Masta Ace

Brooklyn's Masta Ace stands as a revered underground figure in hip-hop, his résumé anchored by Juice Crew membership and a featured verse on the 1988 posse cut "The Symphony." Two years later he issued his first full-length project, Take a Look Around, through the respected Cold Chillin' imprint. Although commercial impact remained modest, the sharply crafted set produced a breakout single in the Biz Markie duet "Me and the Biz," a fixture on Yo! MTV Raps that underscored Ace's stature during hip-hop's golden age.

In 1993 he resurfaced as Masta Ace Incorporated alongside Lord Digga and Paula Perry, releasing Slaughtahouse. The record fused synthesized West Coast production aesthetics with a hardened East Coast perspective. Its standout track "Born to Roll," built around a reworked Moog/Kraftwerk bassline, earned widespread commercial notice. Two years afterward the crew followed with Sittin' on Chrome, extending the prior album's conceptual threads through an even more polished array of Jeep beats. The Isley Brothers-sourced "I.N.C. Ride," drawn from "For the Love of You," drew criticism from some longtime supporters yet achieved notable success on the strength of its infectious groove. Ace also maintained a pattern of non-album singles, one highlight arriving in 1996 with "Ya Hardcore," a driving rebuke of inauthentic gangsta posturing.

By 2000 he had issued several new tracks, among them the Eminem collaboration "Hellbound," which arrived after more than twelve years in the rap industry. The 2001 conceptual effort Disposable Arts earned praise for its critique of diluted rap trends while suggesting possible retirement. Ace nevertheless maintained momentum, unveiling the narrative-driven A Long Hot Summer in 2004. The following year he assembled the group eMC with Wordsworth, Punchline, and Stricklin; their debut, The Show, appeared in 2008. Subsequent releases encompassed the 2009 joint album Arts & Entertainment with Edo.G, the 2012 MF Doom collaboration MA_Doom: Son of Yvonne, and eMC's second project, The Tonite Show, in 2015.