Pete Philly & Perquisite

After meeting through a mutual friend, vocalist/songwriter Pete Philly (born in Aruba, 1980) and composer/producer Perquisite (born in Amsterdam, 1982) decided to join forces to form the hip-hop duo Pete Philly & Perquisite in 2003. The first fruit of this soulful collaboration was the Mindstate EP, released by Unexpected Records in January 2004. The EP was very positively received by the international press and was featured on BBC1. Pete & Perq continued their collaboration, and in March 2005 they released their 17-track debut concept album Mindstate, which was physically released by Epitaph Europe in all of Europe, by ANTI in the United States and by P-Vine Records in Japan. Notion Magazine (UK) proclaimed the music on Mindstate to be “as much 21st-century soul as hip-hop genius”.

Pete & Perq started playing with their 5-piece live formation and received several awards - including the Zilveren Harp - and were nominated for the 3FM Awards and the MTV European Music Awards. After extensive tours in Europe and shows in South Africa and the United States, Pete & Perq finished their Mindstate tour in September 2006 in a sold-out Melkweg in their hometown of Amsterdam. Then the duo went back to the studio to work together on their second album. During this non-touring period, Remindstate was released, the wholly remixed version of the Mindstate album.

In September 2007, Pete Philly & Perquisite’s sophomore album Mystery Repeats was released in the Netherlands through Unexpected / ANTI. A Belgian, European and Japanese release followed shortly thereafter. The album topped the Dutch charts in the week of its release and its first single ‘Time Flies’ received a lot of airplay. Major Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad wrote that “Mystery Repeats sometimes almost explodes with creative energy” alongside de Volkskrant, which described the album as being “even richer in sound and more diverse than their debut album.”

Pete & Perq kicked off their Mystery Repeats tour in a sold-out Melkweg, followed by shows all over Europe. In March of 2008, they toured in Japan and in April of that same year they toured together with Leeroy from Saian Supa Crew in Germany. In the summer of 2008, they played at well-known festivals including Sziget (HU), Nuke (AT), Exit (RS), Lowlands (NL), HipHop Open (DE), North Sea Jazz (NL), Gurten (CH) and Summerjam (DE). Upon their return to Amsterdam they received the prestigious Amsterdam Award of Art, the most important art award of the city, presented by Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen. At this time their third single ‘Mystery Repeats’ entered the Dutch Top 40 and became their most successful single so far. Shows in the Caribbean, the USA and South Africa followed.

After this extensive touring period Pete and Perq decided it was time to focus on other projects besides Pete Philly & Perquisite. They embarked on a final tour, which they called ‘The Final Celebration Tour’, to celebrate their music one last time in theaters all over the Netherlands. They played their final show in a sold-out Melkweg, in Amsterdam on October 29 2009, which Dutch Magazine OOR called a ‘glorious goodbye celebration’. Over the next 14 years, both Pete and Perq focused on their solo careers. Pete Philly released two solo albums, an EP and several singles, including ‘Favorite Song’, and produced music for commercials. Perquisite composed around a dozen film scores including Carmen of the North and Niemand in de Stad and collaborated with Kris Berry, Jeangu Macrooy and several other artists on new songs and albums.

In the beginning of 2023, Perq received a call from Pete, who had been reflecting on the past and realized how much he cherished their collaboration. Perquisite also got excited to work together again, and they swiftly made plans to return to the stage and the studio. Just like old times, they crafted one song after another and realized that the Pete & Perq chapter was far from over. Pete Philly & Perquisite gave a grand reunion concert at AFAS Live in Amsterdam on November 17 2023, of which OOR Magazine said that they were ‘back at the top’. Furthermore, they announced their official third studio album to be released in May of 2024. Their first new single ‘Hot Sauce’, which was released in September 2023, was very well received and became TopSong on Radio 2, the Netherlands’ biggest radio station. Their second single ‘Mayhem’, a captivating collaboration with Naaz, was released in January of this year and was played live on the major Dutch TV show Sophie & Jeroen. This January, the duo also announced a European album release tour, which will take place in May of 2024 and which will include five Dutch cities as well as Berlin (DE), Hamburg (DE), Antwerp (BE), Paris (FR) and London (UK).

PETE PHILLY & PERQUISITE LIVE FORMATION

• Pete Philly: lead vocals
  
• Perquisite: beats / cello / backings
  
• Noah Bouwman: drums
  
• Kasper Kalf: bass
  
• Marnix Dorrestein: electric guitar / charango / backings
  
• Sander de Bie: keys
  
• Floris van der Vlugt: saxophones / flute / percussion / backings
  
  
• Rory van der Oest: F.O.H. engineer
  
• Tim van der Does: monitor engineer / tourmanager
  
• Wonne Back: light technician
  
• Sjon Wevels: backliner
  
  

ON MYSTERY REPEATS (2ND ALBUM):

“MYSTERY REPEATS HAS BECOME A JEWEL IN ALL RESPECTS” NIEUWE REVU, NL - SEPTEMBER 2007 (5 OUT OF 5)

“THIS IS THE CREAM OF THE CROP OF DUTCH HIP-HOP” - OOR, NL - OCTOBER 2007

“SOMETIMES PETE PHILLY & PERQSUISITE’S SECOND ALBUM ALMOST EXPLODES WITH CREATIVE ENERGY” - NRC-HANDELSBLAD, NL - SEPTEMBER 2007 (4 OUT OF 5)

“MYSTERY REPEATS IS EVEN RICHER IN SOUND AND MORE DIVERSE THAN THEIR DEBUT ALBUM” - VOLKSKRANT, NL - SEPTEMBER 2007 (4 OUT OF 5)

“MYSTERY REPEATS IS THE PRODUCT OF TWO VERY TALENTED MUSICIANS; DUTCH HIP-HOP NEVER SOUNDED THIS RELAXED, HARMONIOUSLY RICH AND MUSICALLY INSPIRED” - ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD, NL - SEPTEMBER 2007 (4 OUT OF 5)

ON MINDSTATE (DEBUT ALBUM):

“AS MUCH 21st CENTURY SOUL AS HIP-HOP GENIUS. (..) ONE OF THE MOST PROFOUND HIP-HOP ALBUMS OF THIS YEAR.” - NOTION MAGAZINE, UK - APRIL 2005

“(THEY) SUCCEED WHERE SO MANY DISSIDENT B-BOYS HAVE FAILED. (..) HIP-HOP LOOKS GOOD IN ORANGE.” - Q MAGAZINE, UK - MAY 2005

“HOLLAND’S OWN FREEFORM B-BOY WONDERS. (…) MORE COLOURFUL UPON EACH LISTEN.” - DJ MAGAZINE, UK - APRIL 2005

“THE ALBUM MINDSTATE (…) IS A 17-TRACK STRONG MANIFEST OF GOOD MUSIC” - JUICE MAGAZINE, GER - APRIL 2005

“BRILLIANT.” - HET PAROOL, NL - APRIL 2005 (5 OUT OF 5)

“A MUST-HAVE CD TO SEE YOU THROUGH SPRINGTIME AND BEYOND.” - THE SUN, UK - APRIL 2005 (4 OUT OF 5)

“MUSICALLY THESE GUYS ARE LIGHT-YEARS AHEAD OF THE GAME.” - TALIB KWELI, US - JANUARY 2005

ON LIVE-SHOWS:

“PETE PHILLY & PERQUISITE ARE BACK ON THE TOP WITH THEIR REUNION SHOW AT AFAS LIVE. (…) THE RETURN OF TWO DUTCH HIPHOP GREATS IS A FACT AND, ESPECIALLY WITH A NEW ALBUM ON THE WAY, IT LEAVES US WANTING MORE.” - OOR, NL - NOVEMBER 2023

“PP&P IMPRESSED THE MOST. THEY BRING HIP-HOP TO A HIGHER LEVER BY MIXING IT WITH JAZZ AND EVEN CLASSICAL MUSIC IN AN ENERGETIC, POWERFUL, AND STYLISH SHOW.” - NRC HANDELSBLAD, NL - JANUARY 2008

“PETE PHILLY IS UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE MOST ORIGINAL, INSIGHTFUL AND INTELLIGENT EMCEES IN THE BUSINESS TODAY, AND HIS CONFIDENCE IN THAT SKILL MAKES HIS LIVE PERFORMANCE ABSOLUTELY BLOW UP.” - BLUNT MAGAZINE, SOUTH AFRICA - MAY 2005 “WITH ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTATIONS COMBINED WITH A JAZZY GROOVE, THEY PROVE THAT DUTCH HIP-HOP, UNLIKE ITS AMERICAN COUNTERPART, IS STILL DEVELOPING.” - VOLKSKRANT, NL - JANUARY 2008

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS:

2009:
- Nominated for an Edison Award: Best Song (‘Mystery Repeats’)
- Nominated for 3FM Awards 2009: Best Artist Alternative
- Perquisite wins ‘Duiveltje’ for best producer of the Netherlands
- Perquisite wins ‘Gouden Kalf’ for best film music for his score for Carmen van het Noorden
- Nominated for two State Awards: Best Live Act & Best Producer (Perquisite)

2008:
- Nominated for Gouden Notenkraker: Music
- Nominated for 3FM Awards: Best Artist Alternative
- Winner of the Amsterdamprijs voor de Kunst
- Nominated for MTV Europe Music Award
- Nominated for three State Awards: Best Group, Best Live Act & Best Single

2007:
- Nominated for 2 Urban Awards: Best Album & Best Live Act
- Nominated for 6 Gouden Grepen: Best Group, Best Album, Best Live Act, Best Song, Best Video, Best Producer (Perquisite)

2006:
- Winner Silver Harp (Zilveren Harp)
- Winner Kink FM Live XS Award: Best New Live Act
- Nominated for 2 Edison Awards: Best Group and Best New Group
- Nominated for 3 3FM Awards: Best Artist R&B & Hip-Hop, Best Album and Best New Artist
- Nominated for TMF Awards: Best New Artist
- Nominated for MTV European Music Award: Best Dutch/Belgian Act (Other nominees: Kane, Deus, Anouk, Gabriel Rios)
- Nominated for Urban Awards: Best Live Act
- Nominated for Party Peeps 2000 Awards: Best Live Act
- Winner of the Gouden Greep 2006 for Most Original Collaboration and nominated for Best Group and Best Live Act

2005:
- Mindstate ‘Disque Pop de la Semaine’ (VPRO radio)
- Winner Essent Award
- Nominated for Best Album of the year by 3voor12
- Nominated for 2 Dutch Mobo Awards: Best Live Act and Best Album

Website: petephillyandperquisite.com

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