90’s wiki: Master Ace – Take a Look Around
Take a Look Around is a genuine rap classic from the most slept on Juice Crew member Masta Ace. Almost entirely produced by Marley Marl, the man who defined the hip hop sound in first years of the 90’s, with 4 tracks handled by Mister Cee, this was one of the tightest albums of 1990. Ace had made his debut on the iconic Juice Crew track ‘The Symphony’ back in ‘88, holding his own alongside heavyweights of the mic Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane and Craig G. Ace was signed to the Marley Marl-fronted Cold Chillin Records and released his first single the following year before following up with his debut album Take a Look Around.
The album is a solid 15 tracks from start to finish featuring no fillers, intros, outros or skits and all being above standard for a 1990 release. The album showcases Masta Ace’s lyrical diversity – being comfortable spittin’ on any topic and vibe seems to come effortlessly to Ace. He steers between battle raps on ‘Aces Wild’ to comedy on ‘Me and the Biz’ through to conscious raps on ‘I Got Ta’ and opens a window into ghetto life on ‘Brooklyn Battles’ and the title track ‘Take a Look Around. The album spawned 4 singles, the most popular being ‘Me and the Biz’- the video for which features Ace controlling a Biz Markie marionette puppet.
Popularity: 66% [?]
Edited: September 19th, 2008