Mellow Man Ace

Born Ulpiano Sergio Reyes in Cuba in 1967, Mellow Man Ace developed a style centered on lovers rap that included occasional bilingual phrasing and an inventive command of playful, unexpected rhymes. His family took him from Cuba at age four, and they settled in Los Angeles. Working with the Dust Brothers and Def Jef on the boards, he issued his first album, Escape from Havana, through Capitol in 1989. Close to a year afterward, the single “Mentirosa” reached the Top 20, its hook built around a clever interpolation of Santana’s “Evil Ways.” Mellow Man Ace also participated in the Latin Alliance project and is the brother of Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog; after releasing one further album, The Brother with Two Tongues, he largely withdrew from recording until From Darkness Into Light appeared in 2000.