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Like many facets of hip-hop, Pete Rock's history is linked to Jamaica. Peter Phillips is the son of a Jamaican father who DJed in the Bronx. At the age of 17, he caught the ears of producer Marley Marl and at 21, he released the 'All Souled Out' EP with C.L. Smooth. 'The Creator' was covered in a previous post (Rewind: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'The Creator'), so for this post I am going to cover another of 'Souled Out''s many standout tracks: 'Good Life'. 'Good Life', like many of the tracks from Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's catalog, is dense with soul samples from Pete Rock's deep crates. It's mind boggling to me, but it took 20 posts in this blog to mention the Meters. The Meters track 'Same Old Thing' provides one of this track's samples, along with Eddie Kendrick's 'Girl You Need a Change of Mind' and O'Donel Levy's 'I Wanna Be Where You Are'.
Another big break for Pete Rock came courtesy of his cousin, already established rapper Heavy D, who used some of Rock's beats for his 1991 album 'Peaceful Journey'. Pete Rock's production on the Heavy D and the Boyz posse cut 'Don't Curse', which includes guest spots from an all-star cast of emcees including Big Daddy Kane, Grand Puba, Kool G. Rap, Q-Tip, and C.L. Smooth. 'Don't Curse' draws a sample from 'Hip-Hug-Her' by Booker T and the M.G.'s. The track was a charting hit, but was ultimately overshadowed by the album's much bigger hit 'Now That We Found Love'.
In 1993, Pete Rock contributed to Run D.M.C.'s "gangsta" comeback album 'Down with the King', that may not have been all it was cracked up to be, but showcased some incredible production talent (including tracks by the Bomb Squad, Q-Tip, Jermaine Dupri, and others). 'Down with the King' was the first of three singles released from the album and is THE best late career Run D.M.C. track. 'Down with the King' samples 'Where Do I Go?' by James Rado and Company from the soundtrack to 'Hair'. It might seem like 'Hair' would be an odd place to pick up samples, but a contribution from Galt MacDermot turns up the funk quotient considerably. MacDermot will no doubt be covered in a future post on this blog.
Check back for the next installment on Pete Rock's career, including information on his contributions to 'Illmatic' and 'The Main Ingredient' - two of 1994's most important hip-hop releases.
The Lowdown:
Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'Good Life'
from 'All Souled Out' (1991) (MP3/CD)
The Meters 'Same Old Thing'
from 'Struttin'' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Eddie Kendricks 'Girl You Need a Change of Mind'
from 'People... Hold On' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
O'Donel Levy 'I Wanna Be Where You Are'
from 'Dawn of a New Day' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Heavy D and the Boyz 'Don't Curse'
from 'Peaceful Journey' (1991) (MP3/CD not available)
Booker T and the M.G.'s 'Hip-Hug-Her'
from 'Hip-Hug-Her'(1967) (MP3/CD)
Run D.M.C. 'Down with the King'
from 'Down with the King' (1994) (MP3 unavailable/CD unavailable)
James Rado and Company 'Where Do I Go?'
from 'Hair' Soundtrack (1969) (MP3 unavailable/CD)
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