Bronx native Pete Rock is one of the foundation stones on which the ‘90s East Coast hip-hop sound was built. The producer, born Peter Phillips in 1970, first found fame as the beatmaker in the duo Pete Rock & CL.Smooth. After the group’s dissolution in 1995 (they would reunite a number of times over the years), Rock began working as a freelance producer, bringing his penchant for obscure samples, dusty drums, and groovy basslines to artists like Rakim, Nas, JAY-Z, and Ghostface Killah. Though Rock laid down his most famous beats in the ‘90s and early 2000s, he stayed prolific into the 2020s, working with Westside Gunn, Smoke DZA, and more.