Mr. Chop – For Pete’s Sake (2009) [Now Again] // Grade: B

“Covers of Pete Rock’s greatest hits, played with live instruments.” So, here’s where my Bumpkiness comes out: I can’t name a single Pete Rock track. Do I know who Pete Rock is? Yes, for sure. It’s highly likely that I’m into a lot of his music too, but I have no concrete frame of reference. I grew up pretty removed from society at large, and when I did get into hip hop it was via skateboarding, so I didn’t have any kind of canonical knowledge. Thus, I came to this album without any set bars, let alone bars set with high standards.

That being said, this is good music. There is some super solid arranging on here, and the mixes are great–very spatial. It seems like really good late night driving music. You know, get stoned, drive an hour to go meet your homies and get into a little trouble away from home, but not far. I guess the music is kind of “Away from home, but not far,” as well.

As a genre hip hop has never had much of a notion of cover songs. They’re grudgingly popular in most other genres, but almost non-existent in the most borrow-based musical form there is. So, to hear music that reinterprets previous music which uses previous music as its source is interesting conceptually if nothing else. But, it exceeds mere cereberal value, and it comes across as smooth jazz music. Just kidding, it’s not smooth jazz at all. It’s more of a galloping breeze on funk. It’s thoughtful, it’s tasteful, and it’s dope.

- Zachg