Soul Survivor II


Soul Survivor II is the third studio album by American rapper and hip-hop record producer Pete Rock. It was released on May 11, 2004 via Rapster/BBE Records. Production was entirely handled by Pete Rock himself with mixing and recording engineer Jamey Staub co-producing several of the album's tracks. It features guest appearances from his former partner CL Smooth, as well as dead prez, Denosh, GZA, Kardinal Offishall, Krumb Snatcha, Leela James, Little Brother, Pharoahe Monch, Postaboy, RZA, Skillz, Slum Village and Talib Kweli.
Pete, who dropped verses on the majority of the songs found on his solo debut Soul Survivor, performs only a single verse on this album but handles several choruses throughout. The album's front cover is a nod to the Miles Davis album Tutu, which features the jazz trumpeter in an identical, albeit black and white, portrait shot.
In the United States, the album peaked at number 155 on the Billboard 200, number 27 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 9 on the Independent Albums charts. It also made it to number 124 in France, and number 23 on the Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart and number 19 on the Official Independent Albums Chart in the UK.
The album spawned two singles: "Warzone" and "It's a Love Thing", both went charted on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart, reaching number 37 and number 43, respectively.

Critical reception

William Ketchum III of RapReviews praised the album, stating: "Rock lets us know that he hasn't lost a step as far as beats go, displaying an uncanny ability of picking the perfect artist for nearly each song on the disc". Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club wrote that Rock "ill-advisedly strays from his lush, mellow chill-out sound on a handful of tracks".

Personnel

  • Peter "Pete Rock" Phillips – vocals, producer, mixing, executive producer
  • Lamar "Black Ice" Manson – vocals
  • Jason "Kardinal Offishall" Harrow – vocals
  • Troy "Pharoahe Monch" Jamerson – vocals
  • Phonte Coleman – vocals
  • Thomas "Big Pooh" Jones – vocals
  • Sharard "Postaboy" Dixon – vocals
  • Corey "CL Smooth" Penn – vocals
  • Denosh Bennett – vocals
  • Donnie "Mad Skillz" Lewis – vocals
  • Demetrius "Krumbsnatcha" Gibbs – vocals
  • Alechia "Leela James" Campbell – vocals
  • Robert "RZA" Diggs – vocals & recording
  • Gary "GZA" Grice – vocals
  • Talib Kweli Greene – vocals
  • Clayton "stic.man" Gavin – vocals
  • Lavonne "M-1" Alford – vocals
  • Jason "eLZhi" Powers – vocals
  • R.L. "T3" Altman III – vocals
  • James "Jay Dee" Yancey – vocals & recording
  • Jamie Staub – co-producer, recording, mixing
  • Charles "Stitch" Wilson III – additional producer
  • Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes – recording
  • David "Gordo" Strickland – recording
  • Rod Hui – recording
  • Daniel Boom – recording
  • Patrick "9th Wonder" Douthit – recording
  • Mischa "Big Dho" Burgess – recording
  • Kamal Blake – recording
  • Yutaka Kawana – recording
  • The Elements – recording
  • Andre Dandridge – recording
  • Toshi Yoshioka – recording
  • "Commissioner" Gordon Williams – recording
  • Adam Kudzin – recording
  • Ralph J. "Young RJ" Rice Jr. – recording
  • Eddie Bezalel – co-executive producer, A&R
  • Peter Adarkwah – co-executive producer
  • Thomas McCallion – art direction, design
  • Massimo Gammacurta – photography
  • Steve Carty – photography