I’m not really a fan of rap. Most of the hits on the radio sound like garbage to me. But every once and a while, there is an album that floats my way that grabs my attention. This month, its Masta Ace’s masta-piece (sorry.): Disposable Arts

At first glance, this album doesn’t have a lot going for it: almost every track has a “feat. [someone]” tacked on the end of it, it was promoted as a comeback/final hurrah of sorts (which is almost always disappointing [see: any album with “part 2” in the title]), and is simply teeming with gratuitous interludes.

Disposable Arts came out in October of 2001, in a time when life was a little simpler. Ace had been absent from the rap game for 6 years prior, due to a pesky bout of “disillusionment” with how bad most rap had become. But his criticism is precisely what informed this opus. At every turn, he parodies the genre’s captivation with all things bling-y, thug-y and crunk-y. So what shines though is honesty and frankness.

It is a concept album, a rap opera of sorts. It begins like most albums of the genre: with the main character being released from prison and promising the white prison guard that he’d never be back. Just to make sure the listener knows that the guard is white, Ace gives him a thick Irish accent.

The plot—about a man who leaves the streets for a education at a hip-hop technical institute—gets pretty weak right around the middle, and the dialog-heavy interludes simply exist to set up a theme for the following song. But the thematic coherence is still there. And the guest spots are pretty great. Especially MC Paul Barman (who goes uncredited).

Lyrically, Masta Ace is second to none. He obviously was not resting on his laurels for 6 years. Disposable Arts has one of the sickest dis songs I have ever heard, where he takes on High & Mighty and Boogieman (this really dates the album, but its still great).

Just like the album cover, this LP is not flashy. It is absolutely devoid of the braggadocio that most other emcees rely on. Which is why I find this album so refreshing even 8 years later.