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...