One of the greatest hip hop tragedies is the fact that we didn’t get more Nas and Pete Rock collaborations.
Pete Rock’s trademark heavy, warm drums and his nostalgic samples provide the perfect template for the Queenbridge rapper’s raspy voice and old soul pen game.
On Illmatic, where you have incredible music from DJ Premier, Large Professor and Q-Tip, it’s arguably the Mount Vernon producer who supplied the best beat on the album, in addition to singing the hook.
Pete Rock: Nas made me sing the chorus on “The World Is Yours!” He was like, “Yo, I want you to sing this.” I was like, “Nah, I don’t want to sing.” Then he started singing the chorus too me: “Whose world is this? The world is yours, the world is yours, it’s mine, it’s mine.” So I ended up doing it somehow, someway. We were practicing it in my basement and we recorded “The World Is Yours” at Battery Records. Thank you to Large Professor for introducing me to Nas.”
Full Clip: Pete Rock Runs Down His Entire Catalogue Ft. Public Enemy, Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie, Kanye & More | Vibe
