by Michael Gallucci

With partner C.L. Smooth, Pete Rock made one hip-hop milestone, 1992's "They Reminisce over You (T.R.O.Y.)," before going his own way in the mid-'90s. On his debut solo album, Soul Survivor, Rock enlists pals Method Man, Raekwon, Kool G. Rap, Black Thought, MC Eiht and Heavy D, among many others, to shape his ideas and ideals into a solid sound structure that's part post-Wu-Tang bombast, part old-skool classicism. And like its title implies, Soul Survivor is a funky fresh affair, one that ties '70s soul with slick '90s hip-hop. Rock tosses in R&B elements more readily than most of his contemporaries, and his smooth flow (as well as those of his guest rappers) slip around the grooves with a mellow grace. Biggest problem is its length: 74 minutes is too much time for Rock's otherwise-slim approach, allowing some filler to creep into the project.