Pete Philly & Perquisite

After meeting through a mutual friend, vocalist/songwriter Pete Philly (born in Aruba, 1980) and
composer/producer Perquisite (born in Amsterdam, 1982) decided to join forces to form the hip-hop duo
Pete Philly & Perquisite in 2003. The first fruit of this soulful collaboration was the Mindstate EP, released
by Unexpected Records in January 2004. The EP was very positively received by the international press
and was featured on BBC1. Pete & Perq continued their collaboration, and in March 2005 they released
their 17-track debut concept album Mindstate, which was physically released by Epitaph Europe in all
of Europe, by ANTI in the United States and by P-Vine Records in Japan. Notion Magazine (UK)
proclaimed the music on Mindstate to be “as much 21st
-century soul as hip-hop genius”.
Pete & Perq started playing with their 5-piece live formation and received several awards - including the
Silver Harp - and were nominated for the 3FM Awards and the MTV European Music Awards. After
extensive tours in Europe and shows in South Africa and the United States, Pete & Perq finished their
Mindstate tour in September 2006 in a sold-out Melkweg in their hometown of Amsterdam. The duo
went back to the studio to work together on their second album. During this non-touring period,
Remindstate was released, the wholly remixed version of the Mindstate album.
In September 2007, Pete Philly & Perquisite’s sophomore album Mystery Repeats was released in the
Netherlands through Unexpected Records / ANTI. A Belgian, European and Japanese release followed
shortly thereafter. The album topped the Dutch charts in the week of its release and its first single ‘Time
Flies’ received a lot of airplay. Major Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad wrote that ‘Mystery Repeats
sometimes almost explodes with creative energy’ alongside de Volkskrant, which described the album
as being ‘even richer in sound and more diverse than their debut album.’
Pete & Perq kicked off their Mystery Repeats tour in a sold-out Melkweg, followed by shows in Europe,
Japan, and Germany. In the summer of 2008, they played at well-known festivals including Sziget (HU),
Nuke (AT), Exit (RS), Lowlands (NL), HipHop Open (DE), North Sea Jazz (NL), Gurten (CH) and
Summerjam (DE). Upon their return to Amsterdam they received the prestigious Amsterdam Award of
Art, and their single ‘Mystery Repeats’ entered the Dutch Top 40, after which shows followed in the
Carribean, the USA and South Africa.
After this extensive touring period Pete and Perq decided it was time to focus on other projects besides
Pete Philly & Perquisite. With the Final Celebration Tour, they toured various Dutch theaters, with their
final show being a sold-out performance at the Melkweg Rabozaal in Amsterdam on October 29, 2009.
Over the next fourteen years, both Pete and Perq focused on their solo careers. Pete Philly released
two solo albums, an EP and several singles and produced music for commercials. Perquisite also
released a solo album, composed around a dozen film scores including Carmen of the North and
Niemand in de Stad, and collaborated with Kris Berry, Jeangu Macrooy, Swan and several other artists
on new songs and albums.
In the beginning of 2023, Perq received a call from Pete, who had been reflecting on the past and
realized how much he cherished their collaboration. Perquisite got excited as well and together with
their booking agent Friendly Fire, they made plans to return to the stage. This resulted in a grand reunion
concert at AFAS Live in Amsterdam on November 17 2023, of which OOR Magazine said that they were
‘back at the top’. They also went into the studio to work on new music. Their official third studio album
'Eon' was released on May 3rd 2024 and received lots of critical acclaim in both The Netherlands and
abroad. Their first new single ‘Hot Sauce’, which was released in September 2023, became TopSong
on Radio 2, the Netherlands’ biggest radio station. Their second single ‘Mayhem’, a captivating
collaboration with Naaz, was released in January 2024, followed by ‘My Stereo’, accompanied by a
groundbreaking AI music video featuring all of their musical heroes.
After a successful European Album Release Tour in 2024, where Pete & Perq performed in cities like
London, Berlin, and Paris, the duo announced a new tour for 2025: the Time Flies Theater Tour. During
this tour, that’s taking place from April until June, Pete Philly & Perquisite will perform in eleven Dutch
theaters. They will also be performing with Jeangu Macrooy at the Hootananny in London on April 3rd,
2025, and at the Tonart Festival in Switzerland on April 26th.