Petestrumentals
There are two ways to approach this album. If you take it at  its most literal--a collection of beats--there's a good chance that  you'll find it damn snoozy. You never quite realize how monotonous and  downright boring hip-hop tracks can be until you remove the lyrics and  are subjected to four minutes of the same bars looping over and over.  Pete Rock is a great producer, no question, but he doesn't do much to  vary the pace, concocting an album's worth of mid-tempo grooves that go  nowhere fast. Which, of course, is the pleasure of listening to it.  This is music to stick in the background as you go about your daily  routine--cruising in the car, chilling at home, weeding your garden,  whatever. There's few better than Pete Rock to compose these simple  sonic scores of relaxed, warm tracks that blend funk and a touch of  jazz to perfection. There's hardly a flat beat anywhere to be found,  and repetitive as they get, the endless, comfortable aural pleasure  they give makes up the difference.--Oliver Wang