Pete Rock — Underground Classics

In the fall of 2006, BBE Records released this compilation via Rapster, without permission from Pete Rock.

Amir, A&R of the label, is credited for putting together these fifteen tracks, just under seventy minutes of listening. He takes a third of the tracks from "Center of Attention" (2003), as well as tracks made with Edo G., The UN, two remixes of DJ Premier tracks and an unreleased with CL Smooth recorded in 2000. Providing rapping in this collection, among others, are Rob-O, Edo G., Roc Marciano, and several members of the Gang Starr Foundation, such as Guru, Big Shug, Freddie Foxxx, Krumb Snatcha and Jeru the Damaja.

Amir's selection rewards the typical sound of Soul Brother, hard drums, special bass lines, soul samples, funky and jazzy rhythms. The tape continues to alternate good tracks and excellent tracks: the quality never drops below a certain level and at the same time, it never stays constant for a long time, for more than ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. The middle section promises this, there's a nice group of choices between "Fakin' Jax" and "Situations", however, "Back on the Block" doesn't look as good as the others; CL Smooth doesn't sound as inspired as it does in his songs of ten years ago. The disc ends with two high points in the tracks with InI. The end result is curious and irregular, the title promises more than it delivers. 7.5/10.