No words were needed.
Not a single lyric was required.
Pete Rock is one the most prolific producers in Hip Hop history. He creates tracks packed with so much ambiance, they’re enjoyable enough without an MC.
His stellar instrumentals embed themselves in the fabric of a listener’s thoughts. In their minds they uncontrollably create their own words while the tracks are playing.
Here on Pete Rock’s second solo album, the instrumental set PeteStrumentals, Soul Brother #1 lets his musicality speak for itself.
The album opens with “A Little Soul”. On it Pete sketches his sample-laced signature over pumping low ends. Sticking to the chill ambiance, he brings scratches, cuts, and mild bongos to the funky “Get Involved”.
“Hip Hopcrisy”, with its off-tune piano cords, sporadic bass line, and boom-bap drums, is a freestyle MC’s dream track. So grimy, in fact, your speakers may require a Clorox wipe once it’s over.
This is followed by the brilliantly moody perfection of “Pete’s Jazz”, a treasure chest of drum changeups and ghostly horns.
There’s an updated version of this album with guest rhymes by CL Smooth, Freddie Foxxx and Nature. The banging brass of the original PeteStrumentals, though, says enough on its own. |THIS.
[By Mr. Joe Walker]
