Living hip-hop legend Masta Ace blends classic rap rhythms with modern beats and messages, and he’ll be performing in Greenfield this weekend. A major player on the underground hip-hop scene since the ‘90s. His most acclaimed release is Disposable Arts, a concept album about a kid at a satirical rap school, the School for the Disposable Arts. Since this time Ace has been touring on the East Coast and Europe, most recently he’s been promoting his newest LP The Falling Season which focuses on his years in Brooklyn high school. Guests on the album include Chuck D, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Cormega, and AG. Careful not to snap your neck grooving to the beats and feeling the lyrics:
“Penny for your thoughts, a nickel for your dreams
“A dime for your goals and a quarter in your jeans
“Trying to make a dollar outta forty-one cents
“Caught up in the barbed wire, shorty on the fence
“I can be a knife-packing, gun-toting hooligan
“But I can’t decide so I’m on my way to school again” – “Y.B.I. (Young Black Intelligent)”
Additional performers to include LS Camp, P.O.E. of Springfield, and Machakos Kyalo of Amherst (by way of Kenya).
Masta Ace: Friday, Aug. 18, 9 p.m. $10-$15. Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center, 289 Main St., Greenfield. (413) 774-0150. hawksandreed.com.
— Kristin Palpini
