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Peter Phillips, who was raised in Mount Vernon, turns 44 on Saturday.
Phillips, better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is a record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth. He was born June 21, 1970, in The Bronx.
After the duo went their separate ways, Rock continued with a solo career that has garnered him worldwide respect, though little in the way of mainstream success. Along with groups such as Stetsasonic, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and Gang Starr, Rock played a major role in the merging of elements from jazz into hip-hop music (also known as jazz rap). He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time and is often mentioned alongside DJ Premier, the RZA and J Dilla as one of the mainstays of 1990s East Coast hip-hop production.
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