Hip-hop takes to the streets of New York, birthplace of these two rap icons celebrating their day of birth on this day. Greetings go out to Jay-Z and Masta Ace.
Shawn Corey Carter, otherwise known as Jay-Z, is without a doubt among Hip-hop's biggest names out there. That's easy to believe to when considering numerous accolades surrounding the New York rapper, some of which includes, “Among Hip-hop's most commercially successful" or Forbes' list of “World's best-selling artists of all time,” not to mention selling over 100 million records, and 21 Grammy Awards.
But of course, all that is just bragging rights compared to the magnum opus sound he consistently delivered throughout the years, perhaps too much to count. “99 Problems,” “N—gas In Paris,” “Run This Town,” “Holy Grail,” the list goes on and on, and that's not including entire collectives yet. All of which, however, display Jay-Z's profound mastery over the dynamics, able to flow fast as good as he can on slower beats, which works hand-in-hand with his knack for clever wordplay and partial inking.
Also a prominent force in the East Coast rap scene, Duval Clear aka Masta Ace shares the spotlight on this day. In contrast to our first celebrant, Masta Ace spent most of his career sojourning through Hip-hop underground, releasing a laundry list of critically-acclaimed content such as Disposable Artsand his memorable Golden Age debut, Take A Look Around, which spawned his hit-single “Me & The Biz”.
Despite being shadowed by bigger names within the genre, many of Hip-hop's “biggest” names actually trace back inspiration from Masta Ace, as AllMusic describes as “truly an under-appreciated rap veteran and underground luminary,” not to mention 8 mile rapper Eminem citing one of the personal reasons he looks up to him, “Masta Ace had amazing storytelling skills—his thoughts were so vivid”. Synonymous to said accolades and reviews, such as in Rolling Stone, most fans tend to forget the underground Hip-hop god amidst all the other big shots, but one thing remains, Masta Ace was one of the most influential names in the genre's history.
By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com
