For the last 30 years, Pete Rock has produced some of Hip-Hop’s most celebrated sounds. Amid a Grammy Award-winning career that includes production, rapping, and DJ’ing, he now expands his repertoire by forming The Soul Brothers.
With his forthcoming PeteStrumentals 3 album, Pete takes one of the most trusted franchises in Hip-Hop in an organic direction. “A lot of this album sounds like samples extracted from records. We dress it up and add definition to what it is. It’s Hip-Hop, but have you ever heard Pete Rock not sample anything or work with a band? It’s exciting. I’m a musician, whether I’m sampling or not,†Pete declares. “Music is music; it’s what I think about it all day, every day.â€
In 2001, PeteStrumentals helped pioneer an instrumental Hip-Hop album trend. After its sequel in 2015, PeteStrumentals 3 takes the series to a new frontier. “I wanted to keep the same feeling that people got with the first PeteStrumentals, even if I’m not sampling,†Pete says. This time, he assembled a band. Tapping two-time Grammy-winning drummer Daru Jones (Jack White, Talib Kweli, Black Milk), the two friends recruited guitarist Marcus Machado, bassists MonoNeon (Prince, Nas, Mac Miller) and Christopher McBride, keyboardist BigYuki (A Tribe Called Quest), and vocalist Jermaine Holmes (D’Angelo). “I want the best; I’m like James Brown and Kool & The Gang; I want precision,†Pete Rock admits.
With the release of the album’s first single, “Say It Again,†you can hear how Pete’s creations come to life with his band and all-original sound; a band that he insists maintains his trademark knock. “This is something that I’ve always wanted to do†Pete commented. “Being an avid digger of albums and 45s, I now have a band to study and reinterpret these records. Presenting this to the world is so fulfilling.â€
Today, Pete is back with a visual for the albums lead-single, “Say It Again,†which he shared with Complex. “Say It Again†is a song I composed with my band of one of my favorite musical heroes, Barry White, and I put my own spin on it. The video is inspired by “Say It Again, I’m Black And I’m Proud†by James Brown†Pete commented to Complex.
As a special bonus, Pete listed out his favorite producers of the year for Complex, and one for his combined work. “My favorite producers for 2020 are Vitamin D, 9th Wonder, Alchemist and Madlib! Vitamin D because of his brilliant wizardry and his Flips project is my favorite album of 2020. Alchemist because of his production on Freddie Gibbs Alfredo project and his instrumental LP’s that he so cleverly crafts together. 9th Wonder because of the clean way he takes something, rearranges it and then makes it sound totally different. I love his production with Kendrick Lamar and Rapsody. Madlib is my favorite producer period. He’s put out so much great work and made me a fan for life.â€
Arriving on Pete Rock’s Tru Soul imprint, PeteStrumentals 3 marks a new beginning which will surely usher in a new generation of “Pete’s Treats.†Pete Rock’s PeteStrumentals 3 will be released on December 11.
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