From lacing joints with the legendary Juice crew, riding with the INC to sitting on chrome, Masta Ace has become one of the last few emcees from the golden era who can still hold his own in this day and age. Cited as a rapper’s rapper and innovator in the genre, Masta Ace’s long lasting legacy and relevance is unquestionable and we are really privileged to get his thoughts on some queries that has been biting us for a while.

Enjoy y’all. 

[hr]

You are well known for your vivid story telling when it comes to crafting albums and songs and MA Doom doesn’t fall short in that regard. How was the process like in trying to find DOOM beats to match the subject matter and vice versa?

I always find that process to be a lot of fun. The DOOM beats were carefully picked based on how they made me feel when i heard them. The ones that brought the most emotion to me were the ones i wrote to. Building the story of my childhood was easy because I LIVED it. The story lines on my other albums were only LOOSLY based on real life. This story IS my life. I took my time to be sure that between the songs and skits my listeners got a glimpse into my childhood.

[hr]

I noticed you also kept the features to a minimum here,besides BDK and DOOM. Was that a decision during the crafting period to keep things balanced? will we get bonus joints that didn’t make the final cut?

There was only one song that didn’t make the official album release on itunes. ‘I Da Spot’ featuring Milani the Artist. However, we put it on the cd as a bonus.  I didn’t use it because it didn’t really FIT with the other songs. I had an idea of where I wanted it to go in the album sequence but  after listening, it just was not needed to help tell the story. The other song was ‘PBS’ which i used as a leak to let people know  what was coming.  The personal nature of the album is what kept the features minimal.

MA DOOM – Nineteen Seventy Something

[hr]

Looking back on Disposable arts and its follow up. You approached the concept from a movie goer perspective putting the listener in your shoes to experience the ups and downs. How do you compare the process then with now where mixtapes/albums are churned out every millisecond.

[hr]

MA Doom seems to be like a prequel of some sort to the aforementioned albums. Any plans for a conclusion to the 2 part saga?

I could potentially see a follow up to MA DOOM but i  would really want this one to be a full collaborative effort with DOOM supplying all brand new beats. Sometimes the idea is great but the logistics of getting it executed can be quite tricky. Either way I will continue to entertain fans with fun story lines and skits to bring a really different experience to the table. I actually glad that the game is so FAST FOOD oriented. It makes my efforts stand out even more.

[hr]

Since you established M3 records, How was the transition like from being an artist to heading the label?

The thing is, I am still an artist and have not completely put on that exec hat full time. for that reason things sometimes get  slowed down. I think it wont be until i decide to stop being an artist full time that M3 will truly flourish.

[hr]

You also dabbled into voice over acting on the critically acclaimed Kung Faux series. How did that come about and how was the experience working on such a left field project?

This guy I have known for a long time Mike Newman asked me to be a part of it. All the people he had doing the voices were  industry friends of mine so it just made sense to be involved.  We had a lotta fun doing those.

[hr]

Who would be your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would you serve them?

Hmmm…tough one.  Maybe Dr. Dre. I would wanna ask him some of his secrets to making his songs SOUND so much better than everybody else.  I feel like that is the Holy Grail…

[hr]

Name something you consider a mind-altering work of art.

The movie Pulp Fiction comes to mind. The way that the story was told completely out of order was brilliant!!! it opened my mind to new and different possibilities on how to tell a story.

[hr]

What has been your most memorable or inspirational gig and why?

One of them was in the Netherlands in 2010. The festival is called Boogie Down Breda. I was scheduled to perform in front of 8,000 people  with EdoG and our dj  as part of our A&E touring. At the very LAST minute they didn’t make the trip. I was forced to pull together a one hour show by myself with a stand in DJ whom I had only met hours before my stage time. We rehearsed for exactly one hour and he (DJ DNS) and I took the stage and rocked the crowd under very difficult circumstances. It was an amazing feeling to pull that off. I will NEVER forget that day.

[hr]

Last words for the audience tuning in.

Get ready for EMC…new album coming soon!