The legendary producer previews a long-awaited third installment of his Petestrumental series with a funk-fueled single.
After months of delays, it appears Pete Rock is finally ready to unveil the third (and potentially final,) episode of Petestrumentals.
According to Rolling Stone, Petestrumentals 3 is slated to arrive on December 11th via Pete’s Tru Soul imprint. The release date’s announcement is accompanied by the album’s lead single, “Say It Again.” Clocking in at nearly seven minutes, the two-headed arrangement pulls from all of Pete’s sources. The first is a blast of horn-heavy and cerebral soul, pivoting to a tight-knit funk-fueled vamp at the midway point.
Originally announced in March with a reveal of the album cover, the project marks the producer’s first with a live band, promising a sample-less finale to the instrumental tape series. The band, going by The Soul Brothers for their outing with Pete, is comprised of Marcus Machado on guitar, Daru Jones on drums, MonoNeon on bass, Big Yuki on keys, and Jermaine Holmes as the lone vocalist.
“A lot of this album sounds like samples extracted from records,” the producer tells Rolling Stone. “We dress it up and add definition to what it is. It’s Hip-Hop, but have you ever heard Pete Rock not sample anything or work with a band? It’s exciting. I’m a musician, whether I’m sampling or not,” he adds.
Petestrumentals 3 follows last year’s release of Return of The SP1200 (a 15-track collection of the producer’s earliest experiments with the seminal sampler,) and Retropolitan (a collaborative album with Brooklyn rapper, Skyzoo.)
Hear Pete Rock’s new single “Say It Again” below. Head over to Tru Soul to pre-order your copy of Petestrumentals 3 on vinyl today ahead of its release and hold tight for the next transmission in the weeks and months ahead.