Pete Rock Gives Up The Goods On DJ Premier Collabo Album

When Pete Rock announced a collaboration album with fellow hip-hop legend and producer DJ Premier last July on Twitter, the news was greeted by fans as the ultimate dream pairing. Now the Chocolate Boy Wonder is giving more insight into the release tentatively entitled Pete Rock vs. DJ Premier.

“This is really happening,” Pete exclusively tells VIBE. “I got a good side of people with me [laughs]. I’m going to keep the artists I have under wraps.”

According to Pete, the project, which is slated for this year, was sparked by a joint tour with the iconic Gang Starr producer. “That project came together from being on tour with Premier in Japan,” continues Pete. “We would do a show called Pete Rock vs. DJ Premier where we went back and forth with our music onstage and people would just go crazy. They loved the show. We sat in our hotel rooms and ate dinner and talked about doing an album together for hours. It was definitely something I wanted to do. Me and Premier can round up the best rappers and go crazy with this album.”

Most recently, Pete Rock broke down his critically-acclaimed catalogue to VIBE (see Full Clip), featuring a string of landmark works with longtime partner and lyricist C.L. Smooth, Public Enemy, Run-D.M.C., Heavy D. & The Boyz, Nas, Common and others. One of Pete’s latest works is Kanye West’s well-received “The Joy,” a track featuring Jay-Z, Kid Cudie and Charlie Wilson.—Keith Murphy