Pete Rock - PeteStrumentals Review
Posted by Phil Watts, Jr on 02.25.2008
Did you know that they actually released 2 versions of PeteStrumentals? I go over them BOTH here.
(2001, BBE Records)
After a falling out with Elektra Records and an unfortunately short run with LOUD, Pete thought he found a sweet deal when the wonderful people at a British label called Barely Breaking Even Records (BBE) approached him to join their talent roster. With promises of them letting Pete do whatever the hell he wanted (basically the same sort of deal that Madlib got with Stones Throw), Pete leapt at the opportunity.
BBE started the Beat Generators Series, where they brought in a slew of hip-Hop producers, including J-Dilla, DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Spinna, Will-I-am, and Pete himself…and they were all given full reign to do whatever, resulting in some decent projects. In Pete’s case, he starts his stint by releasing an instrumental album.
A semi-instrumental album, at least.
This project contains unused instrumentals that were made during various points in the 90’s (the liner notes say they were made between 1990-95, but they sound like they came out much later, maybe mid-to-late 90’s). Unlike some instrumental albums, where there are plenty of switchups in the tracks to keep it from being too repetitive, or like Madlib’s instrumental albums, where most of the tracks clock 2 minutes or less to keep the album flowing, PETESTRUMENTALS is mostly full length instrumentals, made for MC’s to make songs over (or for some idiot DJ to use the beats with Jigga accapellas and sell it as a “Pete Rock remix” of Jigga’s BLACK ALBUM--something that Pete was NOT particularly happy about).
There are plenty of good instrumentals here, and a lot of them will have you wonder which rapper would sound good over which track. “A Little Soul” would’ve definitely been a CL Smooth girly-girl track (complete with one 20-bar segment, since CL was one of the few that would do 20 bars). “Something Funky” is another standout, with its filtered sounds, Large Professor vocal snippets and drums. (By the way, the vocal snippets were taken from Large Pro’s THE LP, which needs an official release IMMEDIATELY!) “HipHopcrisy” has some sparse pianos and some adlibs from what sounds like OC. If only this had been an OC colab, as he would’ve eaten this track. The best instrumental of the pack is definitely “Pete’s Jazz”, a jazzy, funk-filled workout and one of the few instrumentals that stand on its own.
There are a few instrumentals that needed a little more work, Like “Play Dis Only At Night”, where the background synths throw off what could’ve been a decent reworking of Minnie’s “Inside My Love”. Meanwhile, both “Smooth Sailing” and “Walk On By” sound like unfinished tracks that just goes on and on. “Get Involved” with its distorted sounds gets a little wonky after a while. In all these cases, these tracks would’ve definitely been better if they had vocals on them.
The reason why I consider this a SEMI-instrumental album is because Pete uses this to introduce some new talent: a 4-man crew called THE U.N., who provide two solid tracks--”Cake”, with it’s gentle Isaac Hayes piano samples that nicely contrasts their thugged out flows, and the equally tight “Nothin Lesser”.
A few months after the release of the original version of PeteStrumentals, BBE puts out a second edition. What’s the difference between the two? Well, the second edition has a feature that has been a Pete Rock staple for years, yet the original DOESN’T have---INTERLUDES! Also, some instrumentals have been axed from the second printing: “HipHopcrisy”, “Give It To Y’all” (which would appear on a 12” with vocals from Roc Marcy of the UN), and “What You Waiting For” (which wound up as a song for one of Pete’s boys, Meccalicious). In its stead was the addition of a new instrumental, “Take The D Train”, an homage to early/mid 80’s synth R&B group D-Train (famous for the hit “You’re The One For Me”, which Pete used here), and addition of some new songs:
Nature‘s “To My Advantage”: Nature was once a member of the group known as the FIRM, which had Nas, AZ, and Inga Merchand (who I vehemently REFUSE to call “Foxy Brown”) trying to act like Italiano Mob bosses with bland attempts at competing with likes of Biggie and Puff. The less said about THAT, the better. Anyway, Pete makes a solid attempt at a sinister track while Nature talks about everything from JFK Jr.’s plane crash to the Colombine High shootout.
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s “Back On The Block”: CL still sounds as determined as ever, with Pete playing the hookman. It’s no surprise that a lot of people copped the second edition over the original because of THIS SONG ALONE. This got even more people waiting with the promise of a new album from the two. If only…
Freddie Foxxx’s “Mindframe”: Good ol’ Bumpy Knuckles. 20 years in the game and still sounding as ferocious as ever. You can’t say that about too many people in Hip-Hop. Bumpy brings that same energy to this track as Pete brings some loud horns and sinister strings to compliment him.
After all that, Pete adds a new outro, promising the release of Soul Survivor 2 (which would come out 3 years later), and that’s a wrap.
THE GOOD (Pete’s best): “A Little Soul”, “Something Funky”, “HipHopcrisy” (version 1 only), “”Pete’s Jazz”, The UN’s “Cake” & “Nothin Lesser”, Pete & CL’s “Back On the Block”, Bumpy’s “Mindframe”, and “D-Train”
THE BAD (Uh, Pete…you could’ve worked on these a little more): “Play dis Only At Night”, “Smooth Sailing”, “Get Involved”, “Walk On By”
The 411: On one hand, you have a decent collection of instrumentals and the debut of a new group who would go on to deliver a solid debut album, R U N OR OUT (which you need to track down while you’re at it!) On the other, you have some of those same instrumentals, plus more songs (including the UN material, Bumpy, and some Pete & CL!) If you’re a PR completes like me, you’d track them both down. If you absolutely must have only one of them, the second edition is your best bet.
