QLS Classic: Pete Rock

Of course.

Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.

Yo Yo Yo, what up? This is Fante Fantigolo.

We're gonna take it back to December fourteen, twenty sixteen with.

My big brother Pete Chocolate Boy Wonder. The number one soul brother, producer, rapper, hip hop legend. Pete Rock told us about his deep knowledge of music recording and the art of sampling. My man Smoke Gizza joins him on this one. I think he says like one word can. He was just like overwhelmed with all the lyricshuit we were 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.

Suprema Suck Suck Suprema roll call, Suprema Suck Suck Suprema roll call, Suprema Sun sub Suprema. Role called Suprema Sun Sun Suprema roll call.

My name is Questlove.

Yeah here there's still no thunder, Yeah, but I'm really honored.

Yeah, chill much, Chocolate Boy Wonder Supreme.

Su su Suprema role called Suprema Sun Sun Suprema role call.

Yeah, it ain't no other Yeah, I haven't been to Mecca. Yeah, go on with the soul brother Supreme.

Sun, Suprema role called Suprema Suck Sun Supreme.

Role called Sugar. Yeah, loan yeah, yeah, ro.

Call Suprema Suprema role call Suprema Suprema.

Role ca.

Yeah you know yeah rock here, Yeah, gonna.

Suprema Suprema roll called Suprema something Suprema.

Roll bill is here. Yeah, so have no fear. Yeah, very down to earth. Yeah, and I didn't have to curse.

Suprema roll call Supremack Suprema roll call.

Yeah.

The flex is crazy. Yeah, I'm super Yeah, so.

Supprima Suprema roll call Suprema Suprema roll call.

My name is Pete Rock.

Yeah.

Sometimes I rap yeah, no times I sing yeah, Ding Ding.

Supreme Suprema Premo Supremore.

Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another edition of Quest Love Supreme.

This Quest Love. Welcome to Team Supreme. How you guys doing. We're good? Baby, we should here, 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 a revolution.

Well revolution was like that was like a special news super Bowl, Yeah, breaking news.

Yeah, that was like a very special episode of an eighty six.

Yes, but they talked about child abuse. Everyone of these things are doubly a special difference.

When he was in there in the shot with that ship could never get aired at least doing ads for Uber. Now, yeah, I saw it was on I saw on Facebook. He's in an ad for Uber.

How do you know this? It was on Facebook?

Like did you spot Oh that's Dudley just someone somebody else saw. Anyway, Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show. Smoke does it and they one and only Pete Rock Yeah all right, so we're going to get into everything nerd out. I mean, Pete, this is as as as a person obsessed with music. 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.

All right, So, uh, Pete, welcome to uh the show.

It's my first time on your show.

I think this is our first time.

Like's I don't feel like a veteran until we get to episode one, yeah to you know till that time, it'll be around. Man, I don't even know where to start.

So man, I would start with I've told the story before, but I've never told him.

You're the reason I quit my job. You told me that everyone. That's a job story.

He's the reason I quit my job. So, d what song was it that 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 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 our homeboy, Darryl Powell worked the Up Above Records, called my house and left. He had Pete on three way and called my house and left the message,

Because he said your album was crazy.

Pete was crazy and it was even more of content from Circle because I told you before too.

My and I was in tenth grade. This is when main ingredient came out. A girl that went to my high school named Deborah Jones. She was in a poetry contest and the winner of the poetry contest got a performance from Pete and cl. Wait what this is? I sweart Page High School, Greensboro Final. She she wanted a poetry contest and she read the poem. I don't even remember what the poem was about.

What does she win? She want?

Well, she want a poetry contest 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 cl came out fucking school.

That was all the matter was. And then they got to performance.

The winner of the poetry contest got a performance by pet and CL at their.

School like a radio promotion.

I wasn't ready. It was something.

I don't know who was doing it, but obviously he was in February, but Mayy greed it came out.

It was winter time. I don't think it was.

Cold because it was during track season, because I remember I was late to track practice because I was in the front and I had my Meccan No, I'm sorry, I had the main Ingredient CD, and I remember holding it up, and I remember you came to the side of you're one.

Of those guys that hold up the record.

I held up the record because I knew I was at like a predominantly white high school. But like it was like said maybe like seventy thirty, sixty forty, but like it was a lot of white people, but like the black people we had were like black?

How many how many people? How many fans black? Yo? How many people could fit in the auditorium? Oh? Man? All the term it was a couple of hundred. It was like this, four or five hundred. See, this is my worst nightmare doing in my career.

The high school visit is my worst nightmare because this is never ever worked out. It only worked out once, and that's because me and gave a gangload of money.

To our high school. The only time ever worked out.

But so p Rock and Sales Moove came to your high school. Came high school and what year was this? This is ninety five. This is main Ingredient hit like just came out.

Man. You guys were receptive oh my god. It 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 know real famous people like Andre?

I'm sorry?

Oh yeah, kids, Yeah, yeah, you're that all day? Uh this was like two thousands.

Yeah, oh yeah I was. I was.

That's my stuff, Yeah, stuff, real famous. My daughter asked me finding new Kendrick Lamar? Oh yeah, she loves Kendrick.

Well that's excusable, but I mean she knows who daddy is, right, Yeah, of course she does.

Yeah, yeah, that's that's the point.

But what was your answer?

You my son too, what was your answer?

Do you know Kendrin Lamar?

No? I don't know Kenrick.

I just want to know, do you go? You know Kendren Lamar knows me? That's the bigger point.

That they know each other. Yeah, but he probably knew me first. How old are that now? How old are kids now?

My kids eleven and seventeen?

Oh okay, yeah, I remember I was around the same age mine or fifteen and eleven six.

We're around were around the same way.

Absolutely, But yeah, but he came out to school that day tenth grade and I remember I was late to drag practice because I gave him, which I hope in prayer to God he had never heard. I had a homie work in all TC that was like outside the dressing room, and I was like, yo, mane to tape the peak and I made like the whackest fucking demo ever.

But you know what, all our demos were whacking begin either mine really terrible. Really my beat making was horrible. But I mean, you know, at least to me, that's what I.

Want to know, and that's to you. That's because I were at your crib.

You played me some stuff from like early and I'm like, dude, this sh.

Is oh got a lot of that stuff for real 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 ninety six, ninety seven, maybe ninety or not ninety five ninety six, because actually Pete was the first hip hop like celebrity or royalty that made music.

No 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 for like two to 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 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, I'm going with this. It was in Philly, nah we it was Holy Jesus, this was in North Carolina.

Oh wow, it was a people. It was It was a peak rock roots show.

It was like a it 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 many people, sixty people. Was like, U and C was it? Duke? Was it? All I can say was I definitely know was nineteen ninety seven.

Okay, I have to look that up, because you know, by this point, I was like, damn, like we like we really didn't start meeting our heroes in hip hop and contemporaries and hip hop till like ninety seven, ninety eight. So to go from like ninety two to ninety seven with a complete drought of not knowing any Wu Tang members any like nobody in hip hop crazy and so

Are always always known.

Premiere was known for his van like Cats would call it Premiere to bring his van, to bring his van to the studio to test it. I'm one of those people for him too, like always just sitting in the passenger seat, listen to listen to it.

Do you still test records like that, Peet, It's still the car test. I have to because I am too. I'm the same way I have to.

I'm from the old school, so you know, hey, you know or the true school people say, but yeah, that was one of the things we did. We make about ten twenty thirty beats in the crib. Then you know, when you come out, you just get in the whip and drive around New York City and buy about So how old were you do that with Big L in the call one time? Really just behind the court, me and Harlem chilling Bronx. He's riding around free styling to my beach wow cassettes. Yeah, I had you know, cassettes

Oh yeah, take care you know the music.

You could turn the bass 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 was it was kind of like off, but you still heard the effect.

I love my car. That was a crazy system in there. That must have been pre Juliani, like Everson post Giuliani. New York has been a very quiet, like the idea of a loud car. I'm one of those guys like look at people like shaking my head, turn that music down. So how how old were you when you I know that you started record collected at a young age. What what got you into just records?

My pops?

You know, just you know, I was young, like say three four years old, just intrigued by a little round piece 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 then I would go in the living room and my pops had all his records, all his 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 there and told me what it was and taught me about it.

And you know, so he was never there's no whooping.

I'm like, I mean, no whipping. But you know, he scolded me and then he taught me, oh yeah, because I wasn't allowed to touch nah, I mean I did you know that wasn't the right thing to do to me messing with his records. But I was a young kid, you know what I mean.

My worst punishment came after the Adventures a grand Master Flash on the wheels is steal. Oh wow, like hearing that even trying to scratch getting caught in the summer of eighty one, the worst thing ever. Yeah, Flash drove me crazy as a kid. So he like, was your father DJ? Or he just collected record? Yeah, DJ DJ and record collect Where would he? Where did he cricket player?

You know? You know, Matt cricket trophies?

Really because both of your parents Jamaica, right, Yeah, so you had all kinds of music.

Did reggae, classical, soul, funk, jazz especially, and you know but reggae being that with Jamaican.

So but he had everything. So as a youngster, like what what was playing.

In James Brown all day?

JB's James Brown, Bobby Bird, you know, Barry White and all the usual usual stuff, Barry White, Isaac. You know, yeah, you know what I'm saying.

All right, So besides the the ABC's of breakfeasts, like what's the what's an unusual break beat? Like a joint that I would have to pay two hundred dollars for that? You like, Oh, I grew up on disco tech soul, I've had that.

Oh like what rare break? Did your dad just happen to have that?

Well, he had all of that stuff.

I mean he had all the Coon and Gang, he had all the James Brown, he had all the Isaac, he had all of like reggae joints that have break beats on him.

You also have to remember that a lot of those records got inflated in price because of that man right there. We're going to get to it's we're going to get to that that dig today and I just look at the prices like wow, for reminists, Tom Scott, Tom's got I've seen that joint for like a thousand dollars.

Serious, Wow, you know I'm not I'm lying to you not. Yeah, even dealers stuff that I find. Oh yeah, yeah, a lot of money for it.

I was going to say that, Yeah, that record shopping and the adventures of you record shopping is crazy.

So 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, But when I was like three four years old, he had the one turntable with the McIntosh amps and these these speakers that and you know.

Just a whole McIntosh household. Yeah, that was rare, especially for a black family. Yeah.

He had the black with the green lights, you know, the black amp with the green lights and now yeah electric lad Yeah yeah, those amps are incredible right now.

To get a Macintosh system now is rare. It's rare. It's a house payment. Yeah, it's very rare. And you're gonna pay.

You're gonna pay an pay a thirty forty like so good yep, Oh my god.

You grew up in the So he was a serious record.

Yeah, serious with sound, very serious.

Very serious.

Is he still is that still with us?

Oh?

No, he left us in two thousands.

So he was here long enough to see.

Yeah, yeah, he's seen reminiscs.

He's seen obviously his collection became your collection.

Yeah yeah, so it's in my mother's basement, and you know he left the records with me and my brother.

You know what I'm saying.

I see it's a lot. That's how I started my collection from his.

All right, So at what point do you does this become a profession? Probably mm hmm.

You know when I got this job and Steady gigs out? Does it start in the park like it started start a young age. Now, this is Mount Vernon, right, you were born up there. Yeah, I was buying like you know, twelve inches sucking. See, he's all the you know, King Tim the Third, all that stuff, Fat Boys, all that stuff on Suture records.

And so was there hip hop folklore as far as like the folklore we hear about parties in the Bronx and stuff like what is what is Mount Vernon's version of that legends that you grew up.

Watching like my cousin Floyd Chiba M and DJ Speed and Bomb two and have you know, everybody had different names at the time. My name wasn't Pete Rock. He's name wasn't Heavy d c L's name wasn't CL's move. You know what I'm saying. Everybody took 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 from Mount Vernon. Yeah, and then we just followed him. Okay, okay, you know what I'm saying. And you know it started for me early man, early age.

So who's the one that like.

My cousin well Eddie f had had showed me how to work it, you know what I'm saying. And then I picked up tips from like everybody I was around, from Teddy Riley to to Molly mal Large professor.

You know, so Tedy could get busy on the S twelve hundred.

I've seen it in the studio. Really, I'm pretty sure he used it for something that I.

Was about to sake, because like now you don't think of him using ASP like he's not.

Yeah, but that was something that I married, you know what I'm saying. I just you know, oh, aeskub twelve hundred, because I remember the twelve before the twelve hundred.

Yeah, did you ever use the twelve? Yeah?

I used the twelve and the separate hard drive, and I was just doing kicking snare beats with little rim shot sounds.

And you know how many seconds could a twelve hole? Not? Man like? It was like ten right? Ten? No?

No, that's the twelve hundred was ten point two. It was like five seconds. Yeah, so the twelve was less.

Put everything in forty five? Yeah, speed up.

Well on the twelve you did that, but well, how okay, here's the secret.

I'm about to let you out. You know the secret.

Okay, with the twelve hundred, right, I would sample what I needed to sample, whether it 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 tight?

K that? Then save it right, then.

Erase it whoa, then erase the 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. No, I was just getting it regular. Why I don't know. It was just the way I learned, and it was the hard to me. Now that I look at what I did, I'm like, damn, that's a lot of work I did. Yeah, like super extra crazy you use like a nine hundred or.

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 listeners some perspective, I mean, this is like when you talk about sampling records and sampling time for a machine, I mean the twelve point so we had ten seconds to sample whatever you want.

So sometimes I got the whole like the world is yours got the whole loop and one you know what I'm saying, didn't have to you know, erase, but reminisce. I had to do that.

Yeah, I mean because you were like one of the first producers.

I remember that would layer samples and all of it would be in key, and I was like, yeah.

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.

I ain't care.

I'll just I learned that from sitting in bomb Squad sessions, and I was, you know, just watching the Ice Cube album Go Down Dog.

Wait, wait, you can't just say that like America.

I was watching Hanking and Keith and that and that. I picked that up, you know, listening to Public Enemy. Of course, you just sit in on sessions.

Yeah.

Yeah, Green Street we worked in the same studio Green Street.

Was Jamie was he engineering that? James? He was Jamie.

I met Jamie and Chun King and then that's how I mean Jamie hooked up. Then I met Rod Way, who's an agent cat engineer in Green Street. I was working with Rod first.

So during those Bomb Squad sessions. How old were you.

At that time, seventeen eighteen and your first record you produced was.

Goofy Chill Starting from Zero.

Oh yeah, yeah yeah. And I didn't know what I was doing in the studio, and some but me and Jamie wasn't was arguing a lot, and you know, I didn't know what I was doing.

Make this sound like that.

Yeah, you know, 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 next thing you know, I'm at another session using Amy and then next thing you know, we developed you started yelling.

Yeah.

So in the beginning, were you one of the cats like back when I'm like, like I ever had a beat making period, it was a period like cats on no but like yeah right, 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, that part there.

So was that like your beginnings, you would.

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 records and Molly would hook up.

You know.

That's how nobody buss Nobody used to Biz happened a couple of the joints. But yeah, I barely did that. I was just I was just cranking them out, man, just you know, having fun, you know what I'm saying. Like, So, how many hours a day would you all day wouldn't come all right.

From your from your first time that you like were trying to get a master?

How many hours would you invest in date.

Locked in my room from morning until I could start, until I 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 were like until I started, as I might I might have something here?

Like how long did I think I was like nineteen when I was like like starting to lock in, because that's when I got to shut him down.

Job. Now that's not before that.

I was doing like, you know, remixes with Eddie F and stuff, Johnny Gill, Basic.

Black you did, Alexander, I did that.

I got Yeah, I got ye in the middle and then uh, we'll see il wrapped on it. I wrapped on it and then you know the remixes. That's where it started.

And then when that's I guess, you know, being as that my name was attached to a lot of this stuff, untouchables or whatever, and I got I got it.

I got a public enemy job. So the Untouchables was kind of your version of the bomb squad kind of who was something else?

It was me Eddie F, Dave Hall Neville novelle, Yeah, ye, my man, my man Kenny, my man Kenny was in Kenny Green Yeah, spunk, bigger cat from Mount Vernon. And and that's it, I think. And my man Willie Willie from from from like eight of y'all Willie Gunns, my man Willy Guns.

So when working on a heavy D record, like do y'all just sit in the room.

And buy that it 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 know I did you know ghosts?

So you did that? Let me be the one you gave him. I did that.

I did that first on on with them always have wait, no, no, no, it was yeah, I think I can't remember it.

Was it was it was had first because Blue Funk was ninety two, yeah, and then Intro.

Was ninety three. It was the next Yeah.

So when when when Yeah, when they heard heavy, when they heard heavy record, you know how they do the arm beach hip hop beach.

It's like reggae ships. Like everyone wanted to sing the verse.

But then I gave Dave Paul these drawing program these drums, and I said, yah, you know, on the disc and just gave him, as you know, a floppy disk and I said, there's drums on that, just you know, and then he made that joint.

Wow, I had no clue because I played that record top I love that record. Yeah, man, God bless bro So.

Wait, I just I got I got a non music professional question. When was the blow Niggas Away moment? Was your blow Niggas away moment? And when you were seventeen, like when you first started shut them down with your blow Niggas away?

But what Haavy? Everybody who wanted to impress.

Was like what even my own family? Yeah but wait a minute, cousins.

Everybody got it for me though, Yeah, all right your remix now I knew, yes, yes, shut him down like change the game. Yeah, but the remix to E. P. M D's uh Ram Rampage, which came out before then.

I did two different versions that, Yeah, but the disco techt so version.

All right, wait now now I'm getting I have to play Williams.

Yes, that that is joint. That to me, that that made 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 it a lot when I was on the radio 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 right.

At the same time, I was doing a lot of like 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.

Did the tracks 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 with the King session and they booked another room for me to finish the remix to the house.

Wow.

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. You know, I wasn't big on my wrap back then, but it was like please please, And I was like all right, fuck.

You know.

I did one with and one without, you know what I mean. I did it some Jackson case ain't.

Like, Yeah, that was one of my favorite ones because you really took that record like it gave it another feel.

It's still had energy. Yeah, the original was really was. It was still really great till till this day.

But the remix was something that just kind of put the cherry on top of that record period.

Okay, let me explain to our listeners to put in perspective if you were around for our.

Dante the scrub Ross episode when I tried to explain the idea of the Renaissance period of hip hop. So for a lot of our listeners, I mentioned this volume of break beats, this compilation called Ultimate Beats and Breaks, which essentially would be the Wikipedia of hip hop break beats, where they would just give you all the answers. You didn't have to do much digging. You would just take

I knew that soul and all that stuff.

So where you come to play is that you're part of a renaissance period that starts emerging in nineteen ninety you, along with.

Tippinally premieres getting his game up.

Yeah, Prince Paul Larsh Professor, and you know from Philly.

I gotta include Jeff and this.

Is I mean even cash Money and Marvelists.

Yeah.

So what what is happening is cats are now finding other sources to sample their music from that's not from.

YouTube. That's the new ultimate vizza breaks.

I mean, you know, 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 those like no, not really, you can't tell that. Yeah, there was a period where you knew who was serious about the craft and who wasn't. And 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 I heard of ice Cube Sister Soldier Remix I did came out on Epic Records.

No, back in the day. No, what was the name of this. I gotta get that. Sister Sister Soldier.

Sister Soldier made records.

I have the.

Google ice Cube Sister Soldier Remix came out on Wax and everything. Really, you just brought it to my attention when you mentioned you know something I got.

I got to research that. Yeah.

No, I had the album, but I didn't get the twelve minutes. 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 and a lot of stuff.

I was just like, this is old stuff. I don't want that, and just you.

Know, just go for the obviously, like if it's worth one to fire Stevie Wonder stuff I knew, but I mean you're going to Tom Scott and so like what is I watch and and study other producers methods and see how they do it. Some of them will collecting them secure 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 now of that. It starts at eight a m.

In the morning. You get up at him because applause for working at a job. There's three people I know that get up in the morning. Pharrell Dyli used to do it as well. Premiere also like and they a 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 know you're listening and something grabs you. So you thoroughly listen to a record, yeah, and absorb it and

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 into you can mold it crazy. So yeah, 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, just listening. Then I know what to attack when it's time to rock.

That's what separates you from the pack. Dude.

I remember at his crib. We came up to his crib. This is Christmas two thousand and two. We all drove up this crib and we just all slept on the floor in the basement and he 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 run a while Curtis Mayfield.

Strengths the strings. Man ninth loves that beat. He took it. No, he took the beginning of it, and then I put that organ in there, and then he put the organ in from the beginning to or.

God.

That was like, I I think two of my like most favorite peat Bab's that just made me really want to just like quit music.

Forever was like that one. And Take the D Train? Oh man, did take.

The D Train?

You flipped the D God Man, that's my favorite disco record in 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.

Yeah it's the slow yeah.

Yeah.

D Train is wow. Yeah.

But you know it was you know those were you know the records right there. I mean, 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 a horse shoe or.

Like a No. 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 breakbea drumming Uh.

Really is the debtor like what.

You imagine what you imagine in your head how powerful the break is? Like take all right, I'll give you an example.

With with let's take eye.

Now in your mind, you're thinking that Bonzo is just rocking out like using every you know, like air drummer, what you imagine air drummers to do? Yeah, But what I found out was because of the particular Micael Steve.

Steve is our engineer.

All right, So what like what vintage microphones am I using, like like doing the Voodoo era and all that stuff, Like what am I using?

Uh?

Well, a lot of that stuff we had here, the Noymans that forty seven's like, that's what I believe. That's what sort of John Bonham had the mono overhead, right, you know, oh the mono. Yeah, it's like one mic right, you know over the kick.

That's weird because substitution.

How does 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 mics further away.

Okay, so that's the thing, Like now cats will mic. Every drum an engineering drum, which is why it sounds so sterile.

Yeah, two thousand. Yeah, 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 were sharing one mic, damn.

So when I found my zone as far as like really finding that gritty, dirty sound that you're looking for, like you said, like the U forty seven.

And then the ribbon mics, you know, yeah, ribbon mics. But even at that, it's also how you play it. Like a lot a lot of the teach well.

The drum, the drums that I use, Like my drum company will try to be like, yo, these 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 set. Wow, And they look at me, they're like, why do you want? I want the cheap high school set? That sounds horrible. That's what all the classic it was made.

Yeah. Yeah, drums weren't getting drum sets. They were using five hundred dollars sets from like Sears and just tune fine tuning it and micing it.

And but then also the way and the less you 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 the I mean, I try to almost use nothing but risks like very very very light touching that way when you EQ, it comes off super vintage and super you know, so it's it's almost like it's it's an anti climatic answer. What I'm saying is that basically, the less I play and the quieter

They have funk, it's what about God? What about the funk?

No?

No, no, not like modern like the catch you see playing for like.

Unnamed actor.

There's a lot of soul and gospel.

No, we're talking about like modern.

When you see modern music today and you wonder why this guy doesn't make you feel when you hear Clyde Stubblefield playing that sort of thing, it's no one trusts that lessons 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 that's you.

You need, you need something basic and something regular. I mean, it's like bread distortion static.

I was sampling from that. I may really I made a beat out of that.

Wait, I gotta I gotta find it. I gotta tell you I made a beat from that from just playing with it. Yeah.

I took a loop up, a little quick loop 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, it's really weird when you you hear your own break beats uh in a porn.

One time you heard anything, I've heard the scene in an amateur film.

You literally heard the scene they just wants 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 that too.

Yeahs are everywhere.

Yeah, Yes, the adult world has especially the remix. Oh my god. All right, So when the shut him Down remix came, I don't even know how to explain to someone how important.

Like shutting shut him Down to me changed really changed. I mean he gave it movement like because the original but he it was original was cool.

It was baseline drums, and you know it was a good record, good record, But.

I mean we really consider that comedy the first, the first, I mean it was that wasn't the first remix per Se that totally reimagined a song, did it. 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, the first one was probably he did.

Molly did remixes. If you remember, like dropping Science, the original version was different the drum right right right, and then he flipped it right, you're right now.

But he did with the what you call it to the Yeah, Molly uh, I would say in terms of the first you're talking about remix that kind of changed the game or changed the song Jingling Baby.

I was yeah, yeah, you remember the original.

Original, yeah yeah, but that remix and killed it. That was it that When that remix hit so I feel like the the the summer or no, the fall of ninety one, 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 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 shit out of like that that that cut and Nigga you love to hate. Yeah, but it's like sonically that doesn't work well in a nightclub at Sphere, and it really wasn't working when you spin off Wax like Serado is loud of Ship.

But for me, what's classic about Shut Them Down? It was like it was made under ten minutes. Yes, I lied 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 knows no time to overthink. No, I didn't even leave my crips. I was like, you know what. Let me just and then I seen some albums laying man, I hate you right now, you know, grab the Isley Brothers grabbed, Tom Scott grabbed.

What is that? Tom Scott? No, I know that, But what song? Is it? Not? The same Honeysuckle Rose record? Is it? Never? My love? I hate you right now? Man?

Never?

So that's you said, that's three songs.

Yeah, that's a pool. I used the version of it too, but Tom Scott yea couch.

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 lay drums first of all, like, yeah, the drums, the fact that you separated. Yeah, I mean besides Marley, like, would nobody beats a business taking drums and reimagine 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. No, but you chopped it. I chopped it to thus giving you the ability to eq 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 with the long Red and your.

So what what Peter's explaining that.

So this group named Mountain Mountaine one of the few groups that wasn't documented on the Woodstocke on the Woodstock documentary.

Long Red was from Woodstock. Yeah, it was from Woodstock, and it's actually him.

There's a version without the breakbeat also.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the studio version.

But this particular version from Woodstock that hipp the live one that's hip hop staple, is actually him mocking the audience for not knowing where the one was because if you hear them, they're all clapping. They're clapp on what he's doing. So he's like on Temple Jack, like Tempo Gang. Yeah, on Tempo Jack, like don't mess up my group.

Yes, it took that louder, that everyone takes that louder.

But the thing is is that you know, an average person would have just looped the four bars from it, whereas now the Renaissance Crew it is taking these breaks and doing the early phases of what we call just flipping, where you take the snare and the kick and you re invented.

Yeah, he was, and I mean around the time, because I remember you chopped up. This was a couple of years later you talk about I mean we talked about flipping records. A Z give me yours. Well, you took the Many rivers. I had that original Sam Houses.

I mean, you know, my mother sped all the time and I was like, yo, uh no, no, no, it was no, it's it's not.

It's many the okay, yeah, it's here we go, here we go with many.

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 looked it because I used to be like I used to listen to this on tape.

Yeah, cassette, slow damn. It has totally made it something new, million people bracing shut them down as the burger. But you know, you you you have the perfect chopped onion.

And tomatoes on that joint. But the thing is that a song like h and I've Been Good to You by the Isley Bus.

Now, when you take this.

It's not quantized, all right, you know what you gotta be. You gotta be my Negro translator.

With quantized meaning that it's not imperfect. No, it's not. No, I didn't loop it.

I actually chopped a half a bar each of it.

If you telling me that you made this in ten minutes, this means you are working at the.

Yes speed lightning. Because I had to go, so, you know, I had to be out, so I had to get you know, I was at that time it being late in the music business was like a big deal, so you know, I was just trying to and then I'm still late, but you know, I mean I had a hot joint with me, so that's why I was like, So what.

Was the look on their face? Who? Who did you play it for?

When you When I got it, Jamie stopped, you know in the studio with him and him bugging out and saying, Yo, we got something here. We're gonna play around with these sounds.

And did it take long to line up? Like?

Nah, it probably took a little while, but you know, once I got once I had the 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, but I wasn't around either. There the two best public end me stories I ever heard both came from Buster Rhymes.

Yeah Buster nose.

Buster has a story of being like Buster and Charlie Brown and Dinko used to always be at their studio.

Chuck named them named rhyme football player 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.

Really yeah, Charlie Brown was in the mix when when out first listened down to the first listen.

Down really was done. Charlie was there well crying and I was. I was saying that 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, and he says, but man, when I heard shut him down like you like, I went out my mind because.

It was just it was just unheard of Genesis album. He's like, I want to do that again. Beat Come on, man, you know I busted talk. I can't do one.

Thing I wanted to ask you in terms of like with the remixes, because it's very different now, you know, with you got computers.

You just lining things up. How were you able to get the vocals to sync with the track?

That was Jamie's job. But I was good because I'd be like, look, man, make him ride that beat. This is a new remixed joint. I want, you know, I wanted to sound totally different from the original, and Jamie know it was it was sympty and all that stuff, So you have to vocal from the real Yeah. And Jamie was nice because he's the splice so anything that he would time wise, he would splice tape. And then

So when when this comes out, then suddenly, what's what's Pete Rock's life like after this?

Was? Nah?

But yeah, man, it's just my life just went from being you know, paperboy delivering papers in my hood, from flipping steaks in the mall to 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 up and say, yeah, this is what I want to do.

From that, just from that experience, I was, you know.

Crib Yeah was it like watch to him because he's another clean beat maker, I know, clean his ships.

Still he'll take a record like I never heard impeach sounds so clean.

Yeah, he took it.

We did it on how We t was a producer, uh special special or he chopped up on specially second album You Wish you could Impeach over the Superman.

My favorite, my favorite joint. Do you remember that special? I wish you could? I wish you would. I play that all the time.

Man.

Yeah, how he t was amazing, like it was him and Molly for me, you know, coming up of course Rick Ruban and you know I listened to like Curtis blowing the live musician.

Give me give me your give me If you can't, fine, I'll say three for now. What sessions were you there to witness that were historic?

Teddy, give me give me your.

Five most historical? Like, yeah, I'm working on this song and then it's it's a game Teddy, Riley, Molly mal but wait what I mean?

What song.

H new jack swing you know, uh yeah, I was. He was always with Teddy Rally. They used to hang out a lot, like you know what I'm saying. So I used to be with Have and you know, be Witness and things he's doing, you know his you know, exclusive stuff.

What did he work on? He wants you remember that group. Wait, that's my favorite. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it all his stuff, Let's talk about amazing.

So what what equipment was he using? Because everything, but he told me so basic, you know s the cell board, you know, pro tools wasn't nothing and it was straight board, you know what I mean.

He told me that he I don't know which Michael Jackson need from Dangerous that he did all the pre It was either remember the time or no, no, no she did. She's driving me wild. He says, I did it in a.

Project kitchen, like he had a setup and he's like he kept his old apartment set up that he used for the Guy album and did Yeah and the Kid Sweat stuff and he did all most of Michael Jackson's Dangerous inside of his project kitchen.

With a producer.

It's about that that comfortability spot, like if you're comfortable.

It can happen anyway, Bro, you know what I'm saying. A hit record can happen anyway.

So you do majority of production, Like do you do it in this actual studio? You drop it off?

No?

I always do beats at home first, and then I go in and you know, and then when when I'm in this the studio like this and I'm laying the beat down, then 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.

So all right, well you said Teddy Rowley? What else? What? What other historical songs were there to see?

I mean I was around Molly a lot, so you know all I have stuff, all of some some cane stuff, some biz stuff.

I saw was alb Was he hanging right out? I'll be sure you know what I'm saying.

Wow, I was gonna say, what is your obsession with just rhyming with biz man? You've made helf of that ship so many times.

I think that record just like, how did the publisher?

I know it's a James Brown sample, but it just reminded me of James Brown, even with Kane and Biz on this ship, right, No, I knew you didn't use it for the James Brown the voice, but the voices their voices.

But like all of main Ingreedy, it was man like, did you have to cut a special deal?

Check it out? I think so.

Yeah, And I think Molly won a case with Warner or something like that. And you know he owns all this stuff now, so he does yeah, hell yeah.

Yeah, wow. That from what I understand.

I wanted to ask you about in terms of, you know, we talked about the first ep al sold out. How exactly did you and cl get signed to a lecture and how did y'all first?

How y'all? Yeah, 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 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 list.

We were doing basement that.

It was like we got like forty or fifty of them, you know what I'm saying, And we made a song off of dancing the drummers beat.

You know. Oh wow, really that was your first demo? Yep, yep. Something of our first demos.

We was taking common stuff and then that's when I started getting raw with the beats and using like stuff that people in the work using. We were making demos and we got signed off of my basement demos off off of four track. Yeah, do you still have the stuff or yeah, I have?

I have?

Well, they had they put out a somebody I don't know, I must have lost the tape or something like that, like put it out. They put it out, and there's some stuff on there. I got it though, I got I got a lot of this stuff.

Wow.

Did 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 DJing on the radio with Marley, so I would test it out and play it on the radio.

You know what I'm saying, and people will respond And you know when were you DJing with Marley on eighty seven, eighty eight, eighty nine, also on there for like three years straight. BLS with Clark and then we rotated, like me and Clark Camp. First it was just me the whole weekend. Then it was me Clark Camp and then you know, once in a while he'll pull in a DJ from somewhere. But back then it was great because you know, kidding played had they hot new stuff out

Who are you imagining? Yo? They're going to go crazy when to hear this, What's what's the vision in your mind where you're.

Like, I'm it's the feeling that I just get overjoyed, you know what I mean. So it's a goosebump feeling. Yeah, like and I want to, you know, call an artist. Yo yo yo, listen to what you know? Like the world is yours. It happened when he came over and I just went through a couple of discs. I had that beat made already, you know what I'm saying. I went through a couple of discs and I popped that one in first and I didn't play no more beats after that.

That was the one that was it? Did you I mean working on imatic? 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 the rhymes? Man, I was like, yeah, that's when.

Did you know that? Like Tip and large F and everybody else was working on it too.

Yeah, you all know you Primo Tip, you know, but it's like a battle at the time. I think in everybody else's mind. I think that's what was going on. It was all competing, and I think when Primo heard the world is yours, he went back, you know what I mean? But you know Tip only had one love, you know, the one love joint, and l e S had one joint.

I have one joint and Premon had three.

Okay, So that that environment, I mean, were you guys record shopping on the.

Yeah, we used to walk in on each other digging. One time, there's this Jazz Records, you know jazz. You would never know where this record store is. His record store, next to Jive Records. The label Oh wow, it looks like a mechanic building. There's nothing on it that says it's a record store. So it's upstairs, upstairs like Japan.

They have all the great jazz records in there, like Verdictas. And Tip is in there on the ground and you know, going through records, put his glasses on and he's you know, on the floor. I'm like, okay, this is about to get serious with your boy, because I see how heart he's going, so I gotta go even harder.

So is it a breathless race to the finish?

Like?

Okay?

Now when I record shop, let's say late later in Man ninety nine, two thousand, two thousand and one. I would meet a few dealers that would be like Pete bought this, you would buy the entire stock reality only only you, You and Bizmarck you only cats. I know, or at least heard, like the urban legend is that you will buy out an entire section of record so that.

No one else did 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.

They would.

One time I was brought I was finished with digging, and I was, you know, carrying boxes to the car to come back in bring them, and Tipples is looking at me like it looked like he just wanted to turn around and go home. Okay, So here's a question.

I've heard a lot of people say that they don't want to see you in a record shown now 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 by, of course, man, I'm saying, is there anybody that you don't want to come to the store for you? Premier?

I remember one time I walked up.

Okay, same thing on twenty it's just another record store, jazz on twenty seventh Street.

Would know it's in the building, Primos in there. I walk up in there thinking I'm I got something all to myself and Primos in there getting all the great you know all that gang star ship. You know, that's what that jazz store was. Dope, But did you know what you were looking for? Was it just based on like.

But cover?

We used to just take chances, take chances. The stars still there, see somefros and some.

Wait, it's still there. The one he's talking about is still there? Is that the way you told me about words? Yeah, was talking about it on the show, Oh, sexualize and videotape. What's his name? The actor the Blacklist? What's his name? Vader? Zz Market? I think it's called like jazz market. Yeah, jazz Market. That's it. All of us is actually going. So wait in your job records, that's near Battery Studios.

Yep, it was right next door, dude, I recorded my first I've never heard execute floor.

It's like an office building. It sounds like the eighth floor, like you don't even know what to restaurant to the door.

To get to the door.

But don't you think somebody's secretly keeping it from you at this point?

You know what I mean?

Right?

Two things I learned about recording at Battery Studios. One, all the tales of my mine coming to forty second Street was like, oh, it's all Disney Like. I didn't know about the New York City version of that batteries where I did, But the rest of the roofs were like all the time. But I'm the one at the studio like working and they.

On the forty dues. Wow, But now I'm not. I can't believe that the spot was here and I didn't know about it.

Yeah, Battery, I did the Will Smith and Jeff stuff there too, really, but the home base cod.

Damn?

Who haven't?

No? Who you?

Who do you want?

Is there anybody who left?

Who's left? We can't play who else I worked with? I mean?

But who is left that you haven't that you would want to?

Is there actually fifty? Really?

You know a couple of g unit dudes? Man, Yeah, I've never.

Worked with it.

What does he know that you?

I just got a bump into him. We gotta I gotta catch him in the studio.

Or something gotta have my beats on me or something.

How does the environment of I mean the chemistry between you and cel.

Right now? I mean no, no, no, no.

I just meant back then when when the album comes out, because.

We were young kids having fun. Man, you know what I'm saying, like we found something. You know what I'm saying, we found 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 had the aid of MTV and you still had Rahap City, so you know, it wasn't that regional way.

The soul train was still around because we did You definitely did sold train, you know what I mean.

So I mean like if you guys are doing a show.

In Mississippi or something, like, what's the reception?

But 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 rocks moving then on a promotional tour? You know, promotional tours. Used to go on promotional tours 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 would be there, you know, show up, you know what I'm saying.

Like, so it wasn't a thing where it's like y'all at a strip club and they like this ain't.

Luke, no y'all New York is y'all talk.

But you know, what do you have for 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? Say posts chronic posts like.

Where did you? Where did you? What was your role?

Or where did you lie in the I guess the East West?

But yeah, like when did that start rearing its head?

Ninety five ninety six? Really yeah, ninety five ninety six, And so what did you know?

Like I had my own stress going to you know me and see how breaking up and all that. Right, So then the East West thing then you know me thinking everyone in hip hop was invincible, and then motherfucker 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, 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, Yeah, tell me? Can you tell me the 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 then you got be puffetized.

Yeah, but.

He's rhyming over just a very know on Luke, Like, it's not when Biggie was rhyming over juicy. Pete Rock's the one that like yo is like it was a Pete Rock beat initially and then what pop's done this before? Because like even Mariah carries Honey was a cute tip beating.

But did he should have been like y'all young boy though, right because he from Mount Vernon.

But he was young.

It's from bel Avenue, Mount Vernon. We we all grew up together, all right. Yeah, but but with.

Him with the juice, Okay, when the juicy thing happened, he brought Big over, you know, and big came in there, 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.

Yo, Just show me how you make a beat. And then I made in the flesh, in the flesh in front of Biggie that's on the main.

Can I wait, can we talk about we got to talk about the records? Man? Can we take wait? I gotta he's standing right there. You know that's the story I want, like what historical? Yeah, he made that in the flesh and what was big reactions in the flesh. He was loving it, you know what I'm saying.

Then started picking like these beats, you know, like he was picked over ten beats.

But we never did none, you know.

All right, Wait Steve, Okay, I'm gonna explain something that this is what this is what's gonna blue Steve's mind?

Steve, do you know my obsession with a certain symp.

You I'm a defensive story now, my obsession with using Steve Miller.

Bands space space Like Steve.

Hates nothing more than that than hearing that our peggio happened. No, because I over like.

We don't use that ship. But I it's just it constantly. It's at the top of a 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.

London and we were broke cold or it was the worst feeling.

We only had two cassettes to hold us down for like most of nineteen ninety four, and that was to cal and that.

Was the main ingredient.

And even I mean it was some of the most it was the worst. I mean, every group grows through basic training to to soldier up and and and you know, really established themselves.

And so this was the hunger years. Everyone has those hunger years where you're just starving, you know, if you're coming 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 layer Steve Miller bands space, which like that to me, I mean me and Twoek's only fist fighting history happened in ninety four and post fist fighters.

Yeah, yeah, it's funny because we used to come to the crib a lot too.

We used to have fun. You know what I mean, you still have the same crib, same mouse. I've never been to the people to come what do you call it?

What do you call it? The basement? Oh my god, you've been in front.

Yeah, that on the floor, left on the floor when we first, like after shortly after I quit my job. I mean yeah, I went out like listen, I'm homeless niggas. But now we all drove to me, nine pool, all of us. Everybody we drove up there slip on the floor and like nine of them. Yeah, we was all in the crib. I think we ordered like we might have ate once like days, ordered pizza. But but yeah, we was in the basement. And that was what the first time I really understood just 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 and this. He was like, yeah, so these the main ingredient beats.

This is stuff from making the Soul brother and this is stuff I'm like kidding me, and you still have that stuff.

I got the world's yours on this still, that's amazing. How did Biggie lose this? I don't know man like or what's puff making his decisions for him more?

Yeah, yeah, but not when he was picking beats, you know, like.

He's so big, he was like this is all right.

Yeah, he was like he wanted the Interlode beats. He wanted my Interlodes.

So Juicy, we gotta finish off my Juicy him.

Yeah, so you know, I was playing the beat. I had the drums playing when they came downstairs, because I was gonna put something else in there.

And he knew, you know, 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 due to remix.

The I mean, did they at least give you the option to change the drums a little bit so that you.

Can Yeah, yeah, that's what I did in the remix.

Though, No, no, no, no, But I'm just saying that original I thought that what we noticed the p rock remix of Juicy, that was the original idea.

That's it, only the idea. But they did it. You know what I'm saying, Like, whoever did it? Track masters?

Whoever?

But they the idea is what you hear right on the right now, and you know they just looked it.

So I mean, did you feel some sort of way like well, back then I was.

I was a little crazy feeling little ways a boy people. You know, how did now that I realized that music is universal?

You know what I'm saying. It doesn't belong to nobody, but the people were sailing it.

You know, I have a question about a similar situation.

What's the story behind trip called class and jazz? Oh? Same thing? Stop the same thing tip?

They al used to We all used to hang out tip coming over heard the beat playing, you know, and went.

So you contributed the drums to it?

Or was it the same way you hear it on the Tribes 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 we read your crib. I want to say you played his version of jazz? Yeah I think the disc Yeah, yes, I still have it.

So Pete, have you.

Like developed any relationships with any of these living legends that you like, you know changing Yeah, Like.

Roy was on tour with Roy shared some some weird Polydors stories, James Brown stuff, and it was fun touring with him, you know what I mean?

Wait, I know that he did he ever hook you up with Like.

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 the Ramp that tip us another album.

Yeah, who came out in seventy eight?

Because that Ramp album that everybody's finding, it's not the original albums. That's a bootleg, that's not original pressing.

But it was boot like seventies boot leg. You know what I'm saying.

Really it never he said, it never really came out.

It never officially came.

Out, never officially came We have it on white, We have a promo what We're.

Finding in nineteen eighty nine, eight ninety was Oh you two man?

Wow? Yeah, I thought he was masterful for that fine right there.

Wow. I never knew of that one, never knew.

So did you ever get like what did Roy say about your version of searching?

Oh?

We used to do it in the shows. You know, he'll do the song and then I come in with the hip hop version. But I made a live version. I made it over and yeah it's pretty.

That was my favorite joint. I remember you telling me at the crib that was Novelle playing. Yeah, yeah, that one.

Yeah.

So the main ingredient, 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 my way.

I was surprised that even y'all, that y'all you know, came from North Carolina sounding.

Like that lot of us.

I was like, what, man, we grew like some village is like the same reaction, like, oh my god, Yeah, we grew up.

On y'all ship.

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'd be you know, after football practice, and we'd.

Just be running it.

And so then a couple of years later, because I remember y'all had the this was the source I used to have the ads and it was like, guess who's back in the house.

Oh yeah, guess back in the house.

Like the next episode, the next issue 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 Maine Ingredients set me up for Snoop Dogg. Wait, Wait wait, wait are you going with this?

No?

That was that was like sourced with that record. Man, I just remember buying it and I Gotta love. When I first heard Got Love, and I even told you before when I first heard I Got Love, I was like, okay, cool.

That was like I was like, I'm shut that the sing No, that's funny because that's favorite 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 manager Tuesday, the management, the management, they wanted that out, you know, was it? I was aiming for something else? I forgot what song? What did I want?

First? Was it there?

I know that 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 one of the first producers.

I remember that.

I thought arranged hip hop songs like a songwriter.

Would, like you have intro, bridges, break down, you know what I mean. I was taught that.

By my cousin Have and Eddie f Eddie f used the program, you know, bridges and ship, you know, and then also Marley.

I picked that up from Marley to the Bridge thing. Yeah, that record.

Yeah, the main Ingredient was the one for me where I was just like, yo, like hip hop gets no better than this.

Yeah, that was the one. And with the innerludes, I mean, talk to us about.

It, like how creating a record, like how do you what was on your mind when you were both Mecca and soul Brother and the main ingredient and the interludes, and what were you imagining like with making this record, like showing us your world or your record collection, being a part of like a superhero.

Team like the Avengers collect comic books, so you know, yeah, I was on some comic book ship, you know what I'm saying with them beats, you know, so I took it on. I took on that that theme, you know, all.

Right, Now, how were you able to pull that off? On the business to.

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, you know what I'm saying.

People got ahead.

It wasn't like, you know, we had to clear some samples, you know, we had to meant just interludes was just ship. I was just like on some whatever.

Yeah, listen to somebody coming knocking like a.

People wanted them in The Lose Man.

They wanted them in what was your nightmare story? With losing clearances? Not many because they were pretty short, you know what I mean.

So I don't know if musicians don't yeah, nobody catch nobody. I don't think nobody that I'm sampling from is really listening like that.

But it's weird because everyone has like all right with the daylight situation. I mean, the Turtles weren't listening, but the Turtles was even with me and Doctor Dre like I was like, yo, that's my parents. I never sampled that never.

They have some rare phone ky albums on Strawberry Records. Oh my god, yeah amazing. I had no clue.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they have some joint joint and that's when I hit you on Twitter and was like yo, man, oh.

So they don't get a check for that?

No, you have? You have you know what's weird? Yeah, I got it.

Okay, it's kind of a weird situation, uh with uh Philly his own Larry Maggott, prior of the ticket Master uh Empire, and who used to my dad built this empire.

He used to manage my father.

Uh, and well he was my father's agent for college gigs. So it was long after Andrews and the Heart's finished and he was doing uh like college gigs around the sixties and whatnot.

Like Larry Maggott was his agent.

And through that college money, that's how Larry Maggott started ticket Master.

Of which, in some strange sort of events with.

Julius Caesar, uh, the Ticketmaster Empire sort of conspired against him and they started Live Nation and kind of kicked him.

So he got his pay back.

If you, if you saw anenturage, would be like if Ari Gold had like twelve proteges and and and in turns working for him.

He talked them to the tricks of the trade and they all started their own company.

Yeah, and then they yeah, like you guys start a radio empire and then I'm out the cold.

Like welcome to Spring. True. Yeah, that's yeah, that's wow. That's crazy man. So yeah, all right, So when when the group breaks up.

In ninety four ninety four after so, I mean, were you having also electric thing now that I think about it, well, major, major labeled thing, you know, pitting us against each other when something new comes, it comes into play.

What were they? What would they control?

When Sylvia tells you, you know you got to make remixes like cough. Daddy's talking to me like this, and I'm like you, I'm like, I got nothing against 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. You got you got some beats where you put the little triangle in there.

You know what I used to I used to make wag beats for fun because I never know who's gonna like it, you know what I'm saying.

So, so was the Fluke beat? Was there a Fluke beat right here? And whatever? People like, yo, I want this ship. I to be like you sure? You know what? Man?

I always wanted to ask you this. I was always curious, and this was my theory.

I always thought that your work on He Is Nothing but Love was your answer to like puff and like that. Like that was to me, that just sounded like, but I'm showing them that you could do that commercial stuff if you wanted to.

That's weird.

Got me waiting switch you. Those were like the radio I have wanted that. He knew I could do that, so he was like, you know what, he you know, I want you to go Hey. He's always the one to tell me, don't be afraid.

To go left. Mm hmm when this case goes right.

That's how I made most of them beats, because he would say that you know what I'm saying.

Well, I only mentioned blue Funk because like, I don't know who was on the payroll, but for Soul training to use blue funk uh and black coffee mm hmm. For the Soul Train line, like when you saw the train, Yeah, I was like five, six, seven, eight nine times to the Soul Train line, which I.

Was like yeah, and then being up in there, it's like wow, I thought the Soul train was bigger, bigger than small. We see the same dances, that same Asian.

Girl that she was there shout out to She's not for nothing.

But you know, I know Heavy left like a big void in most of our lives. And we can say how that boil was for you in your everyday process of you being you, Like, what kind of void was that for you?

Come on, man, that even you know, I get choked up talking about it. But we shared everything together, you know, off of music, Like you know, the music came later. You know, that was my family, you know what I'm saying. And we grew up from three years old, so that just took half of me away when he passed. Yeah, you ain't have man, y'all gave me my career, I could say, basically, you know help you know it was

Heavy D was a rapper, but we always played around off the records singing and then next thing you know he wants he's wanting to do this on records.

Girls and girls they love me, you know that, and then we would just do you know, stuff for him record.

You know what I'm saying. That's dope. Yeah.

He was my mother like loved every day, Like she was one of the only rappers everybody's mama loved seriously.

And then he was one of.

The only that translated into the commercial world, like when he started acting.

And doing No Life and Living Single.

Get me started, yo, Martin, you know, Living Single?

He was all the black on the rock.

He appeared on a lot of stuff, you know what I'm saying, even in New Jersey Drive moviey.

New Jersey and Who's the Man with Everybody? Who Man?

Me and cl were the robbers were everything. Yeah, were sticking up the joint. Yeah, that's what I said. The mask we got the mask you can't see our faces were mad about that. It was like, wow, we can't be seen.

You still get a check with that though?

Right? How many times did they show it? The checks are finished? Yeah?

What was peat was about the period so after after U n c L broke up, and so the period where you were working on that's my joint.

Oh wow, oh my god, extra professional man. Uh Soul Brother records.

That's so you were doing this iron I what happened with those records? Every Man is still it was Matt Bootleg.

It was never Why didn't officially Electra had Electra had all that?

They had iron and another album now maybe he put it out.

Yeah, And but when Sylvia came in to take over from Bob kraz now who was the president of Electra, who set me up to all that stuff to come out. It was all gonna come out under Electra. Then she came in and just you know, debedit it.

Man. So what was your relationship like with Sylvia run Um?

Shaky like that?

I just felt I just felt like she didn't understand who we were, you know what I'm saying.

Even with the success of Troy and it.

Was like nineteen ninety five ninety six, they were trying to do some changing, some game change and stuff.

All right, So what what is going through your mind with now this? This is the perfect plot to things fall apart where no, you you have a warrior, someone very skilled in a particular craft, who goes off the war and then come back to his homeland to see that the environment has changed, and you know it's colonization and all those things that took it. So what is your response, because actually, if I've recalled correctly the night,

Routes were working on.

On oh things fall apart of Detroit. Pete was also I think was that the first night you met Dyla when 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 this candy store.

Yes, dude, I was there.

And so the thing is, the thing is that I was 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 the twelve hundred.

And I know, like your tools are your tools, but how do you with technology moving at the speed of sound the way it is now.

I used the twelve all the way up until two thousand and I know, and that's when I started doing the forty five thing.

Really, Yeah, when we came to see you in two I think that was when you had just started using three thousand.

Yeah, three thousand, and you finally graduated. Yeah, I'm gonna tell you.

I'm on the two thousand Excel and it feels like an upgradeed SB twelve hundred. So I feel like I don't need nothing else.

Justified. Yo, James Poyser, I won't even me and talk on Twitter.

I won't even disrespect him. But I'm on a middle finger. Gee, James poison. James Poyser teaches me. He calls me like a played out ninety years because I can't let my two thousand Xcel go.

It feels so good. I can't. Yeah, I can't let it go, like I still use it to this day. That's right and using it. He yeah, he makes me feel horrible for this, but I'm saying for you.

I use a RAN two sometimes mess with the renaissance? Really so does it?

It energy? It's cool. I like it.

It does things, it gives you unlimited 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 able to use modern?

I have able to and I've used it on New York's Finest. Okay, do I have just regular, you know, nothing crazy pro tools? I had the Pro Tools seven, then graduated from that to the ten, right, you know, to do extra more.

Well, I know it's hard leaving your comfort zone because I know that when Stroe Elliott was telling me, it was so hard for him to like, there's there's this there's a slew cats right now, like tall black guy Stroe Elliott, Joe Roun Bombay, when Joe Ron Bombay is from Canada, and these cats are 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 me.

So acid ad like.

Real, it's still very basic, but making miracles out this ship. And Sereue Elliott told me like he finally had to physically force himself out of using like a lot of that the primitive stuff so that he could, you know, really jump in the game of beat making? Man, So is that I mean, is that a personal fear? Because to hear anyone else say it, it's like, oh man, it's easy, like once you once you do it, you won't But how hard is it to leave your your tools of the trade? And oh man, it's hard.

It's hard to because you mean, I mean, I made on my hips off that twelve hundred 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 the twelve hundred? It was the last time used beats on it. I still have a lot of beat with that machine, so I don't. I haven't used it lately. Oh yeah, I did on Mac Wild's album, first album, Oh Wow, What did you do?

On it?

I did 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 spow.

Duck Sauce, wasn't the other one one? Impress it all straight? Sp Salim Salam laid that down for me. Okay, Yeah, I remember.

When you you were working on the two thousand and the thing I thought was so dope your bass lines?

How is that?

Because I mean, you're like one of my favorite bass.

Players that don't play a bass.

Humming, humming, humming in my head listening, you know, just you know, that's just I think that became a natural thing because that was my thing. I used to want to practice, you know, making bass lines. You know what I'm saying.

And famala James Brown Records, I heard the Barrier Records, to Isaac Records, all the jazz records. I used to hum Baseline.

I always said that.

If one particular musician, if you were personified, or if you were representing a musician, 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 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, none of I'm like, no, Marshall Jones, you don't get it, like and I'm breaking down, like you know, like like what's going on, like you cover what's going

Valuable to us. Now, oh my goodness. 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.

Sent me, I sent he sent me some files and I was listening to that shit, losing my mind, like god, some record and it sounds.

Just like boo.

What like it's on that vibe. It's on that vibe. It's not that same you know base yeah yeah.

Yeah, But just like next next to James Damison in Motown, like Marshall Jones is. I mean, it's baselines are just believable. Man. It's it's not Flashy'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, all right, we've done a lot about yesterday. Now talk about your what are you up to you late?

Well?

I mixed the new Locks record for the album Yesterday for the new album The Styles Pete Jadakiss and Chiclut shout out to them. And then I got this project with my man smoked this over there smokes.

Just how you doing? Brother?

He's like, Man, I'm so fucking hungry, man.

Chicken sandwiches.

Don't be hungry.

No, no, no, I'm chilling. I'm cool.

Nah.

Now that's my dude right there?

My god?

You like, who are you?

But we got this album that's really really dope, and it's long time come and 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, mixed with you know, funk.

So what do you what do you feel.

The standard of excellence is now for twenty sixteen as far as like, is it still for you like a break.

Be 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 you is like I'm gonna take you all to me, and what part of you is like because have you heard a premiere's remix of Timmy Timmy Turner.

Yeah, Timmy, Timmy turn and I uh, you know, man, let me see what could I say from from you know, from I know you've.

Had any words with millennials before online or whatever. Ye, no, I mean you know, I'm 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 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 no, no, no.

Disrespect. No.

Yeah, you're having your Chef Gordon hearing hip hop for the first time.

Yeah no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no. I'm just saying.

Yeah, but it's just coming from a little bit of a different place than these kids.

As far as I know, we started mumble. I'm sorry, don't say nothing. That's my shield. No no.

But so let me ask you this then, So, since you are so aware of the differences and whatnot, then how do you decide to do why smoke?

Then?

Well, because he's a good young guy with the 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 you know, all like he's he's not he's different from certain younger generational artists, you know, like all right, some of my favorites are like Kendrick and Jake Cole and Action Bonds and Joey Badass. You know, the list goes on, you know, and then you have some that do their own thing.

Man.

We 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 with you.

You know your.

Message And it's funny.

I made a joke, but and serious y'all. The title don't Smoke Rock. That's some serious thought. That's not a joke.

Like tell people, it's not just a common you'll names smoke.

You came up with that, Wow, it was just to play on words with our names, and I just felt, you know, with the times that we're in, it was just something positive. But I didn't really want to. I mean, it's it's kind of cliche eighty 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

You smoking on chill Nick, chill off.

But you know, this is just a great album. You know, we got Brick Bross on there, we got wile A mac Miller, the Locks camraon hm.

Hmm.

I wanted to ask you smoking what was it like? Well, first off, were you aware you know of I mean Pete rock.

Right Gott And uh yeah no seriously, so like working with him like Win died it, Win died it.

I just Win died it.

Shift to say like okay, like I want to be a fan, but now I gotta 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 like YO, was up, you're trying to do this?

It was like yeah, it was.

Like of course, you know, and I kind of like I'm like a lucky fool, like you know, Flex sent me a Pete Rock beat, like, Yo, I need you to give me thirty two bars for my mixtape on this Pete Rock.

That's how it started. And I'm like, well, that's how the work.

That's that's how the working relationships started.

And you know, from there, I was like overwhelmed, like, oh, it's a Pete Rock beat, Like he could have sent me whatever because he was saying and anybody else of a ship.

And I got the Pete Rock beat. So I'm like, all right, let me let.

Me show off so I can impress Pete so I can get another one. And then you know, that just trickle down to my project. And then he's like, yo, I want to keep this from mine and then it was like yo, let's just do a full length joint.

Yeah, so it came about and it's easy to work with this guy.

Get quick.

Are y'all still tracking area? Where are you tracking? You're tracking in your crib or no?

Right on thirtieth little spot okay, yeah, do ship fast and then quick.

I was going to say, you don't track vocals inside your house, you.

Know I actually did. I did a few. But but what's known is a I did a mixtape for camp just thirty blocks. Well, I just did anything. You know what I'm saying. It's just a mixtape. They can't loads of the type of group. They're spontaneous and they rap to any 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 proock dot com. You can download free because there's a lot of sample on that week clearing that.

Well, yeah, 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.

Skillfully at least to the.

Standard you're excellent, especially with the product project of this caliber, without your number one tool, well, which is the sample.

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, you know, let me do it my way, you know what I mean. And then you'll find that out when you listen to Don't Smoke Rock. Yeah, good ship Yeah man, good ship Man.

I wanted to ask you because I was always curious about it. Bb em BB was the label out of disrespectful that.

Put out petrumentals and the surviving elements.

That was 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 in my camp got a call to mix that record and.

We were both he hit it. I was like, yo, don't do it. I said, don't touch that. I know, Pete. That guy is starting trouble, you know what I mean?

Yeah? So what was the what? What you want to know? What? You want to know? What happened?

I saw him on the plane, man, and let loose on this guy. I couldn't put hands on him.

I heard the story I heard.

So I started spitting on him. I figured 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.

I was on the plane with it. What way was that? What would somebody said or something he.

Did something he did rather not, you know, go into the personal business. I'd rather say I remember the great period, but but what he did angered me.

So that was and that was Spanner turning into the whole.

And that was for the pet That was for the peatstrumentals, because then we did.

That was for surviving of the elements. I was working on New York's finests and.

Had some leftover beats on a drive that I left in the studio, which I shouldn't have did, and you know there somebody stole it.

Yeah, that's so interesting because from a consumer standpoint, BB had a whole error where it was just like dope ship, like from.

Yeah, dope ship for the people from people from here, from the producer friendly label. It wasn't he wasn't snatching nobody in Europe or nothing like that.

It wasn't they did. I mean, we put our first. I remember that BB, 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 and got paid one took him to court.

Oh okay, because both of those wreck because it was you did instrumentals.

Oh yeah, I took him the court too.

Was on b B 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 A gotcha and then that's when you know that happened.

Man, talk about un c L and where y'all at right now? I know, touring.

We just did a month and a half on tour, no off days, just going hard, and I was like looking at Cel steaming once. You know, the lights 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 the steam was coming Marvel steam. And I'm like, I've never seen that ship before, Like, wow, this cat is hungry again. Yes, that's when we decided, you know, yeah, let's let's do this do this music shit again.

So y'all talking to the album. Yeah, yeah, he got beats. He's on Cloud nine right now. Oh ship, So there's a chance that we might have a new Pete Rock in twenty seventeen.

Wow, something to look forward to.

Damn it, because I will say the records that y'all did, like front Post Breakup, I mean from the Love Thing.

Yeah, they appreciate. Oh wow you like that?

What wait wait wait climax she said? Client said climax, you said Client? Okay, I just felt that was a bad man. I didn't mix that. I didn't mix that was cool. The mixed money could have been climate. Which one was that one that was? It was Curtis. Curtis may give you.

I remember you playing me that beat and I loved that. It was a bad mix of it. Yeah, and the dude they had singing over I remember, I call.

I would have made that, you know, if I was behind mixing it, it would have been much better sounding.

And back on the block back mfs B member. Ye wait, what was that?

Mfs B member One guy who made a solo album that was in Montana. There you go, Yeah, yeah, that's what you gotta say. Just he said his first name. People don't know Montana. They don't know who you're talking about unless they have a musician.

Now, I'm trying to remember remember the record. You probably have the album. I know I do now I'm trying. Yeah, yeah, I started singing. See the vibing.

Then that was a joint, like, yeah, that was one of them joints.

But now y'all de forming. I mean, y'all, you guys still sound. Every time y'all.

Put out the current, that's still right now, people are gonna drop their jaws on their head.

And what made y'all get to this point? Because I remember for it was really nasty. 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 piece mental I snatched them so survivor so so survivor too.

You know.

I was always reaching a handout. And then you know when when you're old and grown, yeah, you know you're like, all right, man, we were kids then you know what I'm saying, fucking funk all that ship, you know that's up So that's why.

So you still live in Mount Running right now? No, I'm in upstate New York. Okay. Yeah, it's quiet. People. People always like try to lure me up there, like just try, there's people up there.

It's people something you say the artists. I don't want to put nobody on blast. No, but I mean, like, is it like, are you in the farm area.

It's in the woodsy area, lots of deers and animals and ship.

Really, and that's where I want.

To I actually like it because it's you know, yeah, it's quiet, but I get work done.

You know that's scared When I'm in the.

Hood and everybody, are you scared going to get chased by gunk again?

Yo?

Listen, I'm running from them ships to man that ship get on you. You finished finished stinks And my dog got sprayed one time and the dog came in the house. My sisters just started immediately throwing up. It's bad up close, it's bad. Like is that tomato soup thing real?

I think it works. I never had to do it, but I did it for my dog. It works to make tomato soup. Will get the skunk smell tomato soup, all kind of eating tomato sauce, anything, tomato ship. I just want to take a tomato bad tomato bat That's what we was doing for the dog. Tomato bad. That's crazy.

Do you and do you and grab grap lover ya still y'all still work.

We haven't worked in well.

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 drums and he was like, I don't like the drums. And I didn't like them 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, in my head, I thought you were going to make a fresh beat. I'm not mad.

No, no, no, I'm not mad because he took one of 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 the makings of you.

Now that's when I first met Rose too. Okay, 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 Q tip when he made on wasch the throne, that's my bitch.

Oh yeah yeah, beats that.

Don't necessarily sound like it came from their cannon, you know what I mean? So in that particular envirralm because I felt like what they did was they stripped you down to your your your basic minimum, like were you presenting full fledged ideas to them?

And they were just like yep, 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 or three rhymed on one. He asked me phone to rhyme on the enjoy with him, but I wasn't ready, you know, to do that.

Yeah, okay, okay, no, no, you know.

It wasn't nothing, But I was just really sorry about your your your your vocal uh powers?

Which nah, I'm with you.

You made it you like I don't know you. You had a cool voice for it, like thanks, just like you were shot, Like how come you didn't produce that?

I wasn't.

I don't know, man, it's a grand pooba, Like who made you? Grand pool back here to win the buzz bees?

Again? Blame for me?

Rappings that they made you do to don't curse verse because I was like, do you.

Want to do that?

Those are the first rhymes I wrote by myself.

Oh man man yeah.

Yeah yeah, and then pool Boy wrote the Creator and Soul Brother.

What three beats that were made? Were you? Just like, damn, I wish I made it? Like probably not.

I feel some sort of way like I could make that better, but just like I wish, I mean that probably what three joints?

Did you hear? It was just like or somebody got to the sample first?

Well that's my second question, but just a completed song. I wish I produced this, probably like the power song I gave you power that pretymom did that right? Yeah? Okay, what other joint? I was a lot of his joints.

But you know.

I have you have to ask me that another time at the interview. Then you know I have a better thought process like any joints?

All? All right? So what sample.

Did you have in your possession that you didn't realize that's where.

That was a whole lot of ship or one that you had a plan for into it?

Hmm.

Kicking the door, Wow, I was cleaning it. I used to play it play playoffs. I'm gonna make something of this one day. Then boom premo.

Wow.

I remember, I remember being at the crib. You showed us the sample for day Lost Pony Ride.

Oh wow.

With the record when you're doing this, when the record goes and they just you just tapped it.

So I've learned too much today that it's overwhelming. So I'll just stop at Biggie hearing, Biggie hearing in the flesh, get me that being an autist, take a look what man.

I learned that Pete Rock has probably the sharpest ears on any human beings that.

Can pick out scenario. I mean, that's just amazing. I think that just them all my life. But that's I mean, I mean, I've been listening to it all night, but I can't hear him the way you're in. But uh but nah, 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 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, reaching out to younger generation and uh, just still doing it, man, It's just it's

You gotta have a vigil or nah like.

Tech and still too. On that note, On that note, because we did a song.

About that, Sugar Steve, you would us. Yeah, what you learn man? Again, a lot of a lot of information overload. This was an information overload episode.

Yeah, I learned Questlove wants to take a tomato bath.

Said that if you gets sprayed by a skunk, he's gonna have to do that.

I've gotten sprayed by a skunk. Oh wow.

I Like, I'm worried about your dad's records being in your mom's basement.

That's the first thing I thought about Ron Control. It's good money down there. It's base that it's not moist.

No, it doesn't.

Just because you haven't.

And then you said, you know you still have all your discs from from all these you know.

That's that's where I live now. Yeah, yeah, that's what me. I'm close next to me. So you wouldn't take your recollection, would you.

Yeah, of course records, but you're sentimental like you I 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 to make room.

How many records do you? Would you say you have like forty somewhere up there's probably more than that too. Like, look, my wife is just nuts because I keep bringing records and.

No more. She's dead ass too, but.

She knows your peate Rock, right, Yeah, it's like the reason why we have this house is yeah, one of these records will get you all right. So Bill, what I learned, I mean, I really just got confirmation of what I've always known is that Pete Rock is still one of my favorite producers. And the fact that I was actually able to sit in the room and talk beats and records with Pete Rock, I can pretty much die happy.

Man right now.

Scenarios it's like this, This is some dream true ship, right, God, blessed, Thank you for coming out, No problem, man, thank you, question me and quest go back. You know what I'm saying.

Oh, I have learned.

Snares.

Yes, yeah, no, I'm learning snares. Let's get absolutely true real I have learned that. And I've also learned that people. I got a lot in common with Ray Parker junior scenes though y'all been making great music since y'all were teenagers.

I don't know if you realize that Parker was just on the Today Show.

Actually he was just the Ray Parker's story is that we've heard Man Jack and Jill my favorite joint.

He's yeah, and plus he's been on so many records that a lot of everything, a lot. I'm looking at credits on album.

Damn he's on this ship though. Yeah, he's on somecure obscure records too, Like, yeah, we learn Ray Parker, we learned a lot, like all those Victor's records and played on all No No, No, No, No, No, Unhooked Generation, all that rape Parker. Wow, his Verry White stories are messing up his car. Yeah, this Barry White stories are oh my god.

Wait I want to say one other thing that I learned. And you don't know this, but this is like the first time that I feel like a mere Bill and Fonte have fanned out over somebody's word at the same level, 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 saut because and on my third note, I would also like to say that in all these years, Peter, I always thought it was dope that you got dudes on your side in this way, but you also move women in a different type of way, you know what I mean.

And we get to talk about that. But I know a lot of my girlfriends.

Like heart felt take your time make heart felt ship.

Yeah, wow, right.

I don't want to talk about Troy. Troy real quick, man, I think we should real quick.

Reminisce, well, you know Reminisce, you know happened in nineteen The beat making process started at the end of ninety one, nineteen ninety one, you know then you know made the full beat ninety two blah blah blah.

You know, y'all want me to go in how I made it? Yes, okay, wait, we didn't ask about your talk about the albums.

I sucked, man, I'm sorry.

I took took a drum loop that's familiar, you know, and added that Tom Scott and then the elements afterwards and.

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 was.

That was the first 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, really freezing.

There's there's.

There's an MC from Philadelphia that was like way younger the generation yeap young and uh wait wait wait here's the here's here's the thing with with black people, like we'll we'll know the song, but we'll just title anything you don't say, well, no, I used to joke that, uh like barbarestis saying 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

Woo you know.

That song, Mama getting married the house? That's all he I love my no. Now he's a young kid, I mean, but he knows. Yeah, that's that's funny.

Not black people. And some time it's so funny talk about was that like that song about my joye Joy?

I still call cross Roads Uncle Charles relatable.

The song is relatable, exactly. Smoke. This is final words? Did you this is our nerd out session?

Did you you trust me? I learned that y'all mold some.

Technically stupid history, you know, But but I enjoyed it though, because you know.

Like, I'm a nerd.

I like I like wrestling.

I'm a wrestling nerd.

Have you done have you done cheap heat? Peter Rosenberg?

Cheap heat?

But Peter, Peter is my man, so I guess we got cheap heat anytime we texted talking about it on the phone. But we did WrestleMania 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, Yo, I'm at the wrestling.

Shit.

He's out there just for that. He didn't no rap shit, just out there wrestling. It was crazy. It's crazy with it. From Electric Lady Studios, this is Court Love Supreme. We've had a really amazing show with our guests Pete Rocket and on behalf of the team Supreme.

This Quest Love. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. We'll see o'all next week.

Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.