I may be a little late coming to this one, but the other day I finally heard "914," the first single from Pete Rock's next solo project on Nature Sounds, NY's Finest. Now I'm a huge Pete Rock fan (some might say dick rider), but I gotta admit I was a little concerned about what the album would sound like, especially after hearing "The PJ's," a lukewarm joint with Rae and Masta Killa off the last Nature Sounds comp. Thankfully, I can now say that all my fears have been erased, because "914" is a monster.
Pete Rock ft Styles P & Sheek Louch - "914"
As the landscape of hip-hop has changed, Rock has seen himself stripped of major label backing and restricted by tougher sampling laws that prohibit the expansive production style he pioneered on albums like Mecca and the Soul Brother and The Main Ingredient. Nevertheless he keeps on dropping gems (albeit often under the radar), showcasing a modified style that makes the most out of short, unrecognizable samples and choppy, hard-hitting drums. "914" is a perfect example; it eschews the jazzy style of Pete's earlier work for a simpler, grimier sound that perfectly complements the ruggedness of MCs Styles P and Sheek Louch. In fact, the D-Block soldiers sound more at home over Pete's production than they have for most of their career (who ever thought it was a good idea to pair The Lox with Swizz Beatz, anyway?)
Hip-hop fans have notoriously short memories, so it's only natural that true-school icons like Rock be relegated to the genre's "underground." What's remarkable is that the man keeps putting out such high-quality material after almost twenty years in the game. His continued creativity (and that of peers like Premier) is a model for aging hip-hop producers, who with enough passion and drive should be able to keep doing this shit until they die.
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NY's Finest (Nature Sounds) is scheduled for an October release. The tentative guest list includes Papoose, Jim Jones, The Lox, Raekwon, Ghostface, Masta Killah, Cappadonna, Redman, Slum Village and MF Doom.
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4 comments:
good post man
Pete Rock certainly has been doing it lately. However, the Rza doesn't need to be taking notes from anyone.
914...nice. westchester area code reference. rockland used to be 914...i used to have it in rhymes i was writing...since then rockland changed to 845...
i like the lineup on the new album. new school and old school, like it should be.
dont understand the RZA reference, though. nothing to do with pete. the rza is real nice in his own right...its like apples and oranges...
Maybe I'm being too hard on Prince Rakeem, but I sometimes feel like he's just easing into irrelevance. I mean how are you gonna make that Afro Samurai shit and not contribute a single track to Fishscale? I guess I wish he'd show a little more hunger, but maybe he feels like he's done his part (which he has, don't get me wrong.) He was so fuckin prolific in the 90's that maybe it's too much to expect him to stay cutting edge at this point. Anyway much love to RZA, I hope we get some new Wu sometime soon.
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