PERQUISITE: A 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 Silver Harp and 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 big project was a partnership with singer Kris Berry on their 2013 album Lovestruck Puzzles. Kris Berry & Perquisite embarked on an extensive live tour with their band, and their single Let Go became Megahit on radio channel 3FM.
In 2015, Perquisite started collaborating with Surinam-born singer-songwriter Jeangu Macrooy. He 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, followed by successful 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.
Perquisite also works as a film composer. For his first endeavor, the music for the film Carmen of the North (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.
Since 2022 Perquisite also works with upcoming Alternative R&B singer and songwriter Swan. Her debut album Underneath My Façade is planned for release in 2025 and will be presented in The Melkweg on March 8th 2025.
In 2015 Perquisite established BAM!, the Dutch Songwriters Society, together with a group of new generation songwriters, and became the organization’s first chairman until 2020. By now BAM! Popauteurs has more than 500 members and is the biggest songwriter society in the Netherlands.
The music composed and/or produced by Perquisite has gained more than 90 million streams on Spotify.
For the biography as pdf-file in both English and Dutch, as well as a selection of press pictures, please download the press kit. For an overview of awards, please click here.
