Here I go with my hip-hop loving ways again. This time it is Aceyalone’s latest, Lighting Strikes. Some people may know him from his album with RJD2, Magnificent City. The result of that album was somewhat uneven, sometimes having to with incompatibility between Ace’s flow and RJ’s beats. This time around, Aceyalone has found a producer (Bionik) that fits with his style, and the result is a solid disc of energetic, jungle-influenced hip-hop.
Rather than the jumps in style RJD2 is known for, Bionik goes the other direction and give Aceyalone a unified canvas to paint on, and it’s a surprising one. Jungle electronic beats propel Ace into fast raps, and he continues to show why he’s been an underground icon for so long. It’s not what you’d expect, but it works so well that the result is pleasant surprise and head-nodding. At just about 45 minutes, the album is wisely kept short, since the lack of overt stylistic variation from track to track might not have worked if stretched out over an hour. However, I can say from beginning to end, this album holds water, and, living up to its name, energizes.
As a sample, I serve up the track “Eazy” which also has the ever-excellent Chali 2na, who used to be part of Jurassic 5.
“Eazy (Feat. Chali 2na)” | Aceyalone
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Dude, Magnificent City is one of the dopest Aceyalone has put out. There is nothing like it. Aceyalone with RJD2 is a match made in Hip Hop Heaven. I guess what your calling “jumps in style” I call variety. Like anything I’m about to consume, I like it to have variety. I’m listening to Lighting Strikes right now, ya, it’s dope.
Peace.
Spoken