“The Xpert” by Pete Rock

In the hip-hop producing game, there are few names bigger than that of Pete Rock. He has helped to produce works by some of the greatest acts of last century and this one, including Public Enemy, Run-D.M.C, Kanye West, Busta Rhymes and more, as well as a hugely successful collaboration with CL Smooth, with whom Rock produced two canonical albums and an EP in the 1990s.

Rock made his name as a pioneer of the jazz-rap movement in the 1990s alongside the likes of Gang Starr, helping to fuse aspects of jazz, funk and soul into hip-hop. He also created several renowned remixes, helping to introduce now-commonplace ideas such as ad-libbing and horn samples into music.

More recently, Rock has chosen to pursue a highly successful solo career, encompassing both rap and instrumental albums. His latest tune, “The Xpert”, is taken from his forthcoming ‘PeteStrumentals 4′ album’. It’s a kaleidoscopic mixture of Rock’s own beats and a range of samples that have been chopped, reversed and re-arranged all over the place – old pieces fitted into a thrillingly new shape. Rock has been in the business for three decades now, but his thirst for creativity clearly hasn’t been sated just yet.