Pete Rock has etched his name in the Hip Hop books with classic records, some featuring samples mined from obscure records. Speaking with Vlad TV, the veteran producer explained how sampling has evolved over the years and how he prefers to dig for obscure samples over ones from big name artists.
“The game got screwed up a long time ago in sampling when they caught Biz Markie out there sampling Gilbert O’Sullivan. He was still around, he didn’t want his music sampled by any rappers whatsoever. That’s when the domino effect started with the sampling,” he said. “But I want to say this too. In today’s hip-hop, you got these cats that use familiar folks. Like, big artists and sample their music. You askin’ for trouble when you do that. Me, I always liked the obscure music. Stuff that people don’t know about. It’s out there.”
Naming his three favorite productions as Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s “T.R.O.Y.,” Public Enemy’s “Shut ‘Em Down (Remix)” and Nas’ “The World is Yours,” PR bigged up Large Professor for his sample-mining skills.
“Large Professor, definitely. The utmost respect when it comes to digging. He definitely intrigued me to how to get it in. We have plenty of fun digging together,” he explained, sharing his love for records. “I like the grit of a vinyl. A vinyl record. There’s just something so hip-hop about that.”
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