Slept on Rappers

Cool Calm Pete's debut solo album Lost coming out in the US on Embedded Music, July 2005 and out in Europe on February 20th on Definitive Jux.

Out of the wreckage of a broken junk-bot, emerges unscathed, Cool Calm Pete. One third of the underground outfit Babbletron, Calm Pete is the one whose words come slower. The precision of slow flow may be lost on some, but to the big brain females out there, here comes trouble. His new album, Lost is going to ring bells like Bob James on the first four bars of “Mardi Gras.”

While a child running wild through the streets of New York City, this Queens traditionalist MC studied the manuscripts. Calm Pete understands the last 15 years of rapping. He doesn’t rhyme for the sake of riddling, because he knows better. Calm Pete carries weight. The weight of not being an idiot. He understands his words, he understands his rhyme scheme, he understands why he raps and he understands why he makes beats. There are few other MC’s that are as well versed without coming off like a nerd. It is all balanced because the slow words come from a quick tongue planted firmly in his cheek. Imagine Stanley Kubric and Chevy Chase figured out how to use Pro Tools and wanted to make a smart hip hop album.

His name tells volumes. Composed, subtle, logical, and deliberate, Cool Calm Pete’s name lives up to his character. Fearless through confidence, not compromise, he is rarely a victim of circumstance. In music anyway, that means he does shit on purpose and he does it his way.

• One of the 3 members of the critically acclaimed group Babbletron.

• Born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Queens.

• Attended the esteemed Cooper Union and received his BFA in fine art.

• Hard working, Pete is productive and prolific, impending musical projects include The Defenders and a follow up Babbletron EP.

• His musical inspirations start and end at Queens rap. Queens rap rules. Golden age hip hop. soul, motown, jazz and all the usual rap producer stuff all the way to classical pianists like Vladamir Horowitz all in between.

• The album is also Pete's production debut, so peep the beats. There's also fresh production from fellow Defenders Doc Strange, Ed Live, as well as Babbletron's ground breaking DJ Pre.

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Single: Black Friday