Search - Aceyalone with RJD2 :: Magnificent City

Some good moments, but falls short

Faye Ly | Bay Area, CA | 04/08/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Magnificent City Score: 3.5/5

Aceyalone and RJD2 are both talented artists. Aceyalone has the ability to shine in his lyrics, and RJD2 almost always burns it up with unique beats. Magnificent City definitely has style and excellent beats, but as great as it sounds, I hate to say that it has it's pitfalls.



1. All For U: RJD2 gives one hell of a beat here, Aceyalone delivers a so/so hook and decent lyrics. Fun song. 4/5

2. Fire: RJD2 delivers a seventies disco reminiscent beat and Aceyalone has a strong delivery, with decent lyrics. Good song, although the beat gets a bit repetitive after 3-4 plays. 4.5/5

3. Cornbread, Eddie & Me: Again, RJD2 delivers, and this time Aceyalone has a powerful delivery with equally powerful lyrics. 5/5

4. MOOORE: RJD2 falls short on this beat, it gets plain out annoying, but it's Aceyalone's repetitive and annoying chants of "MOoore moore more more more" are silly. Skip this track 1/5

5. Supahero: The beat has a cool vibe at first, but gets old. Aceyalone has a strong delivery, but the lyrics aren't very good. It's a decent song, worth listening to a few times. 3/5

6. High Lights: Aceyalone's tribute to drugs, fun beat, creative lyrics, a decent listen. 3.5/5

7. Disconnected: Good beat by RJD2, Aceyalone's lyrics are right on, but it gets repititive after a while. Still a fun listen. 4.5/5

8. Caged Bird: The darn bells on this beat get so repetitive that I only listen to the first 30 seconds of this song. Too bad too- the lyrics on this song are excellent. 3.5/5

9. Solomon Jones: Bouncy beat with some gunshots and other miscallaneous sounds to give you a Wild West bar feel. A storytelling song that isn't excellent, but a fun listen nonetheless. 4/5

10. A Sunday Mystery: just music, listen to it, it's quite soothing. 4/5

11. Junior: A very fun beat by RJD2, another storytelling song, well done and fun. Good delivery, a song that almost was perfect. 4.5/5

12. Heaven: A strong guitar beat with an equally strong hook, a decent song with a pretty good lyrics. Gets old quick though. 4/5

13. Here & Now: Probably the best song on the CD. Aceyalone really shines on this one, with a powerful delivery and excellent lyrics. The beat has some sampled strings and some vocals that accent Aceyalone very well. A good listen. 5/5

14. A Beautiful Mine: Personally I didn't like this beat that much, but it's still a solid job. Aceyalone really comes through with his lyrical prowess and delivery. 5/5



Overall, I enjoyed this CD, but it could have been much better. A fun listen, but where are the clever lyrics?"

Aceyalone + RJD2

T. Snyder | AZ | 03/15/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Aceyalone has let me down a lot recently in terms of releases. He hasn't had a consistently good album for quite awhile.



I loved him about ten years ago, but he's slowly slipped since. Given that, I only picked "Magnificent City" because it was produced by RJD2. RJD2's beats are pretty good throughout this album, as you would expect.



Aceyalone seems to have aged a bit and isn't quite as on-point as he used to be. There are some really stellar songs on here, but then there are some so-so songs. It's about 50-50 in terms of good vs. average.



For example, the album starts out really strong with the first two songs, but then drops at the next two songs. So I found it inconsistent.



"Magnificent City" could have easily been a 5-star classic, but it came up a little short. 3.5 stars."

Underground Disciples

William m Coles | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND United States | 03/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Aceyalone and RJD2 are definately not novice when it comes to the underground sound. They surely ink out their own individual persona's on this project without compromising their unique/distinct abilities. What I tend to appreciate from the underground sound is the lyrical messages that sometimes get overlooked because of a rush to judgement or simply hype. This project is full of those type of messages, life lessons which I attempt to digest more thoroughly during each listening session because this underground music is purposefull. Get this one for your inspection, reflection, recollection; inspire your direction."