Pete Philly & Perquisite
Mystery Repeats
50 and Kanye both lost. The best album released this week is from nearer Breukelen, not Brooklyn. Pete Philly and Perquisite might not shift the same numbers as their more illustrious competitors, but they’ve made an album that pushes more boundaries than either of them.
It doesn’t really feel like Pete and Perq have really been away since their epic show at the Melkweg last year, thanks to Remindstate and Pete Philly’s various collaborations. Remindstate in particular hinted at the broadening of the sound that’s evident throughout Mystery Repeats. You’ve still got the jazzy, string laden foundation which was so strong in Mindstate, but the flamenco influence introduced in DJ PCM’s remix of Cheeky crops up on Traveller and Balance. You can see the influence of the live show on the record as well, as Remco, the saxophonist who plays with them live, is a regular and significant contributor to the album. If anything, the sound is stripped back than before, as Perquisite allows every instrument, especially space to breathe and work its magic.
Mystery Repeats finds our heroes in a largely reflective and melancholy mood. The first (stand out) track, Clap Kick Flow, where Pete Philly makes all the sounds himself, fills us in on what’s changed in the last year (‘They always told me Yo, this rap thing will pass, now it brings me cash and people wanting my autograph’) but it’s the following Womb to Tomb, which is more representative of the general mood of the album. Here we learn how Pete ended up in the Netherlands, he fell in love with hip hop and eventually became Pete Philly the MC. The tracks ends with his vision of the future (Y’all is in it, having a ball as the DJ’s spin it). This position of being caught between looking back and looking forward is one of the main themes of the album, as Philly contemplates his position in the world – where he’s come from and where he’s going. It’s most evident in the poignant album closer Time Flies, where Philly sees his youth and friends slipping away as he moves further and faster toward his future. Although it ends with his hope that ‘I won’t ever let my future and past get separated’, the ambiguous outro, which is itself an echo of the intro, suggests that this might be a forlorn hope. It’s not surprising then that the song which gives the album its title continues this theme. Clocking in at just under three minutes, it’s one of the best tracks Pete and Perq have ever done. Led by strings and a killer bass line, it reveals more of Pete Philly’s vulnerable side, as he ponders what if he hadn’t taken the steps that led him to be known ‘as the fellow rolling with the dude with a cello.’ Quite simply, it’s a beautiful track. It’s also notable for the strength that the song gains through Philly’s singing. Much like most of the progress shown on Mystery Repeats, it’s always been present in Pete and Perq’s music, but it comes to deeper fruition on this album.
But it’s not all doom and gloom on Mystery Repeats. You’ve got Q&A, which bounces along with an irresistible guitar line and straight up battle lyrics (‘Kick ass like jujutsu, so who the ish are you?’) and Pete Philly’s familiar confident, playful stage persona is on display on Clap Kick Flow (‘I’m like LL Cool J in the 80s, respect from the hip hop fans and love from the ladies’). Then there’s Hectic, a 90 second blast about the rush of life on the road, which is over far too soon, and High Tide, which degenerates into an old school drum and bass romp. But while these last two might be more upbeat musically, lyrically they return to the reflective nature of the majority of the album, with Philly even wondering on Hectic whether he should just give it all up. But his sense of his responsibility to the past and what he believes he is destined to achieve, the themes that he continually explores over the album, inspire him to keep going. On Q&A he might say that ‘My lyrics ain’t got to be deep, they got to be real, represent something that I feel’, but this is his strength as a lyricist, being able to write lyrics and express feeling that we can all relate to.
Pete Philly and Perquisite have always made music that affects people, whether it’s simply moving your feet or connecting on a deeper lyrical level. Mystery Repeats is the sound of them maturing and growing – as men and musicians.