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The Chocolate Boy Wonder no doubt.

Premier is untouchable. Just listened to Return of the Boom Bap today and was trying to come up with anybody that can hang at all.

They're both great but I'll vote Pete Rock. For over ten years Premier's beats are very predictable, dope, but you pretty much know what's happening after the beat starts.

shadowmaster wrote:They're both great but I'll vote Pete Rock. For over ten years Premier's beats are very predictable, dope, but you pretty much know what's happening after the beat starts.

yeah, you can't tell that from pete rock haha. what he did with his beats is sad...

don't get me wrong, i'm not a big fan of them both for their latest productions. but pete rock fell of extremely hard the last couple of years compared to premo. lady gaga remix, kanye west jay z beat was so sad to hear.

and meanwhile pete rock sits on 90s shit we can only hear in bad ass quality. it really makes me feel bad for pete...

Yeah I knew someone was going to say something like that. I agree, they're both far from their peak powers, but strangely enough (probably due to The UN), Petestrumentals is my fave post 2000 release. Going back to the poll, Premier has a huge discography but some of the best PR beats are a lot more layered and 'musical'.

gimantalon wrote:yeah, you can't tell that from pete rock haha. what he did with his beats is sad...

pete rock fell of extremely hard the last couple of years compared to premo. lady gaga remix, kanye west jay z beat was so sad to hear.

and meanwhile pete rock sits on 90s shit we can only hear in bad ass quality. it really makes me feel bad for pete...

What's sad is you think you know what you talkin' about lol. Who had the illest joint on the torae album? Pete continues to play countless bangers on sirius as he always does on the radio. Alot of joints that end up becoming exclusives are out of his control as far as getting a release. The mediocre stuff he puts out is him showing he can make today's style of beats too. Like it or not, he does what he wants. Why would he have to put out unreleased 90's joints to prove himself? His career was solidified since before soul survivor. He made those future flavas remixes live on the show for fun anyway. Get at marley if you mad about the quality. He owns those shows. lol...fell off.

who said i'm mad?

opinions brother, opinions.

get a grip of yourself!

lol you still mad

Pete Rock without any doubt at all. Premier is overrated, period. LOL

I'm not quite sure why this poll is so lopsided but I'll definitely add my 2 cents to this decade old argument. Now I'm a fan of Preem's work as well, but if I'm chosing between the 2, I'm going with Pete easy, why? Because, Pete is the more diverse of the two.

Pete's able to do R&B, Reggae, Hip-Hop etc. while still adding his signature to it where Preem will pitch a beat he would give to Royce, to Mary J Blige. Pete's changed his style at least 6 times since the 90's while Preem is still doin records like "Kick In The Door" 97.

First off Pete was killin it with the remixes for various artist when Preem was doing mainly Gang Starr based stuff but I think the reason why most people put Preem over Pete is because of the turn around in the mid-90's.

Once Premier started to branch out and work outside of Gang Starr, doin great work with Heavy D, NaS, M.O.P. and then coming with the Jeru album following 95 with the Group Home album, that drew them neck and neck. Pete had pressure on him but he had 2 gems that if it would've had the opportunity to come out when it was supposed to, we probably wouldn't be having this argument.

Once Pete & CL parted ways Pete had Deda & InI lined up for 95, 96 (respectively) and also Taste Of Forte and Mekolicious but due to Sylvia Rhone black-balling him with his Soul Brother Records deal, that set him back for about 3 years so while Pete was getting real remixes he did for Busta Rhymes (It's A Party) and Monica (Get Down) turned down, Preem was moving up knocking out tracks wit Jay-Z & B.I.G.. We all know 3 years of near inactivity can be an eternity in music so while Pete was on a hiatus, Preem became the go to guy if you wanted that street record and yeah Pete had gotten on Rakim's 18th Letter but he didn't really recover until Soul Survivor dropped. I would love to hear all of Pete's shelved work from that period.

In the late 90's to early 2000's Pete started making more grittier beats that wasn't hitting his mark and the only time we got to hear them was on Future Flavas. Now in 2012 I must admit I'm not all that happy with Pete's new style. Even though you still hear traces of his elements I think its been made to please to today's artist. His beats aren't nearly as complex as before but in a weird way, it's working because if you're goin by body of work as for the artist they've worked with yeah at one pooint Preem was working with some of Hip-Hop's top artist but now Pete is getting on some big projects while Premo's workload has calmed down a whole lot.

My whole thing is, it's an acquired taste when it comes to those 2. If you like beats that have minimal things going on in it, chopped samples, hard drums and superb scratches you'll go with Premier, if you like a slick beats with clever sampling, ill basslines, different elements going on in it then you'll go with Pete. I love variety so I love both of their styles but Pete's music has always been the style that I like best. I just appreciate the fact that they're both still around, in demand and doing full length albums while most of our other favorite producers from the 90's have faded all but away.

Sorry for the long ass post lol

I hear you.

I stay pissed at PR cause he did Main Ingredient.. and in 2000 or 2001, he did Petestrumentals. They're masterpieces, imo, that are above primo's level.

But what has he done since Petstrumentals that has been half as ill? A couple of beats here or there but it's like we all know he must have stashes of just impeccable next level shit yet he doesn't release it. Especially nowadays where everyone who made a record in the 90s is scrambling to find their demos to press up and sell. the market is there and so are the fans. But where's Pete?

Primo's a hack for mad years now, imo. Making beats is just a paycheck, he needs something to inspire him to get some of that other other shit back again. That's kind of why I been really wanting his NYGz album to drop. Cause i know he's gonna give them some left field dope shit that we all love.

But I'm not sittin around here waitin on either one of these cats to do shit nowadays. I'd rather find some new fresh shit once in a while and keep finding ill 90s records i missed or lost. Plus there's still a few producers from back then that are still bringin some heat. Dj Mondee, Spinna, etc..

and speaking of chopped samples, I can't stands other beatmakers that do the chip chop thing just to do it, ya know? If you chop, do it right. The original purpose of chopping was kind of working around barriers in old songs to get the dope sample flushed out, not to just chop for the sake of chopping.

sorry for the rant, just felt like ranting.

Verge wrote:I hear you.

I stay pissed at PR cause he did Main Ingredient.. and in 2000 or 2001, he did Petestrumentals. They're masterpieces, imo, that are above primo's level.

But what has he done since Petstrumentals that has been half as ill? A couple of beats here or there but it's like we all know he must have stashes of just impeccable next level shit yet he doesn't release it. Especially nowadays where everyone who made a record in the 90s is scrambling to find their demos to press up and sell. the market is there and so are the fans. But where's Pete?

Primo's a hack for mad years now, imo. Making beats is just a paycheck, he needs something to inspire him to get some of that other other shit back again. That's kind of why I been really wanting his NYGz album to drop. Cause i know he's gonna give them some left field dope shit that we all love.

But I'm not sittin around here waitin on either one of these cats to do shit nowadays. I'd rather find some new fresh shit once in a while and keep finding ill 90s records i missed or lost. Plus there's still a few producers from back then that are still bringin some heat. Dj Mondee, Spinna, etc..

co sign!

Verge wrote: But what has he done since Petstrumentals that has been half as ill? A couple of beats here or there but it's like we all know he must have stashes of just impeccable next level shit yet he doesn't release it. Especially nowadays where everyone who made a record in the 90s is scrambling to find their demos to press up and sell. the market is there and so are the fans. But where's Pete?

I've felt similar feelings over the years. I've come to the conclusion that he and Premier are probably just in a different space/outlook of life in recent years, I feel the same about Wu-Tang. One determining factor of music and creativity in general people should consider is that eventually people's lives and priorities change and they may not have the same sort of fire within them to produce the same output they once did. I assume this might be part of why artists like Pete, Premier and others have fallen back a bit from the game.

Petestrumentals was just amazing. I agree with the above post, though- a lot of, if not most, acts lose their motivation and drive once life changes. Maybe their 'original inspiration', ie the struggles of life.

Between Pete Rock, Premo, RZA, Dilla, etc Pete Rock is the only one who has the 100% undisputable hip hop/Jazzsoulfunk/vinyl aesthetic as well as 90,000+ records. You can say whatever you want about who's the most versatile/prolific, but if you want that butter, go to Pete Rock.

Rza, at his peak, was doing things no other producer was at the time. His style was unique beats wise. I know Muggs was supposed to have been using soul samples in a similar manner even before that, but Rza's stuff was just out there.

Verge wrote: But I'm not sittin around here waitin on either one of these cats to do shit nowadays. I'd rather find some new fresh shit once in a while and keep finding ill 90s records i missed or lost. Plus there's still a few producers from back then that are still bringin some heat. Dj Mondee, Spinna, etc..

co sign

fatboybrandon wrote:

Verge wrote: But what has he done since Petstrumentals that has been half as ill? A couple of beats here or there but it's like we all know he must have stashes of just impeccable next level shit yet he doesn't release it. Especially nowadays where everyone who made a record in the 90s is scrambling to find their demos to press up and sell. the market is there and so are the fans. But where's Pete?

I've felt similar feelings over the years. I've come to the conclusion that he and Premier are probably just in a different space/outlook of life in recent years, I feel the same about Wu-Tang. One determining factor of music and creativity in general people should consider is that eventually people's lives and priorities change and they may not have the same sort of fire within them to produce the same output they once did. I assume this might be part of why artists like Pete, Premier and others have fallen back a bit from the game.

u could say that not only of these 2 producers, but for any 90s artists we liked.

K3v nailed it.

together with RZA they are all in my top 3, and i honestly think they are equally good.. Premier is more consistant, i give him that, but when they bring their A-game i can't say who i prefer. like "The Main Ingredient" vs. "Daily Operation"?? - hmmm, can't say ... "Wrath of the Math" vs. "Center of Attention", again it depends on the day really.

i voted for Pete Rock though bc i saw how much Preem is leading haha