| birth_date =
| birth_place = The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
| origin = Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
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| genre =
| discography = Production discography
| occupation =
| years_active = 1987–present
| label =
| past_member_of = Pete Rock & CL Smooth
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Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongside DJ Premier, RZA, and Q-Tip as one of the mainstays of 1990s East Coast hip hop production. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth. Early on in his career, he was also famed for his remix work.
After the duo went their separate ways, Rock continued with a solo career that has garnered him worldwide respect, though little in the way of mainstream success. Along with groups such as Stetsasonic, Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest and The Roots, Rock played a major role in the merging of elements from jazz into hip hop music (also known as jazz rap). Pete Rock is also the older brother and younger cousin, respectively, of rappers Grap Luva and Heavy D.
Biography
Early life
Peter Phillips was born in The Bronx in New York City the fourth of five children born to Jamaican immigrant parents, Leighton Phillips and Eda Phillips . His family moved to Mount Vernon, New York when he was seven years old. Around the time, his parents would take him and his younger brother (Grap Luva) to see James Brown at a concert in his neighborhood to where performers such as Marva Whitney, Lyn Collins, The JB's would come perform and do shows and acts in front of the audience. He would meet James Brown backstage after a show for a meet and greet. Rock attended Mount Vernon High School.
During high school, he met his future recording partner CL Smooth. He briefly attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice but was not a serious student and left to focus on his music career. According to Phillips, his father was also a part-time DJ who had an impressive record collection. Rock would often accompany his father to a cricket club called Wembley in The Bronx and watch as he spun records for the guests. According to Rock, he stated he met Marley Marl through his cousin Heavy D, after one of Marley's Disc jockey got injured in a car accident and needed a backup DJ on WBLS radio show "In Control With Marley Marl". Propelled by the growth of his popularity, he began producing in the early 90s.
Solo career
thumb|upright|left|Pete Rock performing at [[Marvel Comics|Marvel/Stüssy launch party in Los Angeles, 2011]]
After the breakup with CL Smooth in 1995, Rock continued working, remixing and producing for artists. He would be on Future Flavas with Marley Marl on Hot 97, which debuted in January 1995. In 1996, he produced a song called "The Rap World", which Rock would rap alongside Large Professor on High School High soundtrack. He made other guest appearances on albums, including Diamond D's 1997's Hatred, Passions and Infidelity LP, the song called "Painz & Strife" featuring Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest. Rock released his first solo debut album, Soul Survivor on November 10, 1998, on Loud Records. The album would feature hit singles, "Tru Master" featuring Inspectah Deck and Kurupt, and "Take Your Time" featuring R&B group Loose Ends. In the early year of 2000, he worked out a deal with BBE, a label based in the UK and released PeteStrumentals, an instrumental album that features no vocals, excerpt for tracks 'Cake" and "Nothin' Lesser" which performed by the UN (Divine, Godfree, Laku and Roc Marciano), a group that Rock brought in. The second version of PeteStrumentals for the Beat Generation series would be updated with new tracks after the release of J Dilla's Welcome 2 Detroit album in 2001.
In 2003, Rock would also release a compilation album, Lost & Found: Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics on October 27, 2003, on BBE records. The album contains a double disc package that feature two albums that were recorded in 1995–96 and shelved by the label Elektra Records. He went on to release more albums under BBE, including his third album Soul Survivor II on May 11, 2004 and his second instrumental album, The Surviving Elements: From Soul Survivor II Sessions on January 31, 2005 Rock would collaborate with Boston rapper Ed O.G. on a project called My Own Worst Enemy in 2004, by produced entirely by Rock, with additional production by Diamond D, DJ Revolution and DJ Supreme One. In 2006, after Rock parted ways with BBE, Rock signed with Nature Sounds for his fourth album, NY's Finest on February 26, 2008.
Rock oversaw the production of Jay Stay Paid, a posthumous album by the producer J Dilla, released June 2, 2009, on Nature Sounds. Following that, Pete Rock joined Kanye West in Hawaii, who traveled there to work on the latter's fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. In addition, he and DJ Premier have announced that they are working on a joint album together, although further details are unknown. In London, he confirmed that Big Pooh and C.L. Smooth will be on his half of the VS album and he planned on releasing five albums in 2011, including reuniting with C.L. Smooth for a third album, and dropping his fourth album on Nature Sounds. His next few collaborative albums are both due for a summer release with Monumental first then with Camp Lo's "80 Blocks From Tiffanys" LP.
In an April 2011 interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, Pete Rock discussed his new solo work including his album with DJ Premier, as well as exploring the fact that he has had numerous beats rejected by Eminem over the years Pete Rock Uncensored Radio Interview. In an August 2011 interview, he has confirmed the completion of the Camp Lo album "80 Blocks from Tiffany's" and that he is currently working on production for Torae's album, Elzhi & his own solo album PeteStrumentals 2.
Pete Rock announced on Twitter that PeteStrumentals 2 is indeed confirmed finished and scheduled for a 2015 release. The project was released on June 23, 2015, on the indie label Mello Music Group.
On January 2, 2019, Rock posted a trailer video on his Instagram page announcing that new works will be coming soon, including Return of the SP1200 (which was released on April 13, 2019, exclusively on vinyl (Record Store Day) and released digitally on April 26, 2019), PeteStrumentals 3 (a continuation to 2001's PeteStrumentals and 2015's 2), Don't Smoke Rock 2 (also a continuation to Don't Smoke Rock) featuring Smoke DZA, and an album with rapper Skyzoo. Rock confirms to Okayplayer that he is working on his sixth instrumental album called PeteStrumentals 4, another continuation to Rock's previous PeteStrumentals series releases.
The project was finished on June 30 and it is scheduled for a 2022 release on Tru Soul records. The project was released on March 31, 2022. In 2024, Rock collaborated with rapper Common with the release of The Auditorium, Vol. 1 which came out on July 12, featuring the first hit single, "Wise Up".
Affiliates
Proteges
Through the years, Rock has helped to jump-start the careers of several artists. His first project outside of Pete Rock & CL Smooth was the hardcore duo YG'z, who released an EP called Street Nigga in 1993, with four out of the six tracks produced by Rock; however, they were quickly dropped from their deal with Reprise Records. His next venture, INI, was a group featuring Rock, his younger brother Grap Luva, Ras G and rapper Rob-O. They released a single, "Fakin' Jax", through Elektra Records in 1995, before their debut album, Center of Attention, was shelved by the label. The other two members continue to record solo material, albeit only sporadically. In an interview Rock elaborated on the situation: