Whose world is this…

Pete Rock, known for his remarkably soulful and impactful instrumentals, made a beat in 1994 that would help change the course of hip-hop forever, but at the time, he was just working with the new, ill kid from Queensbridge who needed a beat for his debut.

This weekend, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest albums of all time, Illmatic, which spawned an era in music that will never be forgotten, and a career that has impacted this genre and culture in irreversible ways.

We got a little help from Pete Rock, who produced track 4 on Illmatic, “The World Is Yours’, talked about the experience of meeting Nas, producing the record, being asked to do the hook–which he was reluctant to do–and more.