Pete Rock: Petestrumentals : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Luckily for hip-hop connoisseurs, the true spirit of beat-making is still being preserved by one of the genre's most esteemed producers. Hailing from a strong West Indian background, dwelling in NYC and fortunate enough to possess a massive vinyl collection of jazz, folk, rock, reggae and soul records waiting to be sampled, Pete Rock can never be counted out of the musical rat race. On PeteStrumentals, Rock reveals his soulful self time and time again through twelve vocal-free tracks, while concealing the flesh of a new crew called the UN, by only allowing them on a pair of tracks, including the lead single, "Nothin' Lesser." While hardcore in their lyrical delivery, the UN is only the secondary focus of this disc -- which is, after all, part two of the Beat Generation series. The chopped up loops of "Play Dis only at Night" and "Walk on By" are extended into the sort of lengthy tracks only this 'chocolate boy wonder' can supply. He continues in that groove, using echo-laden dub techniques dug from one of his crates on horn-fading gems like "What you Waiting for," then flexes his low-end muscle on "The Boss." Finally, he rearranges his definition of jazz on "Pete's Jazz," yet another tidbit that will nourish your soul. (MARLON REGIS - May 1, 2001)