Masta Ace (born Duval Clear on December 4, 1966)[1] is a
rapper from Brownsville, Brooklyn. He appeared on the classic 1988
Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony". He is noted for his
high level of rapping skill[2][3][4] and for influencing other MCs,
including Eminem.
Clear graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1988, after
meeting Marley Marl in 1987 during his summer break.[6] Ace made
his recording debut as Master Ace on the hip hop posse-cut "The
Symphony", along with fellow Juice Crew members Craig G, Kool
G Rap and Big Daddy Kane, released on Marley Marl's In Control album.
The album also featured two additional Ace tracks, "Keep Your
Eyes on the Prize" and "Simon Says". In 1989, he released
his first solo single, "Together" b/w "Letter to the
Better". His debut album, Take a Look Around, was released through
Marl's Cold Chillin' label in 1990, featuring production from Marl
and DJ Mister Cee. The album featured two minor hit singles in "Music
Man" and "Me & The Biz", the latter being a track
with Ace's impersonation of Biz Markie, rather than a duet as previously
thought the song would be.[1]
In the early stages of his career, Masta Ace was very energetic
(cf. "Jeep Ass Niguh", where, tongue-in-cheek, he taunts
police officers for their knee-jerk predisposition to harass black
youth on city streets.) He also recorded material with a six-member
supporting entourage, Masta Ace Incorporated. In light of his newly
claimed status as a veteran, he has gravitated toward an earnest,
matter-of-fact plainspokenness in the new millennium. Many of the
songs that have lent newfound heft to his reputation are simple,
no-nonsense rumination on feelings and facts of urban American life,
including "Soda and Soap" and "Beautiful".[1]
During the years between his debut and his second album, Ace began
having bitter feelings toward the commercial state of hip hop music,
as well as the prominence of Gangsta rap, feelings which ruled the
content on his second release, 1993's SlaughtaHouse, with the loose
concept of the album seeing Ace taking the fake "gangsta emcees" to
his "SlaughtaHouse". The album featured Ace's new crew,
Masta Ace Incorporated, which included Eyceurokk, Lord Digga, Paula
Perry and R&B vocalist Leschea. The singles "SlaughtaHouse", "Saturday
Nite Live", "Style Wars" and "Jeep Ass Niguh" were
taken from the album. The latter featured an unlisted remix titled "Born
to Roll", which became a crossover single in 1994, peaking at
#23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[7] In the same year, Ace became
a member of a temporary crew Crooklyn Dodgers, formed for the release
of Spike Lee's movie, Crooklyn, along with MC's Special Ed and Buckshot
of Black Moon, and recorded the title track of the album soundtrack.
The song became Ace's second Hot 100 hit in 1994, peaking at #60
on the chart.
[edit] 1995-2000
Ace furthered his mainstream appeal in 1995, with his radio-friendly
Sittin' on Chrome album. This effort was also released with the Masta
Ace Incorporated crew, now also known as The I.N.C. The album was
Ace's most commercially successful release, breaking into the Top
20 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. Sittin' On Chrome
included "Born to Roll", as well as two other Hot 100 hit
singles, "The I.N.C. Ride" and "Sittin' on Chrome".
Following the album's success, Ace had a falling out with I.N.C.
members Lord Digga and Paula Perry, leading to the break up of the
crew. After the split, Ace was largely missing from the hip hop scene
over the next five years, save for a number of random vinyl singles.
During his vinyl days, he bounced from a number of labels, releasing
his "Cars" single on Tape Kingz Records, his "Yeah
Yeah Yeah" and "NFL" singles on the Union Label, his "NY
Confidential" single on Replay Records, his "Express Delivery" single
on Three Sixty Records, his "Spread It Out/Hellbound" single
on Yosumi Records, his "Conflict" single on Mona Records,
his "Ghetto Like" single on Fat Beats, his "So Now
U A MC" single on Bad Magic Records, and his "Brooklyn
Blocks" single on Buckshot's Duck Down Records.[1]
[edit] 2001-present
Ace's "Ghetto Like" single led to a misunderstanding with
an underground emcee named Boogieman, who released a somewhat similar
single titled "Ghetto Love" which was released on 420recordings
not long before. He thought that Ace was "biting" his track
and released a diss song toward Ace titled "Just You Wait".
Ace responded to Boogieman on the diss track "Acknowledge",
which also dissed The High & Mighty over a misunderstanding.
The trading of records led to a rap battle between the two at a Lyricist
Lounge event. "Acknowledge" was also included on "Disposable
Arts."[1] Masta Ace can also be found performing numerous "Dubtitled" voice
overs on the television series titled "Kung Faux" seen
in 150+ countries worldwide.
Disposable Arts became one of the most acclaimed underground hip
hop releases of 2001, beloved for its pure hip hop style and clever
album concept, which served as a fictional story, chronicling Ace's
time spent at a satirical rap school named the "Institute of
Disposable Arts". JCOR Records folded soon after the release,
leaving it out-of-print, until being re-released in 2005 on Ace's
self-established M3 label. The album closer, "No Regrets",
led many fans to believe that it would be Ace's final album, because
of the line "I don't know if it's the end, but yo, it might
be". Ace killed the rumors by returning in 2004 with his fifth
album A Long Hot Summer, another highly acclaimed effort. The story
concept, similar to that on his last release, served as a prelude
to the story told on Disposable Arts, chronicling the "Long
Hot Summer" that led to his character's incarceration at the
beginning of the Disposable Arts album. Rumors once again spread
about a retirement, which were again squashed, when Ace announced
the formation of his new rap crew named eMC, including himself, Punchline,
Wordsworth and his protege Strick. Ace remarked in a December 2006
interview that he would no longer record as a solo artist, only with
eMC.[8] eMC's first group album, The Show, was scheduled for early
2007 but was released in February 2008 digitally and April 2008 physically.
In 2007, Masta Ace had a track included on the Official Joints mixtape,
a compilation of previously unreleased tracks by various NYC rappers.[1]
In 2009, Masta Ace joined forces with Boston rapper Edo G to release
Arts and Entertainment which was released on November 3, 2009.[9]
Arts and Entertainment got shortened to A&E which resulted in
the cable TV channel A&E asking Masta and Edo to remove the symbol
from their original album artwork. The albums already printed have
been sold at live shows following the release of the record.[10]
[edit] International work
He is featured on a song off of album Protuotrov (antidote) by Bosnian
rapper Frenkie, the song is called ivili (live on) featuring
Masta Ace & Phat Philly and is produced by Edo Maajka.
He appeared on Czech hiphop group Prago Union's album "HDP",
where he performed on the track "Beat a i já und ich" along
with German rapper Dendemann.
He also appeared on Polish rap group Familia H.P. album "42" on
the track "Born In New York".
In 2003 he appeared on the Swedish rapper Chords' track "Get
u awn" with Punchline. The track is on the album "The garden
around the mansion".
Masta Ace travelled to Australia in 2008 to record for the Funkoars
track "This is How" which came off the album The Hangover.
The track sampled parts of the Masta Ace's 2004 track "Good
Ol' Love". The Funkoars have made several references to Masta
Ace in their lyrics as well as using samples in other works.
He is also featured on the track "Sminke" by the critically
acclaimed Norwegian Hip Hop band Karpe Diem. The title of the album
is Aldri Solgt En Løgn (Never Sold a Lie). In English the
word "Sminke" means makeup, and the song is about artists
trading their image for what their record companies wants it to be.
In 2007, he appeared on Admit It, a song by Swiss hip hop group
Nefew from their album Off the Cuff.
In 2010, he appeared on "Set You Free" along with Wordsworth,
a track by UK hip hop group "Skitz" from their album "Sticksman".
[edit] Legacy
Masta Ace is considered to be a highly skilled and influential MC – music
journalist Peter Shapiro describes him as “one of the great
pure New York MCs”,[2] and Allmusic describes him as “truly
an underappreciated rap veteran and underground luminary”.[3]
Commenting on how Masta Ace is sometimes overlooked despite his skill,
Rolling Stone says, “even the most avid fan of raw hip-hop
lyricism can sometimes neglect to mention Masta Ace alongside hard-bitten
champs such as Rakim, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick and Kool
G. Rap”.[4] Eminem mentions Masta Ace as one of his influences
in his book ‘The Way I Am’, saying, “Masta Ace
had amazing storytelling skills – his thoughts were so vivid”.[5]
[edit] Discography
Main article: Masta Ace discography
* Take a Look Around (1990)
* SlaughtaHouse with Masta Ace Incorporated (1993)
* Sittin' on Chrome with Masta Ace Incorporated (1995)
* Disposable Arts (2001)
* A Long Hot Summer (2004)
* The Show with eMC (2008)
* Arts & Entertainment with Edo G (2009)