Masta Ace

Not to be confused with Masta Killa of the Wu-Tang Clan, Masta Ace is a card-carrying member of the legendary Juice Crew, a lineup that also included Marley Marl, Biz Markie, and Big Daddy Kane. Together they teamed up on the piano-trailing classic posse cut "The Symphony." On more of a solo tip, the heavyweight and hazy Kraftwerk sample of "Born to Roll" helped bring a Brooklyn-based spin to the bottom-heavy G-funk sound emanating from the West Coast in the early '90s.

As our Next Steps are about to prove time and time again, that's just the tip of the turntable when it comes to Ace's criminally overlooked career.

One thing Masta Ace did better than most MCs in the '90s was straddle the East and West Coast scenes despite mounting tensions between the two. Rather than beef with California's leading rhyme slayers, the New York City native listened closely to their jeep-ready jams, bringing a similar bass-heavy bent to the chest-thumping, straight-outta-Brooklyn drum breaks of tracks like "Rollin' Wit Umdadda" and "Terror." Lest you think he exited the game somewhere along the way, he's also kept it contemporary in recent years on such New Jack songs as the Eminem-starring, Medieval Times-channeling "Hellbound."

Not to be outdone, our Deep Cuts also give reason for the rap game to give thanks to one of its most respected stars.

What we've got here is a stack of slammin' hip-hop tracks topped off with the proven and poignant flow of Masta Ace. "Evol" shuffles and shakes right alongside a showboating O'Jays sample; "Sick of It All" rubs a ring, ring dong/ring a ding ding dong melody against paint-peeling percussion patterns; "The Hit Man" spins around a funky-fresh spy groove; and "Taboo" brings to mind Masta Ace's old-school beginnings as well as…xylophone-tingling TV jingles? Indeed. No wonder this MC calls himself the Masta.

Remember Masta Ace of the legendary Juice Crew and the later-in-the-game-but-no-less-influential group Masta Ace Incorporated? Nah? In the words of KRS-One, you must learn. And we're about to take you to school, from Masta Ace's days of dropping just the right verse on such golden-age block-party favorites as "The Symphony" to recent pass-the-mic highlights with modern-day MCs like Jean Grae (the soulful nostalgia trip "Soda & Soap"). And somewhere in the middle are such stellar what the…? moments as the heady, rare-groove-referencing funk of "Wake Me When I'm Dead" and the oh-so-'60s car-chase soundtrack of "Express Delivery." You got all that? Good.