Since the1991 EP debut All Souled Out dropped, legendary artist Pete Rock established himself as one of Hip hop’s most formidable producers. Created during his tenure as one half of the duo Pete Rock and CL Smooth, the music is widely held as classic, garnering him a reputation as one of the genre’s most distinguished musical minds. Rock’s solo career has been memorable, though not quite as stellar, featuring three official releases with varying degrees of excellence. Boasting a professional career that spans 17 years, the self proclaimed “poster boy of the MPC” strikes again with his 2008 release, NY’s Finest.

Following the lead of its predecessors, Soul Survivor I and II, NY’s Finest features a slew of emcee guest appearances combined with beats, production and lyrics from Rock himself. The album carries a theme of a NYC mixtape turned LP. For better or worse, each track sounds like a “single” as opposed to songs on one cohesive album. “The PJ’s” was first featured on a compilation effort titled Natural Selection back in 2006. In addition, whenever you have Papoose, you are officially making a mixtape.

Primarily, the songs present satisfactory emcee braggadocio over beats that range from above average to excellent in quality. Its opener showcases Jim Jones and Max B over a spine-tingling melody. With horns blaring, “We Roll” bangs like a smooth, fly-dude ’08 Hip hop anthem. Songs such as “914” (featuring the Lox’s Styles P and Sheek) and “Best Believe” (featuring Redman) are good, but not great, attempts from all involved, while solo efforts like “Till I Retire” and “Don’t Be Mad” leave the listener wishing that Pete would remain behind the boards and out of the booth. The LP’s shining moment is achieved on “The PJ’s”, featuring Raekwon the Chef and Masta Killa. This song combines a signature seductively smooth Pete Rock production with classic Wu-tang lyrical dexterity. Sadly, it is the only track featuring both lyrical and musical excellence.

Still, NY’s Finest is a quality product. No, the music neither pushes the envelope nor advances the genre by any means. Conversely, and to its credit, the album hints at hop nostalgia, displaying songs created from the genre’s most prominent instrument, the MPC, by one of its most established musicians. More notably, the charm of NY’s Finest is found in witnessing a hop product that is NYC in creation, sound, and reason. NY’s Finest is a mixtape, and the mixtape itself was New York born. The songs, although not the classics of Hip hop past, merge NY style emcees with one of NY’s greatest producers for the purpose of sounding NY. Long gone are the days when a product of this quality could boast those properties. Musically speaking, “They don’t make ’em like this anymore” and few have ever done it better than Pete Rock.