him more? Yeah,
but not when he was picking beats, you know, like
so big he was like all right, this is all right. Yeah,
he was like he wanted the interlude beats. He wanted
my interlodes so juicy. We gotta finish all about juicies him. Yeah,
so you know, I was playing the beat, I had
the drums playing when they came downstairs, chi because I

(01:16:14):
was gonna put something else in there. And he knew, yeah,
he knew what. He knew what it was. It was
a hit record. You know, so the ideas is churning
in his head. You know what I'm saying, Like, so,
did they at least come to you and say, yo,
like make the drums less? They came to me and
said du to remix? They? I mean, did they at

(01:16:37):
least give you the option to change the drums a
little bit? So that yeah, yeah, that's what I did
in the remix though, no, no, no, But I'm just
saying that original I thought that what we know is
the p rock remix of Juicy was the original idea.
That's it, only the idea. But they did it, you
know what I'm saying, Like, whoever did the track? Masses? Whoever?

(01:16:58):
But they the idea is what you hear right on
the now. You know, they just looped it. So I mean,
did you feel some sort of way like, well, back
then I was I was a little crazy, so I
feeling little ways about people. You know, how how did you?
But now that I realized that music is universal, what

(01:17:19):
I'm saying, it doesn't belong to nobody but the people
we're selling it, I have a question about a similar situation.
What's the story behind the trip called jazz? The same
thing stop, the same thing. Tip they always we all
used to hang out and Tip coming over heard the

(01:17:39):
beat playing, you know, and went, so you contributed the
drums to it or was it the same way you
hear it on the Tripes album. It's how I did it,
but I just had a little little stuff in it
on top of it. But the same drums, same loop.
You know what I'm saying. I want to say you
played that for us when wet your career, and I
want to say you played his version of jazz. Yeah,

(01:18:00):
I think the disc yes, yeah, I still have it.
So Pete, have you like developed any relationships with any
of these living legends that you like? You know? Yeahs
was on TOI that Roy shared some some weird Polydor
stories James Brown stuff, and it was fun to him

(01:18:25):
with him, you know what I mean? Did he ever
hook you up with like um he there's another Ramp
album out there that he has recorded. He told me
this out of his mouth that he has that never
came out, not to Ramp, that tip Us and another

(01:18:46):
album came out seventy eight. Because that Ramp album that
everybody's finding it is not the original albums. That's a
bootlegg that's not the original pressing, but it was boot
like seventies boot, like you know what I'm saying it
never he said, it never really came out. It never

(01:19:09):
officially came out, never officially came We have a promo
what We're finding in nine was oh man, wow, Yeah,
I thought he was massiful for that fine right there. Wow.
I never knew that one, never knew. So did you

(01:19:31):
ever get like what did Roy have to say about
your version of searching? We used to do it in
the shows, you know, He'll do the song and then
I come in with the hip hop verson. But I
made a live version. I made it over and yeah,
it's pretty. That's my favorite jo. You remember you telling
me that the cribin that was novel playing? Yea, yeah,

(01:19:55):
So the main ingredients, well, I wanted to talk about
when you were talking to about like the you know,
the South and how you know we received y'all used
to get love out of my way, like we love.
I was surprised that even y'all that y'all you know
came from North Carolina sounding like that. I was like,

(01:20:17):
what we grew like slum village. It's like reaction, like,
oh my god, we grew up and so like when
Mecca and the Soul Brother came out, I remember that
was the record we would play like after practice, you know,
during the summer, like after practice, we'll be you know,
we have a football practice and we'll just be running it.
And so then a couple of years later, I remember

(01:20:38):
y'all had the uh this was in the source. I
used to have the ads and it was like guess
Who's back in the house. Oh yeah, the next episode,
the next issue to be guess Who's back in the house.
It would get bigger and then like the next issue
it would be the album cover. It was y'all when

(01:20:59):
when main Ingredient set me up for a snoop dogg All,
wait wait, wait, wait, where are you going with this? No?
That was with that record, man. I just remember buying
it and I gotta love when I first heard I Love,
and I even told you before when I first heard
like I Love, I was like, okay, cool, but I

(01:21:19):
was like I was like, I'm shot. No, that's funny
they wanted. I wasn't with that as the single. No,
I wasn't with it. Yeah, I was just like, okay.
It was just one of them joints that I was like,
but they went crazy over it, and the manage and um,
the management management, they wanted that out, you know. Was

(01:21:41):
I was aiming for something else? I forgot what song?
What did I want? First? Was it take you there?
I know that it took in some one of them
radio friendly ones. And but the thing I noticed with
that record was that the production just got oh I
mean the remixes, but the production you were wanted the
first as producers. I remember too that I thought arranged

(01:22:03):
hip hop songs like a songwriter would like you have intro, bridges, breakdown,
you know what I mean. I was taught that by
my cousin have and and att the f m M
at the f used to program, you know, bridges and
ship you know. And then also Molly I picked that
up for Molly to the bridge thing. Yeah that record, Yeah,

(01:22:27):
main Ingredient was the one for me while I was
just like, yo, like hip hop gets no better than this? Yeah,
that was the one. And with the interludes, I mean
talk to us about it, like how create creating a record?
Like how do you what was on your mind when
you were both uh Mecca his soul brother and the
main Ingredient and the interludes and what were you imagining, Um, like,

(01:22:52):
we're making this record, like showing us your world or
your record collection, being a part of like a superhero
team like the Avengers. And I ain't collect comic books,
so you know what I was on? Yeah, I was
on some comic books. Shit, you know what I'm saying.
With the beats, you know, so I took it on.

(01:23:13):
I took on that that theme you know, all right? Now,
how were you able to pull that off? On the
business tip? Uh? You know, after they was digging the
album and they felt the music sounded really good, I
think everybody was on some this has to just come out,

(01:23:33):
you know what I'm saying. People got ahead. You know,
we had to clear some samples, you know, we had
to just interludes, was just s I was just like
on some whatever. Yeahsten to somebody coming knocking like a

(01:23:53):
People wanted them in a lose man, they wanted them.
And what was your nightmare story with a losing clearances?
Not many because they look pretty short, you know what
I mean. So I don't know if musicians don't nobody
catch nobody. I don't think nobody that I'm sampling from

(01:24:16):
this really listening like that. But it's weird because everyone
has like all right with the Daylost situation. I mean,
the Turtles weren't listening, but the Turtles was even with
me and Dr Dre like I was like, yeah, that's
my parents. I never said with that. Never they have
some rare Phonky Congress albums on Strawberry Records. Oh my god,

(01:24:40):
yeah amazing. I had no clue. Yeah, yeah, yeah they have.
And that's when I hit you on Twitter and I
was like, yo, man, oh so they don't get a
check for that? You have that you have? You know,
it's weird. Yeah, I got it. Okay, It's kind of
a weird situation. Uh with uh Philly's own Larry Maggott,

(01:25:07):
prior of the ticket Master uh empire and who used
to my dad built his empire. He used to manage
my father, uh and well he was my father's agent
for college gigs. So it's long after Leones in the
Hearts finished and he was doing uh like college gigs

(01:25:30):
around the sixties and whatnot. Like Larry Maggott was his
agent and through that college money, that's how Larry Maggott
started ticket Mask, of which it's some strange serve events
with Julius Caesar. Uh, the Ticketmaster Empire sort of conspired

(01:25:52):
against him and they started Live Nation and kind of
he if if you if you saw Entourage, would be
like if our Gold had like twelve protegees and and
and interns working for him. He talked to the tricks
of the trade and they all started their own company. Yeah,
and then they yeah, like you gotta start a radio empire.

(01:26:15):
And then I'm out the cold like working on a
little spring. Yeah. That's yeah, that's wow. That's crazy man.
So yeah, all right, so when when the group breaks
up in after the mating minute, So, I mean were

(01:26:38):
you having that was an electric thing that I think
about it? Well, major major label thing, you know, pitting
us against each other and something new comes comes into play.
What were they when Sylvia tells you, you know, you
gotta make remixes like toff Daddy's talking to me like this,

(01:26:59):
and I'm like a young boy, I'm like, I got
none against puff. That's my guy, you know what I mean?
But you know, people say things and you just be
looking at him like, yeah, but tell the truth, Pete.
What you got? You got some beach where you put
a little triangle in there. You know what I used
to make. I used to make wax beats for fun

(01:27:21):
because I never know who's gonna like it, you know
what I'm saying? So sore was the beat? Was there?
Fluke beat that like right here and whatever? People are like, yo,
I want this ship you sure na? You know what? Man?
I always wanted to ask you this. I was always
curious and this was my theory. I always thought that

(01:27:41):
your work on have is nothing but love was your
answer to like puff and like that? Like that was
to me that just sounded like I'm showing them that
you could do that commercial stuff if you wanted to.
That was Blue Funk. That's weird. Blue got me sex
with you? Those were like the radio have wanted that.

(01:28:03):
He knew I could do that, so he was like,
you know what he you know, I want you to
go Hey. He's the always the one to tell me,
don't be afraid to go left, m when this case
goes right. That's how I made most of them beats
because he would say that, yeah, well, I only mentioned
Blue Funk because like, I don't know who was on

(01:28:24):
the payroll, but for Soul trying to use Blue funk
uh and black coffee m M for the soul Train
line when your yeah, she was used like five six, seven,
eight nine times for the soul Train line, which I

(01:28:45):
was like yeah, and then being up in there, it's like, wow,
I thought soulting was bigger as you see the same dances,
that same Asian girl that's been He was there shout
out to for nothing. But you know, I know Heavy
left like a big boy to most of our lives

(01:29:06):
and we can say how that boy was for you
in your everyday process of you being you, Like, what
kind of void was that for you? Come on that
even you know, I get choked up talking about it.
But he we shared everything together, you know, off of music,
Like you know, the music came later. You know. That

(01:29:29):
was my family, you know what I'm saying, And we
grew up from three years old. Ye, that just took
half of me away when he passed. Yeah, you didn't
have man, y'all gave me my career, I could say, basically,
you know help you know it was because of him. Yeah,
y'all were definitely you know when we were coming up
and start a little brother. I mean one of the

(01:29:50):
things that you know, you kind of encouraged this and
was like doing the singing hooks and stuff because at
the time, and quote unquote underground hip hop, you weren't
really hearing a lot of that. It was rappity rappit heavy.
D was a rapper, but we always played around off
the record singing and then next thing, you know, he
wants he's wanting to do this on records. Girls and

(01:30:13):
girls they love me, you know that, and then we
would just do you know, stuff for him. Man, what
I'm saying that, Yeah, he was my mother like loved
every day, like she was one of the only rappers
everybody's mama loves seriously and us too. And then he

(01:30:34):
was one of the only that translated into the commercial world,
like when he started acting and doing No Life and
let single don't get Me started, Yo, Martin living single.
He wasn't on rock. He appeared on a lot of stuff,
you know what I'm saying. Even in New Jersey Drive

(01:30:55):
movie New Jersey, New Jersey Dudy that he wasn't who's
the man? Everybody Who's man me? And see how where
the robbers with? Yeah, we were sticking up the joint.
Yeah that saw us in the mask. We got the
man you can't see our faces were mad about that.
It was like, why we can't be seen? Do you

(01:31:16):
still get a check with that? Though? Right? How many
times did they show? Think the checks are finished? What
was was about the period so after after UNCL broke
up and so the period where you were working on
that's my joint. Oh wow, oh my god, the extra

(01:31:38):
long uh so brother records. So you were doing this
I and I what happened with every Man is still
it was? It was Matt Bootleg. It was never Electra.
Had Electra had all that they had out but nothing album. Yeah,

(01:32:02):
but when Sylvia came in to take over from Bob Krasnow,
who was the president of Electra, who set me up
to for all that stuff to come out. It was
all going to come out under Electra. Then she came
in and just you know, debt it man. So what
was your relationship like with Sylvia room Om shaky. I

(01:32:24):
just felt I just felt like she didn't understand who
we were, you know what I'm saying. Even with the
successive Troy and it was like they were trying to
do some changing, some game chading and stuff. All right,
So what what is going through your mind with now

(01:32:46):
this this is the perfect plot too. Thanks for all
apart where no, you you have a warrior, someone very
skilled in a particular craft, who goes off the war
and then come us back to his homeland to see
that the environment has changed, and you know it was
colonization and all those things that took. So what is

(01:33:10):
your response, because actually, if I recalled correctly the night,
I believe the night. So there was the night that
um we were working the routes were working on uh on.
Oh thanks fall apart of Detroit. Pete was also I
think was that the first night you met Dilla when

(01:33:31):
you came to the basement. Yes, and I stayed there, Yo,
the most magical night ever because Pete is literally remaking
like beats over and we're just standing there like kids
in his candy store. Yes, dude, I was there. And
so the thing is the thing is that I was

(01:33:53):
shocked that by that point you said like, I don't
use the three thousand, and I was shocked. I was like,
wait a minute, you're still using a twelve. I know,
like your tools are your tools, Yeah, but how do
you with with technology moving at the speed of sound
the way it is now. I used the twelve all

(01:34:14):
the way up until two thousand and I know, and
that's when I started doing the forty five thing. Really yeah, yeah,
when we came to see you in oh two, I
think that was when you had just started US three
and you finally graduated. Yeah. I'm on the two thousand
Excel and it feels like an upgraded twelve hundred, So

(01:34:37):
I feel like I don't need nothing else. Justified James Poyser.
I don't even me and I don't even disrespect him,
but I'm on the middle finger James Poyser. James Poyser
teases me, calls me like a played out ninet because

(01:35:01):
I can't let my two thousand nextel go. Man, it
feels so good. I can't. Yeah, I can't let it go,
like I still use it to this day and using
it he yeah, he makes me feel horrible for this,
but I'm saying for you, I use a rent too
sometimes mess with the renaissance. Really yeah, so does it?

(01:35:25):
It's cool? I like it. It does things. Um, it
gives you unlimited time. Yeah, but it's a little bit
more to it than my thing is simple to the point.
If I know what to do it's done. I know
that machine really so so but with now, like, are
you able to use Abelton to use like, um, I

(01:35:50):
have Ableton and I've used it on New York's finest Okay,
Um do I have um just regularly you know nothing
crazy pro tools. I had the pro Tool seven then
graduated from that to the ten. Right, Um, you know

(01:36:10):
to do extra more. Well, I know it's hard leaving
your comfort zone because I know that when Stroe elliott
I was telling me, it was so hard for him
to like there's there's this there's a salute cats right
now like tall black guy Stroll, Um Joe Roon Bombay
when Joe ran Bombays is from Canada. And these cats

(01:36:33):
are um, I mean they're making incredible beats and but
they're using some of the most primitive Like I remember
laughing at ninth when he showed like yeah, that's what
I didn't know either. But what what these new cats
are using are like even a step crazier than fruity loops,

(01:36:54):
which is like so basic. And they were telling me like, well,
this is how we first like they used like so
the acid acid like real still very basic, but making
miracles out this ship and stroll. Elliott told me like
he finally had to physically forced himself out of using

(01:37:17):
like a lot of that the primitive stuff, so that
he could, you know, really jump in the game of
beat maker. So is that, I mean, is that a
personal fear? Because to hear anyone else said, it's like,
oh man, it's easy, like once you once you do
what you want. But is how hard is it to
leave your your tools of the trade. Man, It's hard.

(01:37:39):
It's hard to because you mean, I mean, I made
all my hids off and it wasn't hard. It wasn't
easy for me to give that up. But then when
I started playing with the two thousand, I started forgetting
about this. Do you still use um? It was the
last time. I have still have a lot of eats

(01:38:00):
with that machine, so I don't. I haven't used it lately.
Oh yeah, I did. On Mac Wow's album, first album,
I did UM song called I Think so what he
named it love and then another one called him duck Sauce,
And those beats were done on the on the sp
Duck Sauce wasn't the other one impress all straight sp

(01:38:23):
Salam Salam laid that down for me. Yeah, I remember
when you you were working on the two thousand and
the thing I thought was so dope your basselines. How
is that? Because I mean, you're like one of my
favorite bass players that don't play bass humming, humming, humming

(01:38:44):
in my head listening, you know, just you know, that's
that's just I think that became a natural thing because
that was my thing I used to want to practice,
you know, making basslines, you know what I'm saying. And
from all the James Brown records, I heard, the Barry Records,
to Isaac Records, all the jazz records, I used to
humb baselun um. I always said that, um, if one

(01:39:09):
particular musician, if you were personified, or if if you
were representing a musician, uh you were probably I'd say
you would be Marshall Jones. Yeah, I think you read.
I had an hour conversation with Marshall Jones and the

(01:39:33):
the look of shot on his face when I'm trying
to explain to him how vital him specifically, how vital
he was to renaissance hip hop culture, and he's thinking like, oh,
skin tight and not. I'm like, no, Marshall Jones, you
don't get it, like and I'm I'm breaking down, like

(01:39:56):
you know, like like what's going on, Like you covered
what's going on and paying all that stuff and and
Players balling. It took like it took ten minutes for
it really to sink in that that Westbound version of
Ohio Players was valuable to us. Now, oh my god,

(01:40:18):
he couldn't he couldn't understand that. But the longest man.
But eventually, like they have unreleased yeah from seventy three.
I was gonna say, like I would love nothing better.
I sent he sent me some files and I was
listening to that ship losing my mind. God, some record

(01:40:39):
and it sounds just like what like it's on that vibe.
It's on that vibe. It's not that same, you know,
basically yeah yeah yeah, But just like next next to
James Damonson in Motown, like Marshall Jones is is I mean,
it's ace lines are just believable. Man. It's it's not flashy,

(01:41:04):
it's and that's it. You know what I'm trying to
explain to the cats. It's like the less you do,
the more timeless it is. So Pete. Yeah, alright, we
we've done a lot about yesterday. Now talk about your
what are you up to you? Well? I mixed the
new Locks record for the album yesterday. For the new

(01:41:25):
album the styles Pete j to kiss and uh she
glue shout out to them. And then I got this
project with my man smoked this over there. Just how
you doing? Brother? He's like, Man, I'm so hungry, man
chicken sandwiches. Don't be hungry. No, No, I'm chilling. I'm Coolna, No,

(01:41:48):
that's my dude. Right, God at you, Like, who are you? Yeah?
But we got this album that's really really dope and
it's a long time come and in this long time
that we haven't heard something like this, you know, you know,
representing hip hop and live you know, playing you know,

(01:42:09):
mixed with you know, punk. So what do you what
do you feel the standard of excellence is now for
two thousand sixteen as far as like, is it still
for you like a breakbe that moves you, the loop
that moves you? Or like are you now thinking of
a generational gap thing? And yeah, I'm thinking about the
generational gap thing because I feel like what part of

(01:42:31):
you is like I'm gonna take you all to me,
and what part of you is like because have you
heard a premieres remix of Timmy Timmy Timmy Turner and
by uh, you know, man, let me see what could
I say from from you know, from what I know,

(01:42:53):
any words with millennials before on line or whatever. Yeah, no,
I mean, you know, I mean those are real words
and real thoughts, like I too would like to see
us do better. But I mean part of me is wondering, like,
are we now our parents? And yeah, yeah, absolutely, now

(01:43:13):
we're the grown ups. You know that we have to
teach you know what I'm saying. So it's it's wrong
for me to want to hear English or at least
words that I know, no disrespect to. Yeah, yeah, you're
having your Chep Gordon hearing hip hop for the first time.

(01:43:35):
No no, no no, no, no, no, no, no, no no no.
I'm just saying, yeah, but you're just coming from a
little bit of a different place than these kids as
far as I know. Started mumble, I'm sorry, don't say nothing.
That's my shield. No no, But so let me ask
you this then, So it's since you are so aware
of the differences and whatnot, then how do you decide

(01:43:58):
to do Why smoke? Then? Because he's a young guy
with an old soul, you know what I'm saying. And
he's been around for a while. He has his own
little cult following, you know, which attracted me. Also with
his skill set and um, you know all like he's
he's not he's different from certain younger generational artists, you know,

(01:44:20):
like all right, some of my favorites are like Kendrick
and j Cole and Action Bronson, Joey Badass. You know.
The list goes on, you know, and then you have
something that do their own thing. You know what I'm saying,
that people try to comprehend. And the part that's where
I come in, where where I'm saying, Look, you gotta
say something, man, you know, you gotta talk to the people. Man,

(01:44:42):
We're not We're not aliens, you know what I'm saying.
I don't know where your mind is at, but we
people that want to comprehend what you you know, your message.
And it's funny. I made a joke, but in serious y'all,
the title don't Smoke Rock. Yeah, that's from serious thought.
That's not a joke. Tell people, it's not just a
com nation of your names. Smoke You came up with that.

(01:45:05):
It was just to play on words with our names,
and I just felt, you know, with the times that
were in, it was just something positive. But I didn't
really want to. I mean, it's it's kind of cliche
eight Ronald Reagan, you know what I mean. But but
but really in the times that we're in right now,
I mean, it's not too far from Malia any of
the weird ship that they fucking w now. Yeah, so

(01:45:26):
I mean, you know, don't smoke rock is kind of
like our powerful way of being like you smoking on hill, Nick,
chill now now. But you know, this is just a
great album. You know, we got Brick Brass on there,
we got le A mac miller on the Locks, Cameron

(01:45:48):
M Davies, M I wanted to ask you smoking h
what was it like? Well? First off, were you aware?
You know, I mean rock right? And uh yeah no, Seriously,

(01:46:09):
I'm so like working with him, like when did it?
When did it? I just when did it shift? To say?
Like okay, like I want to be a fan, but
now I got to really, you know, do the work,
you know what I'm saying, Like, was it ever a
shift during the recording? I don't think it was ever
a shift. I mean, once pr made that initial call

(01:46:29):
like it was up, you're trying to do this. It
was like it was like of course, you know, and um,
I kind of like I'm like a lucky fool, like
you know, Flex sent me a Pete Rockby, like, Yo,
I need you to give me thirty two bars from
my mixtape on this Pete Rock That's how it started.

(01:46:49):
I'm like, that's how it works. That's how the working
relationships started. And you know, from there, I was like overwhelmed,
like Pete Rockby, like you could have sent me whatever
because he was sending and anybody else of his ship,
and I got the Pete rock beat. So I'm like,
all right, let me let me show off so I
can impress pet so I can get another one and

(01:47:10):
then you know, that just trickle down to my project
and then he's like, yeah, I want to keep this
for mine. And then it was like, yo, let's just
do a full length joint. Yeah. So I came about
and it's easy to work with this guy gets quick,
y'all still tracking? Where are you tracking? And you're tracking
in your crib or No, we right on thirty little

(01:47:33):
spot Okay, okay, yeah, do ship fast and then quick
I was gonna say you don't track vocals inside your house,
do you know? I actually did. I did a few,
but but the what's known is a I did a
mixtape for camp blowers just hate eight did anything. What

(01:47:57):
I'm saying it since a mixtape, they can't loads the
type of group. They're spontaneous and they're wrapped to any
thing like anything, like you know what I'm saying. So
we just wanted to. We thought it would be a
good idea to do it. And you know it's on
my website rock dot com. You could download free because
there's a lot of samples on that. We clearing that well, yeah,

(01:48:22):
how I mean that's even though we're laughing about it.
I mean for me, that's like taking the oxygen out
of your tank, Like, how are you able to now
navigate um skillfully at least to the standard you're excellent,
especially with the product project of this caliber without your

(01:48:44):
number one tool, which is the sample. I probably just
listening to what's going on, listening to radio, listening to
what people like, you know, listening to other producers, new ones,
you know what they're doing, and just you know, take
it all in and say, okay, let me do it
my way. You know what I mean, and then you'll

(01:49:06):
find that out when you listen to Don't Smoke Rock. Yeah,
good ship, Yeah, man, good ship. I wanted to ask
you because I was always curious about it. B B
E M hmm BB was the label out of disrespectful
that put out Piztr Metals and the surviving elements that

(01:49:29):
with that one was stolen? No, Yo, I'm gonna be
I'm gonna keep it all the way back with you.
Somebody very close to me, my camp, got a call
to mix that right and we were both he hit.
I was like, yo, don't do it. I said, don't
touch that. I know that guy is starting trouble, you
know what I mean? So what was the what? What

(01:49:51):
you want to know? What you want to know? What happened?
I saw him on the plane, man, and just let
loose on this guy. I couldn't put hands heard the
story I heard, so I started spitting on him. I
think I was there because he disrespected me in the
utmost worst way ever that no man could withstand and
I couldn't hold it back. Was that I was on

(01:50:12):
the plane with it. But wait, was that? What would
something said or something he did? Something he did rather not,
you know, going to a personal business. I'm about to say,
I don't know the great period, but but what but
what he did angered me. So that was and that
was Spanner turning into the hole. And that was for

(01:50:32):
the p that was for the for petre mentals, because
then we did Soul Survivor too. That was for Surviving
of the Elements. I was working on New York's Finest
and had some leftover beats on a drive that I
left in the studio, which I shouldn't have did, and
and you know they somebody stole it. Yeah, that's so

(01:50:54):
interesting because from a consumer standpoint, BB had a whole
error where it was just like dope ship like from
had dope shipped for the people from from people from
here from the producer friendly label. It wasn't he wasn't
snatching nobody in Europe or nothing like that. So it
wasn't that wasn't they did. I I mean we put

(01:51:15):
our first furna remember that they and they did right.
But I mean, you know when when I when we
first discovered them, it was all love in the beginning,
you know what I'm saying, and then you know we
ended up having you know, I took out lawsuit, got
paid one took him the court. Oh okay, because both
of those because it was you did petre metals. Oh yeah,

(01:51:37):
I took him the court too. Was on BB two, right, yeah,
it was because we did that was after all of
that though, because then they then the surviving of the
elements came after those two. Ah got and then that's
when you know that happened. Man, talk about U n
c L and where you all at right now? I know, yeah,
we just did a month and a half on tour,

(01:51:59):
no off days, is going hard, and I was like
looking at sea, how steaming once you know, the lights
and the stage lights were so hot in one spot
that he was sweating so much that when he came
in the dressing room to sit down, he was literally
steaming like steam was coming to march steam. And I'm like,

(01:52:20):
I've never seen that ship before, Like, wow, this this
cat is hungry again. That's that's when we decided to,
you know, yeah, let's let's do this, do this music again.
It's like y'all talking to the album. Yeah, he got beats.
He's on cloud nine right now. Oh ship, So so
there's a chance that we might have something to look

(01:52:45):
forward to it, because I would say the records that
y'all did like from post break up, I mean from
the love thing thing. Um, yeah, they appreciate you like that.
What wait wait wait Climax, she said, clients Climax. You
said Climate? Okay, I just felt that was a bad man.

(01:53:07):
I didn't mix that. I didn't mix that. It was cool.
The mix could have been which was Climate? Which one
was that one that was? It was Curtis, Curtis may
feel up give oh? I remember you play me that
beat and I love that. It was a bad mix
of it. Yeah, and the dude they had singing over
I remember, called you. I would have made that dope.

(01:53:28):
You know, if I was behind mixing it, it would
have been much better sounding. And back on the block
dog mfs B member. Yeah wait what was that? Mfs
B member one guy who made a solo album that
was in the m Montana there. Yeah, that's all you

(01:53:51):
gotta say. Just he said his first name. People don't
know Montana. They don't know who you're talking about unless
they musician. Now I'm trying to remember remember the record.
Oh you you probably have the album? No, I know
I do. And now I'm trying. Yeah, I started singing

(01:54:12):
to see the vibes and there, Yeah that was a joint, Like, yeah,
that was one of them joints. But now y'all deforming.
I mean, y'all, you guys still sound every time y'all
put out down the current still right now people are
gonna drop their jaws on the hand and ship. What
made y'all get to this point? Because I remember it

(01:54:33):
was really nast um. I just think even when it
was like that, it wasn't totally you know, it was
a timing period where it did get you know, ugly.
But then you know, even over the years, I put
them on p trement, so I snatched him to so Siviva,
so for Sosiviva too. You know, I was always reaching
a hand out. And then you know when when you're

(01:54:54):
old and grown, yeah, you know you're like, all right, man,
we were kids. Then what I'm saying, fucking funk all
that ship? You know what? Man, So that's happened. So
you still live in Mount Running right now? No, I'm
in upstate New York. Okay, Yeah, it's in quiet. People.

(01:55:17):
People always like try to lure me up there, Like, dude,
just try there's people up there, you know people are
you want to put nobody on blast? No? No, but
I mean like, is it like, are you in the
farm areas in the woodsy area? Lots of deers and
animals and ship really? Yeah, And that's what I wanted.

(01:55:40):
I actually like it because it's you know, it's quiet,
but I get work done. You know that scared when
I'm in the hood and everybody's are you scared? You
gonna get chased by the skunk again? Yo, listen, I'm
running from them ships to the man that should get
on you. You finished finished? It stinks. My dog got

(01:56:01):
sprayed one time and and dog came in the house.
My sisters just started immediately throwing up. It's bad up close. Uh,
it's bad. Like is that tomato sup thing real? I
think it works. I never had to do it, but
I did it for my dog. It works to make
tomato sup and get the tomato soup, all kind of

(01:56:23):
eating tomato sauce, anything, Tomato ship. I just wanted to
take it to Meto back. Tomato back. That's what we
was doing for the dog. Tomato back. That's crazy. Do
you and uh? Do you and grab grab lover y'all
still y'all still work. We haven't worked in a while.

(01:56:43):
I mean, I think he put out an instrumental album
of beats that we used to experiment with, and then
you know he would learn from me and catch on
and do ship himself and then put it. He put
out an instrumental and actually half man, half amazing. He
produced that. He produced it first. But he had these

(01:57:04):
drums and he was like, I don't I don't like
the drums, and I didn't like him either, so he
was like, yo, just change the drums. Speaking of drums. Okay,
So when my beautiful, Twisted, Dark Fantasy album was getting
announced and he was like, I'm gonna use Pete Rock. Now,

(01:57:27):
in my head, I thought you were gonna make a
fresh beat. I'm not mad. No, no, no, I'm not
mad because he took one of the one of your
one of your best interlude beats of all time. But okay,
when you're working in that environment, and plus you you
also did uh the making of you Join forgot about

(01:57:51):
now That's when I first met Rose too, Okay, Kip Cuddy.
So when you're in that environment, is it is it limiting?
When when you're working well, I don't mean limiting because
I also had this question for a cute tip when

(01:58:14):
he made uh on watch the Throne. Uh that's my bit.
Oh yeah, beats that don't necessarily sound like it came
from their cannon, you know what I mean? So in
that particular viral, because I felt like what they did
was they stripped you down to your your your basic minimum,

(01:58:34):
Like were you presenting full fledged ideas to them? And
they were just like nope, we just want No. I
was actually Kanye was picking beats. He picked like eight
or nine and we narrowed it down to the one.
But he did like two three rhyme don when he
asked me phone to rhyme on the joy with him.
But I wasn't ready, you know to do that. Yeah okay, okay, no, no,

(01:58:58):
you know it wasn't nothing else real Sorry about your
your your your vocal uh powers? Which no, I'm I'm
with you. I'm going with it. You made it you like,
I don't know you you had a cool voice for it. Thanks,
just like you were shot, Like how come you didn't

(01:59:19):
pursue that? I was? I don't know, man, it's Grand Pooba,
Like who made you back again? I'm here to win
the buzz rounds of bees again, don't to blame for
me rapping. I was just curious that they made you
do to don't curse vers, because I was like, dad,
you want to do that? Those are the first rounds
I wrote by myself. Oh man man yeah yeah yeah,

(01:59:41):
and then Pola wrote the creator? So brother, what three
beats that were me? Were you? Just like, damn? I
wish I made it? Like probably not. I feel some
sort of way like I could made that better, but
just like I wish, I mean to be like probably, Um,
what three joints? Did you hear? It was just like

(02:00:03):
or somebody got to the sample first? No, well that's
my second question. But just a completed song. I wish
I had produced this being probably like the power song
I gave you power? Then that? Umm? Did that right? Yeah? Okay?

(02:00:24):
What other joint? I was a lot of age joints.
But you know I have Do you have to ask
me that another time? Inter of you? Then you know
I have a better thought process like any double joints? Um?
All right? So what sample did you have in your

(02:00:49):
possession that you didn't realize? That's where that was a
whole lot of ship or one that you had a
plan for. Um M, kicking the door. Wow, I was
cleaning it. I used to play it, play playoffs. I'm
gonna make something on this one day. Then boom primo.

(02:01:10):
Do I remember I remember being at the crib. You
showed us the sample for Day Lost Pony Ride. Oh wow,
yeah with the record. When you're doing this with the
record goes and they just you just tapped it. So

(02:01:36):
I've learned too much to thing that it's overwhelming, So
I'll just stop at Biggie hearing, Biggie hearing in the
flesh get me, yeah, man, that being an audition. Take
a look what you learning that? Man? I learned that
Pete Rock has probably the sharpest ears on any human
being that can pick out snare. I mean, that's just amazing.

(02:01:59):
I think they just be sampling them all my life.
But that's I mean, I've been listening to it all
my life, but I can't hear him the way you're here.
But but no, man, it's it's just great just to
be here with someone who inspired us and just who
played such an integral part in my career, and to
know that he still just has the love for the

(02:02:19):
music and you know, just still has that integrity and
it's still here. You know. It's it's so many cats
from that era that weren't able to transition and weren't
able to you know, you know, learn a new set
of tools, you know what I'm saying for the new world,
so to speak. So just to see him here and
still doing it, you know, doing the records with smoke,

(02:02:41):
reaching out to younger generation and uh, just still doing it. Man,
It's just it's really inspiring. And I'm happy he's still
here with us, giving, given, giving my heroes the flowers
where they live, not waiting, not waiting until they passed,
not waiting until you know what I mean. We got
to have a vigil or now like that off too
techn still too on that note, on that note, because

(02:03:04):
we did a song about that, sugar Steve you with us. Yeah,
what you learn again, a lot of a lot of
information overload. This was an information overload episode. Yeah, I
learned quest Love wants to take a tomato bath. You
said that if you gets sprayed by a skunk, he's

(02:03:24):
gonna have to do that. I've gotten sprayed by a skunk, right,
Oh wow? No, I like um I'm worried about your
dad's records being in your mom's basement, is it? That's
the first thing I thought about environment control. It's good
money down it's like it's not moist. No, it doesn't blood.
And because you have and then you said, you know

(02:03:48):
you still have all your disks from from all these
you know, that's that's where I live now. Yeah. Yeah,
but with me, I'm close next to me. So you
wouldn't take your record collection, would you. Yeah, of course
records of money, but your sentimental like you have. You know,
my father's records are still at my mother's house, so
you want them there for sentimental reason because I have

(02:04:08):
to make room. How many records do you? Would you
say you have like up there? Probably more than that too. Look,
my wife is just nuts because I keep bringing records
and no more. She's dead ass too. But you knows

(02:04:31):
your Pete Rocket, right. The reason why we have this
house is yeah, one of these records will get to you.
Yeah alright, So Bill, what I learned, I mean, I
really just got confirmation of what I've always known as
that Pete Rocket is still one of my favorite producers.
And um, the fact that I was actually able to
sit in the room and talk beats and records with

(02:04:53):
Pete Rock, I can pretty much die happy man right now.
Scenarios and ship like this, this is some dream true ship,
right God blast, thank you for coming up, No problem man,
thank you, question me and quest go back. You know
what I'm saying. Oh, I have learned, yes, yeah, no,
I'm learning snares. Let's get absolutely real. I've learned that.

(02:05:16):
And I've also learned that people got a lot in
common with Ray Parker. Junior scene is that you've been
making great music since you'all were teenagers. I don't know
if you realized Ray Parka was just on the Today Show.
Actually he was just on the Ray Parker story is
that we've heard Man, Jack and Jill my favorite joint.

(02:05:37):
Oh he's yeah. And plus he's been on so many
records that everything I'm looking at credits on albums. Damn,
he's on this ship though. Yeah, he's doing something oscure
obscure records too, Like, yeah, we learned, We've learned, like
all those Victors records played on No No, No, No, No, No,

(02:06:02):
Unhooked generation, all that Parker Wow, very white stories are
messing up his car. Yeah, this very white stories are
the wait wan One other thing that I learned, and
you don't know this, but this is like the first
time that I feel like a mayor. Bill and Fante
have fanned out over somebody's word at the same level

(02:06:24):
like we we we interviewed the revolution, but the levels
were different, you know what I mean. But at this moment,
it's just a really good feeling to see y'all all
just kind of at a point. I'm manning out too,
because on and on my third note, I would also
like to say that in all these years, Peter always
thought it was dope that you've got dudes on your
side in this way, but you also move women in
a different type of way, you know what I mean.

(02:06:44):
We get to talk about that, but I know a
lot of my girlfriends like felt, So take your time. Yea,
thank you. I don't want to talk about Troy. Troy
real quick, man, I think we should real quick. Reminisce um, well,

(02:07:09):
you know reminisce you know happened in ninety The beat
making process started at the end of you know then
you know made the full beat nine two blah blah blah.
You know you want me to go in the high
I made it. Yes, okay, wait, we didn't ask about
your I sucked, man, I'm sorry. I took a took

(02:07:33):
a drum loop that's familiar, you know, and added that
Tim Scott and then the elements afterwards and the rest
was history. Who directed that video, Marcus ray Boy, That
video like actually went on perfectly captures the mood of
that song. Yeah. We that was That was the first

(02:07:55):
video that we did and we said, wow, this ship
really matches what you're talking about. Like, Marcus did such
a great job on that video. And it was freezing
when we did that video freezing. There's there's um there's
uh an MC from Philadelphia that was like way younger
the generation, yeah young and uh wait wait wait here's

(02:08:21):
the here's here's the thing with black people, like, well,
we'll know the song, but we'll just title anything like
you don't say well no. I used to joke that,
uh like Barbara Streichan's Evergreen used to be called love
Soft of the easy Chair or the way we were.
The way we were was memories like the corner of
my mine. But this kid here's us used to always

(02:08:46):
say his favorite song was Mama getting married in the
house and not saying you know that song Mama getting married?
That's all he much. Now he's a young kid, I mean,
but he knows it. Yeah, that's that's funny. It's not
black people. It's so funny. Talk like that song about

(02:09:09):
my Joyce. I still called cross rooms unclear relatable. The
song is relatable, exactly. Smoke. This is final words? Did
you this is our nerd out session? Did you would
you trust me? I learned that, y'all amo song stupid

(02:09:32):
and during history, you know. But I enjoyed it though,
because you know, like I'm a nerd. I like, I like,
I'm a wrestling nerd. Have you done? Have you done?
Cheap Peter Rosenberg's cheap heat? But Peter is my man,

(02:09:56):
so I guess we got cheap heat anytime we texted,
talking about it on the phone, But we did wrestle,
may need to together and all that type of stuff.
I'm one of those kinds. Well, he's It's funny because
one time I was in San Francisco on tour and
this cat is out there. I'm thinking he's on the
road and you know, doing some shows. I'm like, what
you're doing here? He's like, yeah, I'm at the wrestling ship.

(02:10:18):
He's out there just for that. He didn't no rap shit,
just out there wrestling. It's crazy. It's crazy with it.
From Electric Lady Studios, this is of course Love Supreme.
We've had a really amazing show with our guest Pete
Rocket and on behalf of the team Supreme. Uh. This
of course Love Thank you for listening and supporting the show.
We'll see all next week. Cours Love Supreme. It's a

(02:10:53):
production I Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by
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visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
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