Masta Ace’s new album drops next week. Ace and Edo G combined forces to release A&E:

I got an “advance” copy this morning around 6am. It’s definitely worth a listen. It’s going into my rotation, not least for a banging track featuring KRS. There’s also piles of shouts to Obama’s crew. I doubt Rahm Emmanuel ever thought he’d end up an imperfect rhyme, but wasn’t it Public Enemy who said hip hop is the black CNN?

The album also touches on the “hip hop is dead” meme with some vague promises of hope. I’m toying with a new three-star hip hop album rating system:

1. Hip hop is dead.
2. There’s still hope.
3. Wu Tang is forever.

I’m still working on the ranking names but this album is a solid deuce. It just barely failed to fully gel in my 6am listening session, but I’m not sure if that’s a “if you want my old shit but my old album” thing or what. Could be the beast just needs a couple of listens.

High-tech disses too:

We cowboy these fools like Tony Romo,
Rip they posters, spit on they logo,
Open they Pro Tools, erase they vocal.

Ohh, snap!