Aceyalone — All Balls Don't Bounce

Debut studio album for Edwin M. "Eddie" Hayes Jr. aka Aceyalone, Los Angeles rapper known for being part of the Freestyle Fellowship. The production is split between The Nonce, Punish, Vic Hop, Chillin Villain Empire, Mumbles, Aceyalone and Fat Jack. Eric Saraphin at the mixing. Guests are Abstract Rude, Change of Rhythm, and Freestyle Fellowship members Mikah Nine and Peace. Following the imprisonment of one of the members, the group disbanded and Aceyalone found himself having to pursue his solo career: he comes out in 1995, the West Coast is slowly going through the gangsta and its nuances, while he still wants to do alt rap.

The album is 62 minutes of continuous battle rap. His abstract rap style is inaccessible, it doesn't sound good, it appears poor, cumbersome, dull, sometimes ok, he's not saying anything all the time and he's doing it wrong on one of the worst productions of the season. The music is just generic and ugly, not that bad, but in a year where pretty much everyone did right, hanging out with these scribbled, scarce and bland beats, won't let you stand out from the others. On the contrary, it allows you to stand out in the negative, as one of the weakest acts. There are some of the cheaper, meaner drums of the mid-nineties, surrounded by bland, often annoying sounds, easy-jazz attempts that end up sounding like shoddy pseudo-jazz rhythms.

Most of the tracks are over four minutes long and exhausting, even when, somehow, the producers randomly guess melodic beats ("Makeba", "The Greatest Show on Earth"). The best rhythms seem to be, not surprisingly, in the skits. Some talented rappers can afford to spit on shoddy production and still sound decent, if not good, Aceyalone isn't among them, he just sounds boring. The tape swells over an hour of listening, nothing this wacko rapper mumbles sounds essential and / or relevant, he's a catfish in an ocean of sharks. Published by Capitol, the effort is ignored by audiences and critics alike; later, it's rediscovered as an "underground classic" in retrospect by the insiders, and is received with several perfect scores. 5/10.