Bonafide premieres the video for Come Together, an energetic comeback offering from the Dutch rapper and singer Pete Philly.
After a seven year hiatus spent grappling with Lyme Disease and its ensuing complications, Pete Philly clearly has something to say. He blends elements of Pharell (circa 2015) style production with his own signature neo soul flow. The overall motive; pushing the importance of reconciling the different sides of oneself. We see it play out in the video as Pete the artist, Pete the performer, Pete the invalid and Pete the raconteur all inhabit the same pulpit:
Back in 2007 a track called Time Flies hit the radiowaves and quickly became a global hit for Dutch rapper and producer duo Pete Philly & Perquisite. The song got heavy radio play in the UK, passing out of circulation in due course. Those who delved a bit further found that their back catalogue was full of gems. Often interpolating aspects of jazz and classical songs rather than directly sampling them, Philly’s melodic style (ed. I keep thinking he has a flow reminiscent of Common’s but that could just be his taste in hats – to be honest it’s closer to The Nextmen) smoothly found comfort in the dusty boom bap production. His lyrics felt universal and personal all at once.
They were making music that was simply relatable in a way that few quasi hip-hop artists manage to achieve. Most impressively, they had managed to hit a sweet spot between pop appeal and underground respect. Back then, Talib Kweli asserted that they were “light years ahead of the game”.
It’s likely that if life had not gotten in the way, Pete Philly and Perquisite would be held in the same esteem as the likes of Blu & Exile.
In 2011 Pete Philly gave us a solo project, entitled Open Loops. Followed quickly by his debut solo offering One. Both of these releases displayed some serious talent, Philly as a singer, a rapper and a producer. Listening back to them in 2018 proves that Philly had a true ear for the direction in which music would be moving – whether this was pure luck or not remains to be seen. Regardless, neither release gained much mainstream love and due to Pete’s health struggles, were not supported by a tour, media coverage and all the rest of it.
The motive behind Come Together was clearly born as a personal narrative for Pete Philly, but has ended up as something universally understandable and catchy to boot. This is one for both the pop charts and for the purist heads. Much like Time Flies, we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still being played across the world ten years from now. Illness has kept Pete away from us for a while, but if Come Together is a marker of his refreshed approach to making music, we’re damn happy to have him back.
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