《NY's Finest》，Pete Rock用这个标题表明了他的决心。这也是他10年以来的第一张个人“说唱”专辑，上一张2004年的《Soul Survivor II》Pete Rock做成了一张纯的“制作人专辑”，并没有在里面献声，由于一直以来对说唱的力不从心，Pete Rock这一次的重拾麦克风也让很多人生疑。 翻开这张专辑后，我们发现Pete Rock的MC功力进步了！（或者说现在的MC水平比从前差，参照系的改变导致Pete的实力相对上升？？？）这实在是一个意外之喜，为了突出自己的MC的角色，Pete Rock甚至把小部分制作“外包”给了别人，由DJ Green Latern打造的“Don't Be Mad”里，P.Rock就有不错的发挥。 更惊艳的一首在后半段的“Tha's What I Am Talking About”，简单的钢琴点缀、乾净的鼓点、Rell在背景的演唱，Pete Rock的flow也显得流畅了起来，至少听觉上这首可以打个好分数。最后一首“Comprehend”他在犹如Big L重生般生猛的Papoose面前也不落下风。在“The Best Secret”里他还拿Mims那句“This is why I'm hot”调侃了一记。 不过说到专辑的客串阵容还是让人稍许失望，Pete Rock在开场曲“We Roll”叫来了“自己很欣赏”的Jim Jones！想来所有人看到这个名字第一反应都是“aw....****”，于是这首歌里我们听到了Pete Rock和Jim Jones在互相比谁的flow更懒，但后面的一系列客串弥补了这个损失，除了前面提到的Papoose，Little Brother在一个稍显阴 暗的beat下也表现出色，同样让人开心的还有Lords of the Underground，这个已经被人遗忘的团还没有老，Redman更是在单曲“Best Believe”里惊艳了一把。但另一些老将如Raekwon、Royal Flush的表现就稍显遗憾了，温吞水一般的flow让人昏昏欲睡。 制作方面Pete还在尽情挥洒着他的小情调，顺滑souful的beat贯穿始终，一些精细的小处理让听者不住地称赞，最catchy的一处还在于“The Best Secret”里Pete Rock一边在过门处挂擦1993年的叫声“The Lords!”一边呢喃着“The Secret”，配以温暖的beat，简直迷人。 Pete Rock的这次回归不能算失败，甚至可以说小小超出人们的期望值，整张专辑里Pete完成了不错的制作，把握好了自己的说唱部分和客串艺人部分所占的比重，让人可以接受。在同一辈的制作人都在走下坡路的时代，“第一灵魂兄弟”还没有让人失望，我们完全可以翘首期待他带来的更多好音乐。 by Marisa Brown Pete Rock has been a dependable, though not always spectacular or surprising, force in hip-hop since his first records with C.L. Smooth came out in the early '90s. His solo records -- on which he usually acts as producer and MC -- have not always been consistent affairs, but he's been able to release a lot of solid material and establish a particular sound and feel to his kind of beat-making. On NY's Finest, his fourth official full-length and first on the Brooklyn label Nature Sounds, he continues this trend, presenting more of the consistent, professional production and lyrics that he's made his name on. Which means that though there are a lot of good tracks on the album, their similarity to each other and Rock's other work seems to blend them into one another. A few do stand out, however: "914," which features strong verses from both Styles P and Sheek Louch, is aggressive and confident while still remaining inviting and fun; "The PJ's," featuring Wu-Tang's Raekwon and Masta Killa (it was actually already included on the March 2006 Nature Sounds new music compilation Natural Selection) mixes mellow production with the rappers' hard-edged storytelling; "Comprehend" balances Papoose's rough voice with particularly smooth and shimmery beats; and the two-and-a-half-minute "Questions" samples from Miles Davis' famous flügelhorn line in "Concierto de Aranjuez" as MC Royal Flush spits out threats and boasts of all sorts. But the rest of the songs on NY's Finest (which, interestingly enough, do not exclusively feature New York talent) aren't quite able to define themselves, to distinguish themselves from what's around them. This doesn't mean that's there's anything weak here; with the exception of the out-of-place and trite dubby "Ready Fe War," every track on the album is a well-executed, well-thought-out piece. But because Rock's never concentrated on hooks, the tracks seem to blend into one another, which, unfortunately, tends to make the record drag on from time to time. NY's Finest is a good, solid listen from a deservedly respected member of the hip-hop community, but it's also nothing that will blow you away.