Pete Rock - Soul Survivor (November 10, 1998)

By now, the lone bastard reading this blog has sufficient evidence that Pete Rock is an essential part of hip hop history. His fine-tuned ear as a producer is a true rarity in the annals of hip hop lore. Well that's a friggin' lie, but he is part of an elite class of beatmakers that have shaped the sound that personifies boom bap, which is noteworthy enough in and of itself. This reputation is mainly due to his works with one CL Smooth: they gave the world All Souled Out, Mecca And The Soul Brother & The Main Ingredient. Three glorious releases that together provided the full spectrum of what hip hop was meant to sound like. Those albums were so good that they left a lasting impression over whomever enjoyed their music: These two sound like what your favorite meal tastes like. And you know what? Count me the hell in. I still replay these albums to death, and I thank the Almighty that my medium doesn't include an expirable and very finite rewind button. You know, because I established a notorious reputation for being the guy who broke all the rewind buttons in my vicinity, be they video, cassette or iPod. They did all that, and then they went and broke up. So rational, right?

Afterwards, CL basically took a vow of musical celibacy by mostly refusing to fuck with anyone else, while Pete tried to continue on his own through his newly-established label Soul Brother Records, a vanity deal under Elektra. He even had a full roster locked and loaded with full albums that he oversaw top-to-bottom. Then, Elektra fell under the dictatorship of Sylvia Rhone, who basically shut down each and every hip hop act that sold less than 500,000 units. Unfortunately for Pete and his roster, that meant his entire venture was to be burned to the ground. The Life I Live and Every Man For Himself fell into release hell and have been there ever since, save for a shady BBE/Rapster double album release which only made matters worse. That was when Pete regretfully shut down Soul Brother Records (including a planned album with MC Mekolicious, whom I will get to on this post), gave Elektra the one-finger salute and jumped ship over to Steve Rifkind's then-prosperous Loud Records.

Now refreshed and ready to reintroduce his solo brand to the world, Pete basically called in all the favors he had in the game back then and made his album a sampler of the hottest boom bap acts of the 90s, while he relegated himself to the guest role on his own shit. Props to Max from HHID for that particular image.

Here we go:

SOUL SURVIVOR INTRO
Over a jazzy sample, Pete simply rolls out the shoutouts. Next!

TRU MASTER (FEATURING INSPECTAH DECK & KURUPT)
I don't care if my Wu bias shows, Inspectah Deck remains one of the best MCs to ever spit on a Petestrumental. And it helps that the beat behind him, magnificently looping The Impressions with touches of Herbie Hancock, is one of Pete's finest works of his career. I would've preferred, however, that both Pete and Kurupt's verses were removed from the remainder of the song, as they both sound pretty atrocious. As does Pete's hook, which is really weird because his hooks on InI's shelved album were frighteningly awesome. Kurupt's lyrical fall from grace remains as baffling today as it was 20 years ago.

HALF MAN, HALF AMAZIN' (FEATURING METHOD MAN)
The lone track not produced by the Soul Bro. Instead, it's the Younger Soul Bro... OK, Grap Luva does the beat. I understand why some people might find this beat to be too minimalist, but I adore this shit! Pete's performance sounds as if he's simply there to hype up Mef's, and hype it up he should: This is one of the most scorching showings I've ever heard Mef in, and that's saying a lot. The man is simply electrifying in his confidence, which helps the punchlines barrel through any reservations you might have with the beat.

RESPECT MINE (FEATURING OC)
Pete's back on the boards, coming up with a better result than Grap Luva's beat, and it's another duet with another confident MC from another legendary hip hop collective: This time, it's OC from the slept-on Diggin' In Tha Crates Crew. And OC simply follows up Mef's achievement on the previous track: he utterly demolishes the instrumental along with Petey's lyrical contribution. I must note that Pete's lyrics sound pretty bland compared to his own performances on his shelved collabs with InI and Dedi. Shame.

THA GAME (FEATURING RAEKWON, PRODIGY & GHOSTFACE KILLAH)
The classical backing provided by the Soul Brother illustrates the magnitude of this all-star Loud posse cut well, as Prodigy and RAGU rip the beat to bitty shreds. RAGU do their thing of course, yet it's Prodigy who really shines here. I really wish Pete didn't feel the need to chime in with his mediocre-by-comparison lyrics. Oh well, still a massive song.

#1 SOUL BROTHER
Pete once again proves why he's the king of looping xylophone samples, with his craftsmanship shining through the Silhouettes loop he chose. And it's an impressive solo showing as well, though I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this for any lyrical wizardry playlist on any iPod out there. Still an enjoyable song.

ROCK STEADY PART II (FEATURING PETER GUNZ & LORD TARIQ)
Short intro by Heavy D aside, I immediately enjoyed the prominent Love Unlimited Orchestra sample because of me associating it with the legendary EPMD. Lyrically, though, Lord Tariq was the only MC worthy of note here, and his verse still doesn't fully impress. As for the Petes on this song, they are predictably shit.

TRULY YOURS '98 (FEATURING LARGE PROFESSOR & KOOL G RAP)
Truly, an ode to a truly undeserving song. Truly a shame that such a legendary lineup dedicated their verses to a truly undeserving subject: bashing women and bragging about your possessions. And the beat, jacking Marley Marl's truly horseshit original wholesale, remains truly horseshit. The comments section is there for a reason, so come at me, motherfucker.

IT'S ABOUT THAT TIME (FEATURING ROB-O & BLACK THOUGHT)
I swear, every time Pete works with the returning Robert Odindo, something snaps inside your host whenever he decides to step up to the mic and the quotables start flowing. It helps that Black Thought is a quotable machine. Rob-O continues his excellent chemistry over Pete's wonderfully minimalist beat. That's pretty much all I got. Dope song. Yep.

ONE LIFE TO LIVE (FEATURING MC EIHT)
MC Eiht is a curious subject when it comes to me. The man is undoubtedly capable of producing some classic work on his native West Coast, and it's obvious that he knows his producers. However, he seems to perform better over East Coast sounding beats, such as his work with the legendary DJ Muggs, despite his distinctive West Coast drawl. However, I'm sorry, he's not infallible: His most well-known song, Streiht Up Menace, was never received well by yours truly. It is what it is. Thankfully, his duet with Pete here falls within the former classification. Yes, it's a pretty dope showing from him, because I just can't for the life of me remember one thing about Pete's verse. The Nat Adderley-distorting beat is addictive, though. Oh well, I guess I'll give the overall product a pass.

TAKE YOUR TIME (FEATURING LOOSE ENDS)
Another solo showing by our host, where he allows the Loose Ends, an R&B group, equal credit time with him, clearly making this song the radio effort. As such, it really sounds pretty epic. Although I guess that's due to Pete's deft piano sampling then his lyrics, which are admittedly fair here. The hook will piss you off, however. Still, don't let that stop from enjoying this shit.

MIND BLOWIN' (FEATURING VINIA MOJICA)
The ladies song. You know where I'm going with this, so I won't even bother. I will say that Pete does not make a convincing case with his trivial lyrical effort. Shame that such a beat was wasted here. Same for poor Vinia, as she delivered her end of the bargain.

SOUL SURVIVOR (FEATURING MISS JONES)
I must admit, I've always thought Miss Jones brought it proper. That hasn't changed here. Pete's third solo effort is his best lyrically, for his passion improves his rhymes past whatever limitation he might have in that particular department. The beat is predictably amazing, as well, with the Modaji sample flipped expertly. Awesome song!

DA TWO (FEATURING CL SMOOTH)
The only question that will remain stuck in your brain after hearing this song will be: How the FUCK did I make it through the last 13 goddamn tracks without hearing CL Smooth over a Pete Rock track? Pete crafts his best beat on the album bar none with a breathtaking Emotions/Stanley Cowell recipe for CL to sink his teeth into. And let me tell you, boy/girl (pick one), dude has not lost one step. He devours the beat with an all-new mashup of his two distinctive styles from their previous two albums together the way you devour your favorite dish after two weeks of the crappiest rations known to humankind. Incidentally, Pete also contributes a good enough verse to keep the song going, only for CL to effectively stake his claim of the Petestrumental, the way he's done countless times way back when. The rest of the songs on this album are so far beneath this high, it's not even funny.

VERBAL MURDER 2 (FEATURING BIG PUN, NOREAGA & COMMON)
I love the late great Big Punisher. Really, I do. He's an all-time great, and Capital Punishment was the second coming of Ready To Die. He even does a great job here, with a dope-ass Phil Collins reference to boot. But, really, you just can't top the previous track. No two ways about it. Add that to the fact that the following combo of NORE/Common simply pales in comparison to the original's Mekolicious/Pete Rock. Yes, you read correctly: There's an original version of this song, and minus Punny's verse, it's ten times better than this one. Nore tries here, but let’s just say he’s not where he was on The War Report. As for Common? He failed to capitalize on the feverish chemistry he had with Pete on his eviscerating Ice Cube diss, The Bitch In Yoo. Once again, the comments section is there for a goddamn reason.

STRANGE FRUIT (FEATURING TRAGEDY, CAPPADONNA & STICKY FINGAZ)
Yet another Pete Rock/Mekolicious rejection, but this time the end product was greatly improved, resulting in my second favorite song on this album. Even though the previous version had rhymes from Pete that best any rhyme of his here, Mekolicious being his usual dope self and an eerie NORE performance that truly reflects his War Report acumen, There's just something special about this particular combo of Tragedy, Cappadonna and Onyx' own Sticky Fingaz. Tragedy's verse from the original remains untouched, and that's nothing if not an awesome thing, for his verse is a legendary display of thuggery laced with his unique brand of epic imagery. He just has the ability to make words sound epic. Oh Donna's the real surprise here, as his typically-infuriating insistence to stay offbeat actually helped his performance greatly over such a demented beat from the Soul Brother, who thankfully steered clear from providing any verses here. As for Sticky? Once you hear this beat for the first time, you will hold your breath in anticipation of his arrival on this shit, and he will not disappoint you. Props to Pete for flipping Billie Holiday over the creepiest of David Axelrod piano samples, itself a very popular sample in hip hop.

MASSIVE (HOLD TIGHT) (FEATURING HEAVY D & BEENIE MAN)
The final song on this album is a dancehall/rap mashup featuring the man who's responsible for Pete Rock's career: His cousin, the late legendary Heavy D. As such, I literally have nothing else to say about this track. To me it's just...there. I guess Hev's doing his thing of being the original fat playboy or something. Rest in power, Hev.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Well, that shouldn't have took me two months to write! Well, that's the problem of life. Sometimes everything's going your way, and sometimes you needlessly go to jail because of an asshole of a traffic patrolman even though you never broke the law in your life. Oh well.

REAL FINAL THOUGHTS
This album is the last of its kind in Pete Rock's discography: An album that is enjoyable almost from end to end. Most of the guests here bring such a distinctive and lasting flavor to Pete's beats that makes Soul Survivor a definite highlight in the man's career. Don't get me wrong, Pete still had some epic shit left in him, but gone was the man's consistency in backing dope lyrics with dope beats for an entire project. Such a shame.

WORTH IT?
You owe it to yourself to pick this shit up. This is Pete Rock's final classic album. And believe me, that's something to cherish.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:
BACK ON DA BLOCK (FEATURING CL SMOOTH)
One of the definite hits in Pete's post-90s career, this is a damn fine PR-CL collaboration found on the first Petestrumentals album. I like how Pete tries his hand once again at singing the hook, because this time it's even more effective than his work on The World Is Yours by Nas. And with that, Pete's vocal contributions to the track are done as he leaves the rest entirely up to CL Smooth, who rises to the occasion in his typically splendid form. Why aren't these two making another album again?

For more from the Chocolate Wonder, here.