Musician Pete Philly doesn't want you to know he's doing stand-up comedy
Pete Philly is one of the most famous MCs to ever come out of the Netherlands. But, he is so much more than an MC, and so much more than Dutch. The artist, who grew up in Aruba before moving to the Netherlands at a young age, recently reprised his role in the duo that rocketed him to hip-hop stardom in the early 2000s, Pete Philly and Perquisite.
The reunion follows his long hiatus from performing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and his struggle with a diagnosis of Lyme disease. Now that he is back on stage, Philly isn’t stopping at music. The performer has recently been trying his hand at stand-up comedy and he’s got big plans. He sat down with the Dam Yankee podcast, in partnership with NL Times, to discuss it all.
Dam Yankee: We’re glad to see you back on stage. Why were you gone for so long?
Pete Philly: I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease in my 30s. That's usually when you build your empire. Your 30s are when you build all these things. I was just in bed for most of it. During that time I hated everything about everything. I was so angry at what had happened to me. But now that I'm out of it, I'm deeply grateful for that experience.
Usually you have to be 60 or 70 years old to see that the world just goes right on without you. Getting that lesson at 30 has been really good for me. Before the diagnosis, I put a lot of stock into the idea of this thing that I was manifesting. This avatar that I'd created, this rock star that I was being at that time.
I had fame and fortune, but none of my relationships were healthy. It wasn't until I was forced to sort all of this stuff out that I am now a very clear, open, present channel to be utilized for things that are dope.
DY: You’ve opened for Kanye West and James Brown. Are there any artists that have left you starstruck?
PP: I don't have that with musicians. I have that with comedians. I didn't even tell you this, but I do stand-up comedy in Dutch. I've been doing that for like a year now and I kill. I hate to say it, but I'm really good at it.
It's great because it's the first time I've been communicating in the language that the people here speak, so it's a different experience. Because if I perform music here in English, even though people understand it, they may not get the nuances. They want to see themselves reflected.
Me being able to rap well in English out here is the equivalent of being very good at yodeling in Hungarian. Who are we doing this for? What are we doing? It should be for the local culture. That’s what people want to hear. They want to see themselves reflected.
DY: Are you going to do any stand-up during your tour with Perquisite?
PP: No, because I haven’t started to speak about the fact that I'm doing stand-up yet. I’m playing it close to the vest and I'm playing in really weird places. It's not announced and it's just me because it's mine still. You know, the minute it's published, it's no longer yours.
So I don't think people will see me do a stand-up special until at least a year from now, or I'll start dropping clips of what I'm doing now. But, it's all pretty much about being a dad and about family. It's about the uselessness of having a male appendage when you're in a marriage with a kid and all of that stuff. It's very universal.
Pete Philly suggested that his upcoming theater tour in the Netherlands with Perquisite may be the last one. Tickets can be purchased between 30 and 35 euros.
Later in the episode, he goes on to discuss fatherhood, plant medicines, and the definition of a “homie-moon.” Listen to this entire episode of Dam Yankee wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the full videos on YouTube.
