2008 is going to be a year full of treats for those of us who love classic East Coast hip-hop. The Roots are going to release their highly- anticipated record Rising Down in April, Q-Tip’s next solo album The Renaissance drops in June, and Talib Kweli has just released a free (!) new mixtape entitled MCEO. But the album I’ve been waiting on since I heard about it from the man himself last year is Pete Rock’s new album, NY’s Finest.

One of my favorite producers of all time, the legendary Soul Brother # 1 is known for his completely unique, immediately recognizable sound that arguably pioneered NYC hip-hop in the ’90s. His legacy is enormous. Ask Kanye West, Pharrel, Just Blaze, or Timbaland; they’re all indebted to the man for inspiration.

So four years after his last album, Soul Survivor II, we can finally get to taste the fruit of Pete Rock’s undying labor: a joint venture between Soul Survivor Records and NYC indie label Nature Sounds. The record features an intimidating line-up of hip-hop Wu Tang’s Raekwon and Masta Killa, Redman, D-Block, Dipset’s Jim Jones, Max B, Styles P, and Sheek Louch, among others. Satisfaction guaranteed.

For more free stuff, grabbing NY’s Finest at FYE stores for a little while also nets you a DVD of Kanye West, Pharrell, Timberland, DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, ?uestlove and more. Don’t sleep on it.

Christian Lander is the creator of and main contributor to Stuff White People Like. We wrote here about all of the attention the blog was getting last month. Its popularity continues to grow rapidly so before Lander becomes too busy being featured in paper after radio program after opinion piece, we reached out and asked a few questions about how his newfound notoriety is playing out for him.

For having started this so recently, you’re getting some amazing press?
Yeah. There was the NPR interview and today I recorded one for the CBC and the National Post back home. These ones are cool because friends and family [back in Canada] are finally seeing it and these are folks who otherwise had no idea that there was any buzz. It’s offered some really strange opportunities. I got solicited by a margarita making appliance and they wanted me to write about it in the site. There are strange opportunities presenting themselves.

Do you think you’ll take them up on it?
[Laughs] Thus far I’ve made 13 dollars through Google Ads off of all of this.

9 million views and 13 dollars, huh?
Yeah, it’s strange. I’m still looking at [ad] packages and trying to stay realistic about it. I don’t really expect traffic to stay up there like it is. At the same time, I don’t want to throw all these ads at people and turn them off.

Why do you think people are still so up and arms about the content of the site? People are still calling you a racist left and right.
For some people the satire is just lost. I don’t know how anyone could think its racist. The guys from rent a negro have been in touch and thought that it was hilarious. Further, its not like you’re not going to get a job because a website says you like yoga and expensive sandwiches. These aren’t labels that relate to slavery and consumerism. In this way, the “multicultural” trends of the 80s and 90s were somewhat misguided as there was a push to say and accept that everyone is the same. I mean, everyone is similar, but there are cultural differences, right?
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