Pete Rock: Difference between revisions

Peter Phillips was born in [[The Bronx]] in [[New York City, New York]]<ref name="peterock.tribe.net">{{cite web |url=http://peterock.tribe.net/thread/032f66d2-a223-400c-a902-fe166be14676 |title=Wax Poetic interview – Pete Rock – tribe.net |publisher=Peterock.tribe.net |date=February 12, 2004 |access-date=May 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220125121/http://peterock.tribe.net/thread/032f66d2-a223-400c-a902-fe166be14676 |archive-date=February 20, 2012 }}</ref> the fourth of five children born to [[Jamaica]]n immigrant parents<ref>[http://nature-sounds.net/artists/pete-rock/ Pete Rock.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308112931/http://nature-sounds.net/artists/pete-rock/ |date=March 8, 2011 }} Nature-sounds.net. Accessed on November 24, 2010.</ref>, Leighton Phillips<ref name="credit">{{cite AV media notes|title=Pete Rock, PeteStrumentals 2|others=[[Pete Rock]]|year=2015|publisher=[[Mello Music Group]]|type=CD booklet}}</ref> and Eda Phillips{{better source needed|date=July 2024}} . 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr4IMZbfqg0 |title=Talib Kweli & Pete Rock Talk C.L. Smooth, 'Illmatic,' J Dilla, Heavy D, Biggie People's Party Full |work=Youtube |date=2021 |access-date=12 July 2024}}</ref> Rock started scratching at the age 7 when one of his parents brought him home a toy record player by [[Fisher-Price]]. He began scratching after his first cousin, Floyd Myers, the older brother of [[Heavy D]], taught Rock how to DJ. When Rock was 17, he learned how to make beats with the [[E-mu SP-1200]] that [[Freddie Foxx]] have given him.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ambrosiaforheads.com/2019/04/pete-rock-unreleased-beats-sp1200-video/ |title=Pete Rock Has Music With Heavy D That He’s Thinking About Releasing |work=Youtube |date=APRIL 16, 2019 |access-date=12 July 2024}}</ref> Rock attended [[Mount Vernon High School (New York)|Mount Vernon High School]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spin.com/2016/11/after-22-years-pete-rock-and-cl-smooth-are-finally-ready-to-make-new-music/ |title=After 22 Years, Pete Rock and CL Smooth Are Finally Ready to Make New Music |work=Spin.com|date=November 28, 2016 |access-date=12 July 2024}}</ref>

During high school, he met his future recording partner [[CL Smooth]].{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} He briefly attended [[John Jay College of Criminal Justice]] but was not a serious student and left to focus on his music career.<ref name="Complex">{{cite web |url=https://www.complex.com/music/2011/06/interview-pete-rock-classics/down-with-the-king|title=Pete Rock Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records|website=Complex.com|date=June 9, 2011|access-date=May 24, 2021|author=Daniel Isenberg}}</ref> 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.<ref name="peterock.tribe.net"/> His first job was as a [[paperboy (newspaper delivery)|paperboy]], in his neighborhood.<ref name="peterock.tribe.net"/> His first major exposure to the hip hop audience was in the late 80s with [[Marley Marl]] as a DJ on New York's WBLS radio show "In Control With Marley Marl" at the age of 13. <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr4IMZbfqg0 |title=Talib Kweli & Pete Rock Talk C.L. Smooth, 'Illmatic,' J Dilla, Heavy D, Biggie People's Party Full |work=Youtube |date=2021 |access-date=12 July 2024}}</ref> Propelled by the growth of his popularity, he began producing in the early 90s.