Soul Survivor II

Soul Survivor II
Studio album by Pete Rock
Released	May 11, 2004 (2004-05-11)
Recorded	2003–2004
Studio	A Touch Of Jazz Studios Manhattan Center Studios Jammin' Downtown Greenhouse Music Studios (Toronto) TMF Studios Chopp Shopp Studios The Sandbox Studios (New York, NY) Home Cookin' Studios The Headquarters (New Jersey) Wu-Tang Productions RJ Rice Studios Pay-J Studios
Genre	Hip-hop
Length	1:00:01
Label	Rapster BBE
Producer	Pete Rock
Pete Rock chronology
Lost & Found: Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics (2003) Soul Survivor II (2004) Surviving Elements: From Soul Survivor II Sessions (2005)
Singles from Soul Survivor II
"Warzone" Released: 2004 "It's A Love Thing" Released: 2004

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 ("Niggas Know") 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

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
HipHopDX	4/5 [2]
Now	[3]
RapReviews	8.5/10 [4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Spin	B+ [6]
Stylus	C+ [7]
Vibe	3.5/5 [8]

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". ^[4] 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". ^[9]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Truth Is" (featuring Black Ice)	Lamar Manson	Pete Rock	3:06
2.	"We Good" (featuring Kardinal Offishall)	Jason Harrow	Pete Rock	4:14
3.	"Just Do It" (featuring Pharoahe Monch)	Troy Jamerson	Pete Rock Charles "Stitch" Wilson III (add.)	4:32
4.	"Give It to Ya" (featuring Little Brother)	Phonte Coleman Thomas Jones	Pete Rock	4:48
5.	"It's the Postaboy" (featuring Postaboy)	Sharard Dixon	Pete Rock	4:16
6.	"It's a Love Thing" (featuring C.L. Smooth and Denosh)	Corey Penn Denosh Bennett	Pete Rock Jamie Staub (co.)	4:50
7.	"One MC, One DJ" (featuring Skillz)	Donnie Lewis	Pete Rock	3:51
8.	"Beef" (featuring Krumbsnatcha)	Demetrius Gibbs	Pete Rock Jamie Staub (co.)	4:23
9.	"No Tears" (featuring Leela James)	Alechia Campbell	Pete Rock	3:44
10.	"Head Rush" (featuring RZA and GZA)	Robert Diggs Gary Grice	Pete Rock Jamie Staub (co.)	2:07
11.	"Fly Till I Die" (featuring Talib Kweli and C.L. Smooth)	Talib Greene Penn	Pete Rock Jamie Staub (co.)	4:16
12.	"Warzone" (featuring dead prez)	Clayton Gavin Lavonne Alford	Pete Rock Jamie Staub (co.)	3:57
13.	"Da Villa" (featuring Slum Village)	Jason Powers R.L. Altman	Pete Rock	5:06
14.	"Niggaz Know" (featuring J Dilla)	James Yancey	Pete Rock	2:18
15.	"Appreciate" (featuring C.L. Smooth)	Penn	Pete Rock Jamie Staub (co.)	4:33
Total length:				1:00:01

Personnel

• Peter "Pete Rock" Phillips – vocals, producer, mixing, executive producer
• Lamar "Black Ice" Manson – vocals (track 1)
• Jason "Kardinal Offishall" Harrow – vocals (track 2)
• Troy "Pharoahe Monch" Jamerson – vocals (track 3)
• Phonte Coleman – vocals (track 4)
• Thomas "Big Pooh" Jones – vocals (track 4)
• Sharard "Postaboy" Dixon – vocals (track 5)
• Corey "CL Smooth" Penn – vocals (tracks: 6, 11, 15)
• Denosh Bennett – vocals (track 6)
• Donnie "Mad Skillz" Lewis – vocals (track 7)
• Demetrius "Krumbsnatcha" Gibbs – vocals (track 8)
• Alechia "Leela James" Campbell – vocals (track 9)
• Robert "RZA" Diggs – vocals & recording (track 10)
• Gary "GZA" Grice – vocals (track 10)
• Talib Kweli Greene – vocals (track 11)
• Clayton "stic.man" Gavin – vocals (track 12)
• Lavonne "M-1" Alford – vocals (track 12)
• Jason "eLZhi" Powers – vocals (track 13)
• R.L. "T3" Altman III – vocals (track 13)
• James "Jay Dee" Yancey – vocals & recording (track 14)
• Jamie Staub – co-producer (tracks: 6, 8, 10-12, 15), recording (tracks: 1, 4, 6-8, 10-12, 14, 15), mixing
• Charles "Stitch" Wilson III – additional producer (track 3)
• Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes – recording (track 1)
• David "Gordo" Strickland – recording (track 2)
• Rod Hui – recording (track 2)
• Daniel Boom – recording (tracks: 3, 9, 15)
• Patrick "9th Wonder" Douthit – recording (track 4)
• Mischa "Big Dho" Burgess – recording (track 4)
• Kamal Blake – recording (track 5)
• Yutaka Kawana – recording (track 5, 6, 12, 15)
• The Elements – recording (track 6)
• Andre Dandridge – recording (track 7)
• Toshi Yoshioka – recording (track 8)
• "Commissioner" Gordon Williams – recording (track 9)
• Adam Kudzin – recording (tracks: 13, 14)
• Ralph J. "Young RJ" Rice Jr. – recording (track 13)
• Eddie Bezalel – co-executive producer, A&R
• Peter Adarkwah – co-executive producer
• Thomas McCallion – art direction, design
• Massimo Gammacurta – photography
• Steve Carty – photography

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP) [10]	124
UK R&B Albums (OCC) [11]	32
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [12]	19
US Billboard 200 [13]	155
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums ( Billboard ) [14]	27
US Independent Albums ( Billboard ) [15]	9

References

1. Bush, John. "Soul Survivor II - Pete Rock | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved January 10, 2026.
2. Ryce, Jeff (May 16, 2004). "Pete Rock - Soul Survivor 2". HipHopDX . Retrieved January 10, 2026.
3. Perlich, Tim (May 6, 2004). "Pete Rock - NOW Magazine". NOW Toronto . Archived from the original on February 20, 2005. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
4. Ketchum III, William (May 11, 2004). "Pete Rock :: Soul Survivor II – RapReviews". www.rapreviews.com. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
5. Jenkins, Sacha (July 8, 2004). "Review | New CDs". Rolling Stone . No. 952/953. p. 122. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
6. Day, Adrienne; Ganz, Caryn; Hermes, Will; Richardson, Sean; Ryan, Chris (June 2004). "Breakdown". Spin . Vol. 20, no. 6. SPIN Media LLC. p. 108. ISSN   0886-3032 . Retrieved January 10, 2026– via Google Books.
7. Drake, David (2004). "Pete Rock - Soul Survivor II - Review - Stylus Magazine". Stylus Magazine . Retrieved February 16, 2022.
8. Blanco, Alvin "Aqua Boogie" (May 2004). "Revolutions". VIBE . Vibe Media Group.
9. Rabin, Nathan (May 10, 2004). "Pete Rock: Soul Survivor II". The A.V. Club . Retrieved January 10, 2026.
10. "Lescharts.com – Pete Rock – Soul Survivor II". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
11. "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
12. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
13. "Pete Rock Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard . Retrieved January 10, 2026.
14. "Pete Rock Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard . Retrieved January 10, 2026.
15. "Pete Rock Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard . Retrieved January 10, 2026.

External links

• Soul Survivor II at Discogs (list of releases)