Perquisite

BIOGRAPHY

Composer/producer Perquisite - real name Pieter Perquin - was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1982. Having played the cello since his early youth, he has always been involved with and inspired by all kinds of music, ranging from classical music and sixties to hip-hop and jazz. He started creating beats at age fourteen and in 2001, he founded record label Unexpected Records to release his first EP Outta Nowhere. This collection of jazzed out instrumental hip-hop tracks featuring saxophonist Benjamin Herman became a big hit in Japan.

After releasing two more EPs, Perquisite started working with rapper/vocalist Pete Philly in 2004, and formed the hip-hop duo Pete Philly & Perquisite. Besides composing and producing their music, Perquisite also handled the duo’s management. With their refreshing mix of hip-hop, soul and jazz, they gained major success and started touring worldwide with their live band. Two critically acclaimed studio albums were released: Mindstate (2005) and Mystery Repeats (2007), and they won several awards including the Amsterdam Award of Art, alongside nominations for the 3FM Awards, Edison Pop Awards and MTV European Music Awards.

After Pete & Perq parted ways in 2009, Perquisite started working on the album Across (2010), a collaboration with twelve different vocalists including Torre Florim (De Staat) and Cato van Dijck (My Baby). His next project was a partnership with singer Kris Berry on their 2013 album Lovestruck Puzzles. The album by Kris Berry & Perquisite was highly praised by the press, and the single Let Go became 3FM Megahit.

In 2015, Perquisite met Surinamese-Dutch singer-songwriter Jeangu Macrooy during an audition at the conservatory, after which they decided to collaborate. Perquisite produced and arranged Jeangu’s debut-EP Brave Enough (2016), which was nominated for an Edison Pop Award. The collaboration continued for his debut album High On You (2017), for which Perquisite also took on the role of co-writer. High On You met with critical acclaim and was nominated for an Edison Pop Award in the category Best Album. They collaborated again on Jeangu’s second album, Horizon (2019). The album was presented at the sold-out grand hall of Amsterdam pop temple Paradiso and was followed by club tours in the Netherlands and Germany.

In early 2020, it was announced that Jeangu Macrooy would represent the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest with his song Grow, which was produced by Perquisite. Due to the pandemic the event was cancelled, but Jeangu would nevertheless represent the Netherlands at Eurovision 2021. His new song Birth Of A New Age was written and produced by Jeangu Macrooy and Perquisite and was performed in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Ahoy, Rotterdam.

In 2022 Perquisite started a collaboration with upcoming Alternative R&B singer and songwriter Swan. Her debut album Underneath My Façade, which was produced by Swan and Perquisite, was presented in The Melkweg on March 8th 2025. A succesfull combined single with GINGE, which was co-written and produced by Perquisite, was released in April 2025.

At the beginning of 2023, Pete & Perq decided to collaborate again. This resulted in a major reunion concert at AFAS Live in Amsterdam on November 17, 2023, of which Dutch magazine OOR proclaimed that the duo was ‘back on top’, and in their third studio album Eon, released on May 3, 2024. After a successful European tour that year, in which Pete & Perq performed in London, Berlin and Paris, amongst other cities, the duo announced a new tour for 2025: the Time Flies Theater Tour. During this tour, Pete Philly & Perquisite performed in eleven Dutch theaters from April to June.

Since 2009, Perquisite has also been active as a film composer. For his first endeavor, the music for the film Carmen of the North (Jelle Nesna, 2009) he won a Gouden Kalf (Dutch Oscar). More recent work includes the music for the feature films Open Seas (2018) by Michiel van Erp, Sonne (2020) by Jelle Nesna and Zina (2021/2022) by Michaël Middelkoop. For the music of Open Seas, he was nominated for a second Gouden Kalf at the 2019 Dutch Film Festival.

In 2015, Perquisite and a group of like-minded songwriters founded BAM!, the Dutch Songwriters Society, of which he was chairman until 2020. By now, BAM! Popauteurs has more than 500 members and is the biggest songwriter society in the Netherlands.

Music composed and/or produced by Perquisite has gained more than 95 million streams on Spotify.

AWARDS

• Nominated for the Gouden Kalf at the Dutch Film Festival for Niemand in de Stad (2019)
• Wins the Duiveltje Award for best Dutch producer (2009)
• Wins the Gouden Kalf at the Dutch Film Festival for best film music for Carmen van het Noorden (2009)
• Pete Philly & Perquisite win the Amsterdamprijs voor de Kunst (2008)
• Pete Philly & Perquisite win the Silver Harp (Zilveren Harp) (2006)
• Pete Philly & Perquisite win the Kink FM Live XS Award: Best New Live Act (2006)
• Pete Philly & Perquisite win the Gouden Greep for Most Original Collaboration (2006)

PRESS QUOTES SELECTION

“BURSTING BACK ONTO THE SCENE WITH A RENEWED SENSE OF PURPOSE AND PASSION, THE AMSTERDAM-BASED PAIR DELIVERS A SOULFUL AND ECLECTIC COLLECTION OF TRACKS THAT EFFORTLESSLY BLEND HIP-HOP, SOUL, FUNK, JAZZ, AND ELECTRONIC INFLUENCES.” - AMPLIFY THE NOISE, UK - APRIL 2024 (ON: PETE PHILLY & PERQUISITE - EON)

“RELAXED, PLAYFUL AND DAMN MUSICAL. (…) ‘EON’ IS PROBABLY THE BEST POSSIBLE RESULT THAT COULD COME FROM THE REUNION.’ - LAUT.DE, DE - MAY 2024 ‘PETE PHILLY & PERQUISITE SIMPLY PICK UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF, AND THEY STILL HAVE THAT SPARKLING UNIQUE SOUND. (…) ‘EON’ IS A VERY FINE ADDENDUM FROM A DUO THAT CANNOT BE COMPARED TO ANYTHING ELSE.” - DE GROENE AMSTERDAMMER, NL - MAY 2024 (ON: PETE PHILLY & PERQUISITE - EON)

“HIGH ON YOU’ MIGHT BE THE BEST DUTCH DEBUT RECORD OF 2017.” - STEFAN RAATGEVER, ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD - APRIL 2017, 4 OUT OF 5 (ON: JEANGU MACROOY - HIGH ON YOU)

“THE COMBINED EFFORT ‘LOVESTRUCK PUZZLES’ OFFERS THE IDEAL DREAM MUSIC, SMOOTHLY BOUNCING LIKE A TRAMPOLINE, CARRYING THOUGHTS TO DIFFERENT PLACES.” - NRC HANDELSBLAD, NL - SEPTEMBER 2013, 4 OUT OF 5 (ON: KRIS BERRY & PERQUISITE - LOVESTRUCK PUZZLES)

“…IMPRESSIVE DEBUT ALBUM FROM SOMEONE WE’RE GONNA HAVE A LOT OF JOY FROM IN THE NEAR FUTURE.” - JAZZ MAGAZINE, NL - OCTOBER 2010, 5 OUT OF 5 (ON: PERQUISITE - ACROSS)

“EVEN RICHER IN SOUND AND MORE DIVERSE THAN THEIR DEBUT ALBUM” - VOLKSKRANT, NL - SEPTEMBER 2007, 4 OUT OF 5 (ON: PETE PHILLY & PERQUISITE - MYSTERY REPEATS)

“A FANTASTIC, HARMONIOUSLY RICH ALBUM” - ROLLING STONE, DE - FEBRUARY 2008 (ON: PETE PHILLY & PERQUISITE - MYSTERY REPEATS)

“GENIUS!” - HET PAROOL, NL - APRIL 2005, 5 OUT OF 5 (ON: PETE PHILLY & PERQUISITE - MINDSTATE)

“AS MUCH 21st CENTURY SOUL AS HIP HOP GENIUS. (..) ONE OF THE MOST PROFOUND HIP HOP ALBUMS OF THIS YEAR.” - NOTION MAGAZINE, UK - APRIL 2005 (ON: PETE PHILLY & PERQUISITE - MINDSTATE)

Website: perquisite.nl

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