Doggie Diamonds geeked out with Pete Rock over the Hip Hop legend’s illustrious catalog. During the 18 minute conversation, Rock reveals that he “battles between [“T.R.O.Y.” and “The World Is Yours”] as his personal favorite beats that he created.
“T.R.O.Y.” debuted in 1992 on his seminal classic, Mecca & The Soul Brother with C.L. Smooth. Rock told Village Voice that the song was inspired by a friend who passed away unexpectedly.
“I was kind of depressed when I made it,” he told the publication in 2007. And to this day, I can’t believe I made it through, the way I was feeling. I guess it was for my boy. When I found the record by Tom Scott, basically I just heard something incredible that touched me and made me cry. It had such a beautiful bassline, and I started with that first… When I mixed the song down, I had Charlie Brown from Leaders of the New School in the session with me, and we all just started crying.”
“The World Is Yours” is also an undeniable Hip Hop classic. The track debuted on Nas’ culture changing album, Illmatic. Illmatic was the first album where producers (Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Q-Tip, Large Professor, and L.E.S.) worked on an album an artist who wasn’t in their own group.
This is a great conversation for those looking to learn more about Hip Hop history.
