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Look out Hip-Hop purists for some ’90s heavyweight OG’s who are linking up to give us older heads something new for 2024.
On Monday (Jan. 22), Common was a featured guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers as he’s been making the media rounds to promote his latest book, And Then We Rise. During the interview, the Chicago MC, and actor, was asked if he was working on some new music for public consumption. A visibly animated Common excitedly announced that he is indeed working on a new project with none other than the legendary producer Pete Rock.
“I’m working on a new album with the legendary Pete Rock as the producer and man I’m so enthused and inspired about this project… and Seth, I’m already plugging and saying, can I come back and perform some of this music?” Common said.
After joking that he’d have to “run it up the flagpole” to his show’s producers, Seth gleefully accepted and told Common “I would love to have you back!” before calling him the “LeBron James of rap.”
Word?! We love Common but calling him the LeBron James of rap? We’re not sure about that one, but hey, we’re not mad at it either. Just sayin’.
After posting the clip from the show, Common also posted a picture of himself with Pete Rock in the studio with a caption reading, “The Legendary @realpeterock We are Cooking.”
With Pete Rock producing Common’s classic Ice Cube diss record, “The Bitch In Yoo,” we wonder if this project will feature another record in which Common goes at someone’s neck–even though he doesn’t seem to be beefing with anyone at the moment. Maybe he’ll rehash his drama with Drake or throw a dart or two at Tiffany Haddish. Hey, you never know.
What do y’all think of Common and Pete Rock dropping a brand new album together? Are y’all excited? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: press handout / Tru Soul Records
Pete Rock paid homage to the great Luther Vandross, saying that the singer “thanked him” for his craft years ago.
The legendary producer Pete Rock was part of a producers’ panel that was part of the event lineup on the inaugural Rock The Bells cruise that began Nov. 13. During the panel discussion, which was hosted by Torae, Pete Rock along with DJ Jazzy Jeff, Lil Jon and Mannie Fresh spoke about their careers and experiences as producers. As the subject of sampling came up, the “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” producer revealed that he was once praised by Luther Vandross for his work.
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“Luther Vandross thanked me for sampling ‘Don’t You Know That’ for Heavy D,” Pete Rock shared, which made the crowd gasp. “He said that I did a wonderful job, and I was like, ‘Wow.’” The song he was referring to was “Don’t You Know That?” from Vandross’ 1981 hit album Never Too Much. The sample would become the backbone for Heavy D’s chart-topping hit “Got Me Waiting,” from his 1994 album Nuttin’ but Love. That album would go platinum. Torae then asked Pete Rock jokingly, “Big Luther or little Luther?” which brought on a wave of laughter from the audience.
Pete Rock would then speak about his admiration for Marley Marl and the way the Hip-Hop icon approached sampling. “Marley was like the first James Brown in Hip-Hop,” he began. “He told me that a lot of the things in the beats that he made were mistakes that sounded like they belonged in the records.”
He would also touch on how there were certain artists whom he and other producers patently avoided in terms of sampling. “Steely Dan, I don’t touch their stuff,” he said. “Gilbert O Sullivan – don’t even listen to his music.” O’Sullivan is best known as the artist who sued Biz Markie in 1991 for the rapper’s sampling of his song “Alone Again (Naturally).” The Irish singer would win the lawsuit, getting 100% of the royalties and making sampling a more arduous and costly effort.
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Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
Hip-Hop legends Common and Pete Rock are teaming up to incorporate the 90’s sound into today’s flows.
During a recent appearance on MSNBC’s The Beat With Ari Melber, the Grammy award-winning rapper confirmed he has a new project on the way with the legendary hitmaker and the project’s heartbeat will be centered around Hip-Hop from the 1990s.
“I [have] been listening to a lot of ’90s Hip Hop because I [have] been creating a new project,” Common said. “I’m working on a new album with Pete Rock and just, the energy of that music, whether it’s Brand Nubian, A Tribe Called Quest, or De La Soul because they just got their music on streaming, it’s been inspiring to hear. But I am creating new music right now. I’m in a great space.”
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Pete Rock also confirmed the news by sharing a screenshot of a post regarding the fact he was working with the Chi-Town wordsmith to Instagram on Wednesday (Sept. 13) and sounded off on what people can expect from the collaboration. “You ever miss that feeling of a good release in hip hop?” he asked in the caption. “Remember how exciting that felt??? We both excited as a mafugga. I always feel like I got something to prove but its just fun to me to make music,” the 53-year-old producer wrote. “Competing to make good music with all the different personalities involved today just gotten dry. We love hip hop and you will know just how much stay tuned!!!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CxI4PK2LuxK/
The collab marks the third reunion between the dynamic duo. Common and Pete Rock first worked together over 25 years ago for “The B*tch In Yoo.” The 1996 track from the label compilation Relativity Urban Assault found Common responding to Ice Cube and Mack 10 for “Westside Slaughterhouse”—which appeared on Mack’s self-titled debut album, and marked an early Westside Connection posse cut whereby Cube jabbed Common for his lyrics in 1994 Resurrection single and video “I Used To Love H.E.R.”
Although “The B*tch In Yoo” landed on Common’s greatest hits compilation, that beef was later squashed, as Common and Cube worked together in film and music. Common would also guest appear on Pete Rock’s solo debut Soul Survivor on the verbal assault-driven track, “Verbal Murder 2,” alongside Big Pun and N.O.R.E.
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