Masta Ace Is Not Down

I didn’t believe it when I heard legendary Brownsville MC, Masta Ace, was served by Boogieman at a Lyricist Lounge event last month. I know Ace is the music man and was born to roll, but I saw the tape and in the third round he definitely fell. Still, something didn’t seem right. So I had to find Ace, even just as a fan, to get some explanation of what could have possibly happened to one of my favorite MCs.

VICE: What happened at Lyricist Lounge? People can’t believe it.

Ace

: The way I figure, it’s gonna go on for a little while. People forget, then they see me again and remember. I think most people are a little afraid to bring it up to me. They figure I don’t want to talk about it so they pretend that it’s not the main thing on their minds. This is one of the first interviews I’ve done since it happened.

It doesn’t seem to bother you too much.

It bothered me for a week or so but only because I let my ego and adrenaline take over that night. He didn’t deserve that opportunity and I was mad that I gave him it. I wasn’t prepared and I knew that going into it. I thought it was gonna be kind of loose and spontaneous, just off the cuff. He was straight off the paper, all comfortable, verses well-memorized. His boys were even in the back ad-libbing. But a battle’s a battle and I wasn’t ready.

Why not?

It wasn’t planned. I wasn’t supposed to be on the bill, but I mentioned to someone I might roll through. Once people heard that, the ball started rolling, “Oh, Ace is coming to battle!” I guess that’s what the people wanted anyway.

You even made a song about it (“Dear Diary”) on the new album. Was that hard?

Nah, it was easy actually. There’s nothing wrong with being realistic about who you are and where your place is. I don’t pretend to be some sort of hip hop legend, like Rakim or Kane, that everyone is gonna hail to. It’s not hard to go at myself and say the things I know people are saying already. I was always gonna do this kind of song, and the battle just sparked me to record it for this album.

DEVIN HORWITZ

Support your hip hop heritage. Pick up Masta Ace’s LP

Disposable Arts

(JCOR), out Halloween 2001.