Vocalist Pete Philly and producer/instrumentalist Perquisite met up for the first time in 2002 in Amsterdam, where both were living. Perquisite, who also ran the Dutch indie now jazz/hip-hop label Unexpected Records, liked what he heard in the Aruba-born singer and rapper, and by the next year the duo had issued its first EP, MindState. In 2005 it was followed by a full-length European release, including a guest appearance from Talib Kweli. In 2006, MindState came out in North America and Australia.

In januari 2007 they released 'Remindstate', a remix version of Mindstate. Artists like Laidback Luke, Seiji and C-mon & Kypski remixed tracks. In 2007 they also releases their 2nd official album called 'Mystery Repeats', which reached the 2nd place in the Dutch album charts, best score ever for a Dutch hip hop act.

Pete Philly & Perquisite bring HipHop with references at Jazz, broken beats, soul and even classic music. This dutch hiphop act performed on North Sea Jazz and Lowlands (dutch music Festival)and won the 'Zilveren Harp' in 2006.