Pete Rock Soul Survivor: A 15th Anniversary Retrospective

Today, Pete Rock is regarded as a legend in the field of Rap music and Hip-Hop production. The Chocolate Boy Wonder lent his signature sound to numerous classics and remixes over the past 25 years after starting out as a part of Eddie F’s Untouchables crew.

The Mt. Vernon native also served as a student to Marley Marl during his teen years while he was on the radio. Under the tutelage of Marley Marl, Heavy D and Eddie F, it was only a matter of time before Pete Rock struck out on his own. When he did, it was as half of the duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth. After recording two memorable LPs (1992’s Mecca & The Soul Brother and 1994’s The Main Ingredient) that both failed to be commercially successful, despite their overall brilliance, the duo chose to pursue individual opportunities.

Pete Rock began focusing on developing acts such as Mekolicous, Deda and InI in the interim before ultimately deciding to work on a solo project.

Pete Rock signed a deal with Steve Rifkind’s Loud/RCA Records imprint and began work on what would become his debut solo project. Since Pete Rock came up under production legends like Marley Marl, DJ Mark The 45 King and DJ Eddie F., he was focused on making a producer album that hybridized Marley Marl’s In Control series and the 45 King’s early Tuff City LPs.

The goal was to bring that feel and aesthetic to the major label rap game at a time when it was deeply entrenched in the “Jiggy Era.” The final product was an almost flawlessly executed gem that loomed as influential far beyond any sales numbers, charts position or any existing metric in the rap game could possibly even measure.

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Photo: YouTube

Pete Rock began rhyming on his debut EP All Souled Out, most notably on the single “The Creator” (Editor’s Note: legend is he got help from Grand Puba) and he decided to interject verses in his projects from then on as he gained more confidence in his capabilities as an MC. This was a crucial element in Soul Survivor as Pete not only managed to get great performances out of some of the best MC’s in the rap game but he also showed off his versatility in crafting tracks for R&B singers like Vinia Mojica (“Mind Blowin'” ) and Miss Jones (“Soul Survivor”) to shine on the hooks. One of his all-time favorite groups Loose Ends, also submitted a gem in “Take Your Time” that became the album’s highest charting single.

The fact that Pete Rock effortlessly carried these tracks as the lead MC and they stood strong next to the more heralded heaters on this album is a testament to the overall greatness of the final product.

Soul Survivor stands out in the memories of those that heard it 15 years ago because Pete Rock managed to craft sonic blueprints for some of the best lyricists in Hip-Hop (at the time) to completely blackout on. Whether we’re talking about Ghostface Killah’s epic third verse on “The Game,” Black Thought’s opening verse on “It’s About That Time,” Big Punisher and Common’s game of lyrical oneupmanship on “Verbal Murder 2” or that haunting production on “Strange Fruit”–punctuated by one of Sticky Fingaz’ most notable verses of his career.

The spirit of what Pete Rock was able to do with his landmark remixes in the early 90s had translated perfectly into 1998. He was able to bring the best out of the artists he worked with which is the hallmark of a great producer.

This oft-overlooked influential album also featured Pete Rock hanging with Method Man on one of the best vocal appearances of his career over an incredible SP-1200 gem produced by Grap Luva called “Half Man, Half Amazin’.” A straight forward jam with hard drums called “Respect Mine” featuring O.C. of D.I.T.C. was just one of many great tracks on Soul Survivor but at the time, rap of this ilk was no longer on the radio.

Commericial radio was almost devoid of samples, scratched hooks or hard drums. So while Pete Rock was putting together an album heads would truly appreciate, it was at a period when Hip-Hop fans were heading underground like the Morlocks.

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The focus of Soul Survivor was to be an homage to the producer albums that changed to rap game forever updated to modern times. Pete Rock wanted to make the 1998 hybrid version of Marley Marl’s In Control Vol. 1 and DJ Mark The 45 King’s The Master Of The Game. He succeeded but unfortunately the landscape of the major label Rap game was changing so dramatically as we entered 1999 that brilliant songs like Pete & CL’s reunion track “Da Two”, his update of the Kool G Rap classic “Truly Yours 98” featuring Large Professor and his de facto theme song “#1 Soul Brother” ultimately fell on deaf ears (as opposed to def ones).

Fifteen years later, Pete Rock’s Soul Survivor sounds just as great today as it did the day it was released. When Pete Rock released his next LP Petestrumentals on BBE in 2001, it generated new interest in his production career. Also, for the past twelve years, fans have begun re-discovering this album thanks in part to a behind-the-scenes making of Soul Survivor documentary that was first posted on YouTube back in 2006. It’s online where a new generation of rap fans stumbled on the video to the lead single “Tru Master” featuring Inspectah Deck of Wu-Tang Clan and Kurupt of Tha Dogg Pound and wondered how come few people mention this album today.

Salute Pete Rock, the number one Soul Brother.

One.