Customer Reviews

Disposable Arts

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Originally released in 2001, Masta Ace's "Disposable Arts" is the epitome of an exceptional thematic-concept album. The basic theme of the album is how the hood can come back to bite you, despite leaving it in the past. Cryptic? Yes, but truthful. But in the midst of the focal point lies other layers, including happiness, sadness, humor, regret, nostalgia, and social awareness, all elements that are incorporated in the album with importance and ease. From start to finish, there is exceptional song after exceptional song, each building off each other with what proceeds, and each crafted so well that by the end of seventy-third minute, you'll have no other choice but to start from track one again. Highlights include the catchy "Enuff", the retrospective "Block Episode", the melancholic "Unfriendly Game", "No Regret", & "Dear Yvette", the reggae-flavored "Every Other Day", the simplistic but introspective "Type I Hate", the mocking of rappers who believe in their own hype in "Acknowledge", and the best track, the metaphoric "Hold U", which invokes an old-school soulful vibe. Similar to a lot of his albums, there are numerous interludes. Most of the time, they aren't needed. While I do feel there are one or two too much, they are relevant in this case, contributing to the "concept album" factor (and they are pretty funny, like "Roommates Meet"). But even with the abundance of interludes, it still doesn't diminish the quality this album. Nor does time; although released four years ago, it still sounds fresher and better, and is more innovatively complex than any contemporary rap album.

This is the re-release of the album that first came out not too long ago back in '01. I was introduced to Ace last year with his solid "A Long Hot Summer," which is a prequel to this. It took a couple run-throughs but I really began to feel this. I gave "ALHS" 4 stars so I got to rate this one higher because it's even better. I found this story to be more interesting and the execution was better.
Almost every song is good or above-average on the whole album. "ALHS" kinda fell apart in the middle. This one keeps the momentum until tracks 19-21, the only ones I'm not feelin' too much. I guess he just had to make his sexual presence known along w/ Punch & Words on "I Like Dat," and he might be mocking others' materialism on "P.T.A.," but isn't too exciting. "Type I Hate" is very bitter, although I can overstand if he needed to get some things off his chest along with Rah Digga there. The only other song that can be considered filler is "Something's Wrong," which is inconsistent but has a hot first verse by Strick.
Although Ace's flow is lacksadaisical and his voice nothing to rave about, what I like about him is his ability to handle the concepts. He'll pick a topic for a song and stick to it. He won't just lay back and brag the whole time. Not only does he craft concept albums, but concept songs within them! Plus he's sick with the metaphors, even if some of them are pop-culture references. My favorite song here, for some reason, is "Dear Yvette"(w/ Jane Doe). Here he tries to reach out to a woman who makes her money through stripping and sex and she rejects his help. This song just reminds me of a late-90's hit that you might hear on the radio, only this one actually has good lyrics. Other outstanding songs are conceptual ones like "Unfriendly Game" and "Hold U" and also "Take A Walk" where he paints a vivid picture of the ghetto (another one of his specialties).
Other very good songs are "Block Episode,"(a concept too, told from 3 different perspectives) the inspiring reggae-flavored "Every Other Day, then "Enuff" and "Dear Diary"-two more concepts there. "Enuff" is really good. Greg Nice hypes up "Don't Understand" nicely, and "Too Long" is a great leadoff announcing his return. The short "Alphabet Soup" is the ultimate concept here, although the song may not be too impressive if you're not paying attention too closely.
So, I've named a couple handfuls of good songs for you already. Masta Ace is an underrated legend in Hiphop, and he carves a niche with "Disposable Arts" with the story told and the multiple concepts he carries out. Not only do his lyrical topics run the gamut, but the beats do as well! Truly, whatever no-names helped him out delivered with enjoyable beats throughout. They take you through a range of emotions and vibes, and compliment Ace and his guests accordingly. Even the beats on tracks 19-21 are superb. The only thing I can gripe about are some lacklustre guest spots and multiple same word rhymes: a couple by Ace but mostly by guests(calling out Strick with his lines ending in "running back")! Ya gotta watch that! I won't even bitch about the length, filler, and # of tracks on "Disposable Arts" because it didn't bother me too much. So check out this re-release because it truly elevated my opinion of Masta Ace even though I had heard his "A Long Hot Summer" cd. Hiphop is beautiful and it's life!

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.

The best tracks on the CD would have to be "Block Episode", "Take A Walk", "Acknowledge", "Enuff", "Unfriendly Game", "Type I Hate", "Dear Diary", and "No Regrets".

On "Acknowledge", Masta Ace rips the clone-rapping emcees you see so often in the mainstream to shreds as he rhymes-
"And I heard your album, this must be something you're new at/Cause I'd rather hear a Little Wayne, Little Zane duet/"
"I'ma diss you via e-mail, and then through a fax/I'ma diss you by two-way, I ain't gonna never relax/I'ma diss you over fast, slow track, or no track/If your 'stuff' wasn't so wack, I'd diss you to your track/Your that little fish that I catch and I throw back/And by the way, give 50 Cent his flow back/"

"Block Episode" chronicles a shooting; Masta Ace plays the guy living in the apartment above the shooting, Punchline plays the shooter, and Wordsworth plays the victim. It's a genius song, rapped with amazing tact and skill, showing the dangers and sadness of a ghetto-life. "Enuff" basically is self-explanatory. Masta Ace and his featured emcee, Mr. Lee Gee, complains about the materialism in rap. It's an enlightening explanation of what makes records sell; money, sex, jail, thuggin', etc...

"Unfriendly Game" is another masterfully crafted song where Masta Ace compares life in the streets to a football game.
"/I'm about to take this beat, and teach you about the agony of defeat/In this football game in the streets/And no it ain't two hand touch, it's rough tackle/When 'brothers' ball on your block, and they bust at you/The field's full of players, and they all tryin to score/The whole team sits on the bench in a down-pour/Cause no matter the weather, the game don't stop/Competing with other teams, to reign on top/Your offense, has got to be cats with no conscience/No nonsense 'brothers' with no options/That know how to carry that rock/And make that hand off and run off the block/It's hard to get first down, when you new in this rough town/You sell a pound, it's a touch down/"
"It's monday night, 'we're watching the game'/But I could go outside, and still see 'the same'/Cause look, there's a bunch of brothers in the huddle/Look's like they're calling the play, come in kids, don't be all in the way/Cause that's Pookie, he's the -- quarterback/Cause he like to use the shotgun/If he don't, I know he got one/And that's Booger, he's the -- runningback/Cause he always say he gonna quit, and he always wind up running back/The rest of them? I'll just say they play the line/Cause they like to protect Pookie, and Pookie make 'em stay in line/"
NOTE: I had to "edit" a few words/lines in the lyrics for the sake of cleanness.
Things keep on going on like that, but it's just too long to write out.

"Dear Diary" is a genius song in which Masta Aces diary talks back to him, telling him he's washed up etc... It shows the negative thinking behind any accomplished artist, and the mental pit falls that Masta Ace probably had to go through while recording his "come back" album. "No Regrets" is the perfect closing song for this CD. The title is pretty self-explanatory, he basically goes through his career blow by blow, acknowledging his thanks, stating simply, he has no regrets.

Masta Ace, when it comes down to it, is really a "Masta" story-teller. He crafts each song to his clever two-line-rhyme style that chronicles the chain reaction of events in different situations. His rhymes reflect on many different aspects of life, and although he does occasionally abandon his conscience rhymes for a song like "I Like Dat", an overly vulgar sex-song with Punch and Words on the track, he generally maintains a street-wise attitude with catchy lyrics that have a message to them. I highly recommend this CD to, well, anyone.

The Legend continues with my favorite lyricists in the game for over a decade. The whole album is solid and is what you would expect from the most intelligent rapper in the game? Ace continues to perserve the true essence of hip hop. Ace who took a stand on thuggish hiphop and gangsta rap with Slaughterhouse is the reason this cat should be perserved in hip hop forever. And is a Hall of Famer and should be more acknowledged in the hip hop game forever. My favorite cut is ENUFF........yeah ENUFF of the others ACE ROcks.....
Just reading some of the reviews !TO me its about ace's realness and his ryhmes...i hear one critic say the production is tight but the vocals need to be turned down. Its all about Ace's ryhmes he is the most intelligent verstile mc .he is the godfather of hip hop. Its as simple as that. Infact Im dat "Italian cat" ace shouts out in DONT UNDERSTAND!lol peaceCEE his favorite white boY faN representiNG nJ...peace the InC is a waY of LIFE!

FYI, this is a re-release of Masta Ace's 4th album that originally dropped in 2001. It precedes last year's 'Long Hot Summer' album. This album - and everything else Ace has done - is for all you true hip-hop fans who like their lyrics and storylines intelligent, witty and honest, over a nice collection of beats.

Since "music man" emerged in 1990 ive been a fan of ACE. His delivery is always on point, his albums are always top notch and
having also met the man himself in person in DUBLIN when he played with "punch+words" i found him completely down to earth.
This album is his finest hour, in my opinion. Every track is as
tight as you can get with such a high level of skill+intelligence
in every rhyme. The beats are rock hard head nodders. With no
real weak tracks apart from possibly "every other day" and "take
a look". No real hiphopper's collection is complete without this.

Forget all of that jazz about his comeback, or if he can top his previous efforts as a "so-called" hip hop legend, this is without question a straight up dope album. Especially if you compare this effort to most of the garbage that stocks the shelves of your average hip hop section, this album astonishes as Ace comes correct. The strength of this album is without question the beats. Production is solid throughout with at least 4 to 5 true headnodders, and I can't remember the last time I purchased an album with more than two. Beatwise, there are very few skipable tracks on this album, it remains consistently solid throughout and you don't go through periods where you think to yourself "my god what have I just bought." Rhymewise I've definitely heard tighter mc's, but Ace can hold his own. He's able to carry the weight of the entire album, along with the help of many guest appearances, without becoming too boring or repetive. He speaks with confidence, but he rhymes on the slower side of the mc tempo scale which can sometimes be annoying although he doesn't have very many forced lines and he doesn't delve very much into the "thugged-out" mc cliche. The main problem that I do have with the album is the mixing, the vocals I think should be turned down a couple of notches partly because the beats are so good and partly because the volume of the vocals distracts from what I thought could have been a more balanced effort. I found myself not wanting to be annoyed by the volume and wanting to just enjoy the song, but often times I found myself saying "if only it were a little lower." Do not, however, let this detract from by full support of this album. If you like good hip hop and are thinking of buying an album any time soon, I would highly consider this as your next purchase.

Masta Ace, the first masta and unheard of emcee of the early 90's Juice crew was always often overlooked. Behind the shadows of fellow crew membres Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie he was considered something like an N.B.A.'s sixth man. In 1994 he realesed his solo debut Slaughtahouse. In my tasteful eardrums it was a classic. And in 1995 he put out his sophmore effort Sitting On Chrome which didn't live up to all the hype or publicity but had one of the sickest tracks ever to grace a piece of vinyl "Born To Roll". Ace hes been out of the game for 6 years and he makes a valiant return. Ace begins Disposable Arts with a comedic skit pretaining to be incarcerated for the last 5-6 years. Then the albums drops into the second cut assisted by Apocalypse a sick beat with a nice bass line " Too Long" sressing to listeners it's been too long contimplating to make ill music again. The whole album is filled with funny skits that come together as a story. Don't Understand was the only single from the album and is a great party starter,features Greg Nice and was produced by supreme underground soundscaper Paul Nice. Check out the witty word play on Hold U as Ace boasts on how he and his microphone are made for eachother. Take a walk is another stand out joint with a hardcore braggodocio which Ace tells us about the unfortunate times in the hood. "Acknowledge" the diss track on the album talks about his beef with ex labelmate Boogie Man and is a earth shaker. Although subect matter on the lp doesn't fluctuate to much it is one of the years best projects. Also check out tracks "Enuff" and "Unfriendly Game" as Ace compares street life to a football game. Over all Disposable Arts is a solid project with a handful of tight lyrisists but fails to break any new ground in a hollow hip hop world that despreately needs it

Maybe you don't know who Masta Ase is, or maybe you think he's some washed up cat from the 80's. This album is a journey. As with Slaughtahouse [his second major release] this lp tells a story. The story begins with him getting release from jail after being locked up for a few years. Throughout the album you hear as he goes threw his struggles with staying on the straight and narrow path. I found it funny one of the albums themes was he was attending a hip-hop college to learn about hip-hop. When infact he is one of the legends, on the underground at least. Listening to it from the start to the end, it really tells the story well, I can appericate a record that is more then just 10+ songs that seem to have no connection. There are too many guest spots on the album, but it's not as bad as it seems by looking at the track listing. Quite a few of the apperances are just on interludes and not actually rapping with him. On Dear Diary we hear Ase talking about being washed up and questioning himself about if a comeback was really a good idea. I couldn't help but wonder if this song was fiction. Ase has been rapping for over 15 years now. While he has been consistant with his lyrics and his releases. He is getting older, and to be real, he never seemed to reach his disvering level. I know I'll catch flack for this, but I put him in the same catagory as I do Rakim & Kane & Chuck D. This album is beautiful, and even with a few out of place moments and some uneven production. I really enjoy it. It's wonderful to see somebody who's been around as long as he has, still be able to pull off making a really though provoking and solid album. His flow and lyrics are still top notch, very few people can compete with him, on any level. I recommend everyone pick up this album. I would give this 4 1/2 if I could.

Welcome back Ase...

I recently read an online review on this album by a album reviewer from URB magazine (Oliver Wang) which leaves me conflicted to understand which side of the fence they stand with Masta Ace. "Disposable Arts", in a whole, brings a breath of fresh air to the world of Hip-Hop. Like "Eyes On the Prize" & "Simon Says" from Marley Marl In Control, Vol. 1, back in 1988, Ace continues to amaze you. If one truely understands and appreciates Rap music then it would not be hard to consider this 4th album release of Masta Ace as a wait well worth the effort. The various tracks (excluding the skits) sheads light to the new "hip-hop head" generation an understanding where most of todays rappers (example - Eminem, Bubba Sparxxx, etc.) influence and style originates from. Masta Ace spits a fiery barrage of intelligent and wordplay-filled lyrics while he communicates the non-egotistic, non-materialistic, analytical and humble side of the rap game. Don't sleep on Ace on tracks like "Acknowledge", "Enuff" and "No regrets" as he lyrically assasinates the tracks.

While "Slaugtahouse" and "Sittin' On Chrome" did pretty well during the early-mid. '90's, most people didn't give the respect due, nor did they Acknowledge the advanced/ahead-of-the-time flow that Ace spits comparable to that of the mythical lyricist Supernatural. Impressive as the whole album is, Ace doesn't tweak his style for the Y2K+1 (he doesn't have to), and comes correct in the drive to keep Real Hip-Hop there for the community to revert to in the current "bling-bling" mentallity that plagues the industry/listeners.

Recommendation all who are considering picking this album up...DO IT, because you won't be disappointed, by far. Keep in happening, Ace, and drop more gems like this on us!!! Peace y'all.