Stream Smoke DZA & Benny The Butcher’s Pete Rock-Produced Statue Of Limitations EP
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Pete Rock has been making music since the late ’80s, and he’s one of the greatest rap producers of all time. Together with his rapping partner CL Smooth, Rock made two classic albums, and the Pete Rock/CL Smooth track “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” is just a perfect piece of music. But as a producer, Rock has plenty of other classics: Nas’ “The World Is Yours,” Run-D.M.C.’s “Down With The King,” Public Enemy’s “Shut ‘Em Down” remix, the original versions of a Tribe Called Quest’s “Jazz (We Got)” and (at least according to Rock himself) the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy.” Rock helped pioneer the art of atmospheric sample-chopping and his 2001 album PeteStrumentals was a dorm-room staple. So it’s cool to be able to report that Rock has a new project that’s worthy of your attention.
In 2016, Rock teamed up with the veteran Harlem rap journeyman for the collaborative album Don’t Smoke Rock. And this past Friday, Rock supplied all the beats for Statue Of Limitations, a new EP that teams DZA up with Buffalo hardass and Griselda Records standout Benny The Butcher, who just released the breakout EP The Plugs I Met in June.
Statue Of Limitations could easily skate under your radar. (That’s why we didn’t post it on Friday; I just slept.) It’s just six songs in 20 minutes. But it is extremely solid. DZA and Benny trade New York tough-guy punchlines, and they bring in Griselda labelmates WestSide Gunn and Conway The Machine and Yonkers eminence Styles P for guest appearances. But the real treat is hearing the warm thud of those Pete Rock beats. Stream the EP below.
The Statue Of Limitations EP is out now on RFC/Cinematic.