Across the world, a who’s who of hip-hop producers have been inspired by one of the greatest beat-makers to ever do it – Pete Rock. On online hip-hip forums , every time Pete Rock is listed in the production credits of an album, whatever song he is behind easily becomes the most anticipated track. Got the general scope of how important Pete Rock is? Good, now you have caught up with the many that were at the sold-out Pete Rock gig in Upstairs Beresford.

Not having been to this venue before, I was pretty excited when I entered the beautiful venue and shoved my way to the bar. Impeccable décor and an intimate stage made for the perfect place to see who one of my musical heroes - and the decent support DJ’s provided the cherry on top.

Nothing but quality hip-hop filled the venue, from EPMD to Slick Rick, and could not have set a more suitable mood for Pete Rock. It was quite obvious that the crowd was also very well versed in this style of music – otherwise they wouldn’t have even been at the gig. Those who would pay to see Pete Rock in action have a very specific taste for all things great in hip-hop so straight away I knew that I’d be amongst good, like-minded people, and that is something that always makes for a more enjoyable gig.

While Pete Rock doubles as a very talented emcee, no live rapping was to be heard during the DJ set which was a tad disappointing but as soon as the man himself stepped out onto the stage and gave us a flawless, well-mixed playlist to dance to, anything negative was immediately forgotten.

Rock is one of the producers responsible for all the much-loved jazz-infused hip-hop beats you’d hear from acts like A Tribe Called Quest and Gangstarr so it was a no-brainer that we’d get to hear a range of sampled classics to really remind us where hip-hop came from.

The iconic producer started off by playing us through some 80’s R&B like Stephanie Mills and Earth, Wind & Fire, whilst throwing in some James Brown and other jazzy funk classics, all which were given awe-inspiring smoothness by Rock’s world class mixing. More accessible classics like Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” and BeeGee’s “Stayin Alive” made surprise appearances but never interrupted the overall flow of the ridiculous amounts of rhythm on display.

After giving us an idea of the most fundamental samples in hip-hop, Rock gave us what we all came for by starting in the late 80’s and ending in the late 90’s with all the many hip-hop classics that were made in that period. Starting with Big Daddy Kane’s “Raw” and “Warm It Up, Kane,” Rock knew that we all came for the ‘golden age’ of hip-hop, and that’s exactly what he took us back to.

Many of Pete Rock’s official remixes were sprinkled throughout like EPMD’s “Rampage” and Public Enemy’s undeniable “Shut ‘Em Down” – making me one very happy punter.

A Tribe Called Quest and Gangstarr tributes then took up the majority of the set, with 7 of ATCQ’s greatest hits mixed perfectly into each other before a long Gangstarr medley preceded Pete Rock’s announcement of a new album coming soon – a collaborative project between Pete Rock and DJ Premier entitled Pete Rock VS Premier, definitely an LP to be excited about.

Rock then played some of his own material such as “Fakin Jax” and classics he made with CL Smooth like “Take You There” and of course the perfect “T.R.O.Y.” What was the most satisfying, however, was that Pete Rock played many underground and rare tracks which the crowd went absolutely insane for – and damn it feels good to see people up on it.

Ending well past midnight, Pete Rock allowed us to re-live the best years of hip-hop and reminded us that rap remains one of the most artful forms of music there is, from the Jazz, Funk and R&B samples upon which they are built to the soulful raps, hip-hop is a beautiful thing and Pete Rock will forever be one of the genres most celebrated geniuses.