How's it going Pete?

Pete Rock: Hey, what's up bro? How are you doing man?

Let's talk about your new album NY's Finest. When did you decide it was going to mostly spotlight artists from New York?

Pete Rock: It's really not about spotlighting artists in New York, it's more about spotlighting New York as a whole. The whole New York has been through hell. We've been through a lot man; 9/11 attacks, we lost Big L, we lost Biggie, we lost Freaky Tah and we've lost a lot of rappers man. I don't think people on the outside of NY know how much we've been effected. A lot of people have changed, you know what I mean? With this album I wanted to kind of pick my city up and show that what we had was golden in the 90's and bring that back. Reinvent ourselves and reintroduce ourselves to the youth of Hip Hop music who may not know who we are and how important we are to the game and what we've done.

When you decide to work on your own album, do you specifically create beats for the project or do you work with beats that are unused or set aside for some reason?

Pete Rock: I just make dope beats that nobody really used or if somebody used the same sample I used, I'll just do it differently. Sometimes I send certain beats to certain artists or they'll come see me in the studio.

Do you give the artists a selection of beats to choose from or do you ask them to get on a specific track?

Pete Rock: Yeah I do that. I let them pick their own stuff or I might suggest something and they can either go with the suggestion or not. 

You rap on about half the tracks, correct? How do you decide which tracks you will rhyme on?

Pete Rock: Basically the ones that I feel I should write on. It depends what the beat makes me feel like. Certain beats talk to me and say "Come spit on me" and that's what I do.  

Do you enjoy getting on the mic?

Pete Rock: Yes. 

One of the standout tracks comes from Chip Fu of the Fu-Schnickens. What's it like working with him and do you think he has a big comeback in store this year?

Pete Rock: I think so. I think he has a great comeback and it starts right here with this song. He put his all into this song. Like this dude does reggae and it kind of surprised me. I always knew he had a career doing background like myself, I just didn't know that he delved so far into the reggae music like that. The way he perfected himself and he sounds good as a reggae artist. This song right here is one of the songs that is going to help define him as a reggae artist too as well as a historical rapper. He's part of the Fu-Snickens. A lot of the young kids don't even know who the Fu-Snickens are. They were a group signed to Jive Records and they had a couple of records like "La Schmoove", "True Fuschnick" and they had a record with Shaquille O'neal. They also produced Shaq's first album and they did a song with him. That's who the Fu-Schnickens are. He's just going to further his introduction on this record NY's Finest.

Another name people may not have heard in a while is Lords of the Underground. How'd they get on the album?

Pete Rock: Well I knew DoItAlll for a long time and we always liked working with each other. I guess he heard I was working on the album and he popped in the studio while I was mixing. 

Since you have enough clout to get pretty much on a track, is it tough sometimes to figure out who you want to collaborate with?

Pete Rock: Nah it's not hard. What's hard is hopefully getting the artist to feel the same way I feel. I only want to work with artists that want to work with me. All that about people asking me about why I'm working with a person, I don't know man don't ask me ask them. I'm only working with people who want to work with Pete Rock. And that's that.

What are the main differences between this and the Soul Survivor series?

Pete Rock: The difference is I lean more towards New York. I went with the title NY's Finest because I feel like my city has been abused. We fight back and that's our rep. We're New York, we don't just lay down and die, we'll fight you to the end. I made this album for my city.

Are there any videos planned with the album?

Pete Rock: I just completed my first video for "Till I Retire". I do two verses of "Till I Retire" then it splashes into the Redman song. He does a verse and the video is over. So we did a video for "Till I Retire/ Best Believe". 

In the EPK you have producers like Kanye, 9th Wonder, Timbaland and Just Blaze all praising you. What's it like to know you inspired almost all of the biggest producers in the game?

Pete Rock: That's all I ever wanted from the younger dudes, and not that Timbaland is younger than me, I think we may be the same age. I know Pharrell is younger than me, Kanye's younger than me and Just Blaze is younger than me. I feel like those guys I touched them in a way I would love to touch everyone else in the game that wants to do Hip Hop, or that come into the game and want to do beats and so forth. I love the fact that Kayne mentions my name in his records because he doesn't have to. He's just mentioning some of the people who inspired him to do Hip Hop music and one of the inspirations was myself. I believe one of his other biggest inspirations was his mom. I feel for him because I lost my dad too, so I kind of know how he feels, but it's different. It's nothing like losing a mom. That's the toughest part of life, having to deal with your close ones dying.

They also talk about how nobody compares with you in the remix game. In your career how have you decided which songs to remix? Is it a matter of the artists approaching you or do you hear a song and think you can do better?

Pete Rock: [Laughs] Well I've had a few times where I've heard the original and thought I could do better. I also had people reach out to me and say, "Hey, I need a remix Pete" and I would be there to do the remix. It was that simple and after a while people would just request me to do remixes. It wasn't like I was out there looking for a remix; I had made a name as far as remixing goes. People knew who to come to for a remix.

For example you remixed a track by One Be Lo a couple of years back, how'd that come about?

Pete Rock: That situation basically came about from those people getting in touch with me.

How'd you hook up with Nature Sounds and whats your relationship been like so far?

Pete Rock: It's cool, it's just you have to stay on top of people. If you don't they'll try to be slick with you. Other than that I have no problems with Nature Sounds. They are as excited about this release as I am.

Will you work with them on future projects?

Pete Rock: Yeah, definitely.

At this point do you still take as much time to look for records as you have in the past?

Pete Rock: Yeah, all the time man. With the sound I built there is no way I can sit around without digging. If I want to bring new sounds, new samples and a new style to people I have to do my homework. That's part of doing your homework, digging.  

Who are some other producers who really impress you in terms of their record collections and their choice of source material?

Pete Rock: Record collecting? Wow. J. Dilla. J. Dilla, period. Not to take anything away from other producer, but he's the only producer in this game that was just as serious as I was. You know when it comes to digging and stuff a lot of producers are lazy. They don't dig every other day or everyday. We take this serious. We are real serious with this digging thing and a lot more serious than people think. There has been a time span between my last album and this one, it's been about four years. During those fours years I did so much research and music it's not even funny dude. People don't even understand what I have to offer. It's countless. With that said and done I still have the passion. The passion to make beats and the passion to make Hip Hop.

You've always stayed fresh but a lot of artists and producers who made their mark over the 90's have kind of lost their style. They try to change with the times and it doesn't work. Do you feel like a lot of your peers coming up have lost their uniqueness or do you think it's important to adapt?

Pete Rock: It's important to adapt. It's definitely important to adapt. To me what makes you last long in this game is the passion for what you do. Some people just get on it and ride the wave and when it's over it's over for them. They can't comeback and do anything. For me, from my era of the 90's there are not a lot of producers that are still doing stuff besides myself and DJ Premier. We are the only two from our time producing-wise that's still out here. He just did something with Christina Aguilera, a big pop record. I just did something with Keisha Cole, a big record on her album. These things are important to stay ahead of the game.  You get to work with people you don't think you'll work with. Then you get to experiment and try to change their style around and see how people are going to accept it. Not in a bad way, in a great way. In the way that the music sounds great.

Who should we expect to hear over Pete Rock production in 2008?

Pete Rock: You'll hear something. You'll definitely hear something. I don't know who yet because I really haven't had any meetings. I'm working with Busta Rhymes right now and I'm working with a few other people I want to work with. L.L. Cool J, Erick Sermon and people from my era. I'd like to work with people from this era too. I'd like to work with Lil Wayne and Kanye, you know? Cassidy, there are a lot of people out there I feel I can do something big with. This new guy in New York named Uncle Murda, I think he's good.

What other projects do you have lined up for yourself?

Pete Rock: That's pretty much it. I got this new album coming out. I'm doing something with Doo Wop and I'm doing something with Royal Flush. I'm producing albums right now. I feel that's important, producing albums.

Its been a while. Have you spoken to CL Smooth at all?

Pete Rock: No. CL Smooth and I don't talk to each other at all.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Pete Rock: Get the album February 26th. It's real good music. I feel like it's going to teach these young kids who I am. It's a big reintroduction of Pete Rock. How I mix today's sound with the old soul sounds, so collaborating those two sounds together is great. It sounds great and it's a great album.