Masta Ace "Disposable Arts"

Posted on 10.30.2001

Masta Ace
Album: Disposable Arts
Release Date: Oct 30, 2001
Label: Jcor Entertainment

Review:

It’s tempting to dismiss this album as another failed comeback by an ’80s pioneer, yet Masta Ace stays one step ahead of irrelevance. True, there’s an endless string of weaknesses, starting with at least 20 minutes of filler. Even worse, Ace sounds like an Eminem clone as he tries to update a flow unused for the better half of the ’90s. It’s only when he returns to his rapping roots that Disposable Arts is saved from meltdown.
The most impressive songs here find Ace doing what he does best: analyzing himself, hip-hop and the greater world around him. "Take a Walk" is yet another ode to Brooklyn, the inspiration behind many of Ace’s better cuts, while "Dear Diary" is an impressively self-critical reflection on Ace’s own limitations (even if it bites heavily from Slim Shady’s "Stan"). Likewise, the LP’s closer, "No Regrets," finds Ace flashing back over a decade-plus career with all its high and lowlights. The album’s true winner is "Hold U," which invokes the common metaphor of the microphone as a woman/lover, but Ace, along with a strong cameo from Jean Grae, pulls it off by sticking to the basics - intelligent, heartfelt lyricism, the mainstay of Ace’s long career.

These songs, too short in supply, remain the album’s saving grace because unlike so many of his colleagues, Ace isn’t blinded by the light of his own ego. Compared to their blustery attitudes, Masta Ace’s down-to-earth introspection prevents Disposable Arts from being disposable itself.

Customer review:

Masta Ace has been an incredible MC since the very beginning of hip-hop. Many people have complained about "Disposable Arts" because it’s a different type of flow for him, but honestly, "Disposable Arts" is a record you can play straight through without having to skip a single track. The production is incredible and the word-play on both his part and the part of his guest-mc’s is mind-blowing. Of course, Punchline and Wordsworth are incredible, but amazingly, every single guest rapper on the album manages to live up to Masta Ace’s "masta" flow.

Track Listings:
1. Release
2. Too Long - Feat. Apocalypse
3. Block Episode - Feat. Punch and Words
4. Commercial
5. Don’t Understand - Feat. Greg Nice
6. Goodbye Lisa
7. Hold U - Feat. Jean Grae
8. Every Other Day
9. Roommates Meet n
10. Take a Walk - Feat. Apocalypse
11. Something’s Wrong - Feat. Strick and Young Zee from Ousidaz
12. Classes
13. Acknowledge
14. Enuff - Feat. Mr. Lee Gee
15. Watching the Game
16. Unfriendly Game - Feat. Strick
17. Alphabet Soup
18. Dear Yvette - Feat. Jane Doe
19. I Like Dat - Feat. Punch and Words
20. P.T.A. - Feat. King T and J-Ro of Tha Links