And Then What Happened…Freddie Foxxx’s Industry Shakedown

Battle MC Freddie Foxxx recalls making Industry Shakedown with Pete Rock and DJ Premier…

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Bloggin 4 Breaks: “Long Red”

It never ceases to amaze me how the dopest hip-hop is derived from the most unlikely places. The drums from Mountain’s “Long Red” (the live version, not the album version) are a staple of so many great hip-hop songs. From Pete Rock and CL Smooth’s “Return of the Mecca” to A Tribe Called Quest’s hard to find remix to “The Jazz” to most recently De La Soul’s Dilla-produced “Verbal Clap” those drums just fill out any beat. Even the vocals (”clap your hands to what he’s doing”and “louder”) have been sprinkled throughout a countless number of cuts.

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Video Interview: Pete Rock & Green Lantern

A few months ago Nodfactor caught up with the legendary Pete Rock and DJ Green Lantern to discuss their song from NY’s Finest, “Don’t Be Mad.” In the process I got them to share their views on samples, remixing, filtering, and everything under the sun. Watch parts 1,2, and 3 below.

JLB

Part 1, The Making of “Don’t Be Mad,” Classic Drum breaks and When to clear samples

Part 2, Making “We Roll,” Truncation, TR-808s and new sounds

Part 3, What makes a remix great and the influence of “Shut ‘Em Down”

On deck: Pharoahe Monch speaks exclusively on the influence of the late Paul C, working with Denaun Porter and his own production

Pete Rock and Green Lantern: Let The Beat Build

Hip-hop is built on moments. Some of them by accident, some of them planned, others are a mix of both. “Pete Rock is coming here?” Green Lantern said when told the Chocolate Boy Wonder was running late to his studio. While promoting Grand Theft Auto 4 with GL The Urban Daily (my day job) asked Pete Rock to meet us at Green Lantern’s midtown studio, but neglected to tell the Evil Genius. Oops. Our Bad. Mt. Vernon’s finest was stuck in traffic but GL shrugged it off. “Come on, it’s Pete Rock! How I’m not gonna wait for Pete Rock?” [Read more]

DJ Green Lantern: “Of course Hip-Hop Deserves its own Guitar Hero.”

In an up-coming interview with Radio-One’s Theurbandaily.com DJ/Producer Green Lantern spoke candidly about his role in Grand Theft Auto 4, producing for Pete Rock and whether the hip-hop game needs its own game.

“I have no comment and that may be because I have something in development,” Green Lantern teases when asked if hip-hop is ready for its own version of the popular Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games. “But of course we deserve it. If you can have a Rock Band then why not a DJ Hero or an MC Hero, or whatever it would be named because MC Hero [would sound] really corny.”

The popular producer for Busta Rhymes and Ludacris was tapped by the folks at Rock Star Games to host his own channel of original music in the up-coming Grand Theft Auto 4, which is based in his native New York City.

“It’s the first time they put that much responsibility in somebody’s hands,” he says proudly. While he is mum on whether he makes an appearance in the game he adds, “There’s some real legendary, relevant individuals in the game. They have some surprises.”

In addition to his work with Rock Star, Green Lantern was recently featured as the only outside producer on Pete Rock’s New York’s Finest, giving him the beat for “Don’t Be Mad.” He is also currently working on a Barack Obama mixtape with Russell Simmons.

“It’s not like [Obama] is officially endorsing it,” he clarifies. “But I’m going to make it real easy for him to stand next to the music that’s on it. It’s the first time a presidential candidate has had a mixtape.”

As a special surprise, Green Lantern was joined by Pete Rock in his studio halfway through the interview. Keep checking back to Nodfactor.com and the soon to be launched TheUrbandaily.com for exclusive video from that sit-down between two of New York’s finest.

-Jerry L. Barrow

Pete Rock to be Special Guest at Guitar Center Sessions in California

Los Angeles, CA – Guitar Center is preparing the next installment in its Guitar
Center Sessions series: An evening of dialogue and insight with Pete Rock, featuring special guests Just
Blaze, 9th Wonder, DJ Numark and DJ Revolution, on Sunday, April 20 at the Guitar Center in Hollywood,
CA.

Designed to provide informative, provocative conversation and hands-on tutorials, GC Sessions
serves as an incubator for musicians, offering them an opportunity to network with their peers and gain insight from their heroes in an intimate setting.

The last session was held in early April and featured the RZA on the Roland 8800.

In addition to the event itself, Guitar Center in partnership with Akai and Cornerstone Promotions, is offering five lucky artists a chance to participate in a private tutorial session with Pete Rock prior to the event. Winners will gain hands-on experience using the Akai MPC25000, and Guitar Center will video tape these sessions for http://gc.guitarcenter.com/events/, where they will live as an online tutorial.

This event is free and open to the public.

An Evening of Education, Conversation and Insight with
Pete Rock
April 20, 2008 @ 7PM
Guitar Center Hollywood
7425 Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA