The RockBox: Masta Ace – Born to Roll
May 8, 2008
“Brainiac, dumb-dumb, bust the scientifical
Approach to the course and the force is centrifugal…”
I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve walked into a club or bar where the crowd goes from lifeless to hype in 4 bars. That’s how hard of a classic Masta Ace Inc’s “Born to Roll” is. Whether this song randomly plays on your iPod, or you dig through your old stuff and find a mixtape from 8th grade, or you happened to drop this at a party (like I did recently), you can’t help but to nod your head violently while yelling out the above lines at the top of your lungs. This track is that sure fire joint that will get you in a wild mood. With it’s made-for-20 inch rockford fosgate woofers-bass and the lyrical mastery of Masta Ace, you will never not wyle out to this track. Despite his original diss to the West Coast and Gangsta rap, he took elements from the West, laid his east coast rhyme style on top, shot a low-budget video as gutter as the car shows featured in it, and made it both a commercial success and a true classic. It’s the ode to the heavy bass/low rider cruisin scene: hydros, bikinis, 40s, and um, a little BASS.
What I like about Masta Ace on this track is that his flow he spits is both digestable but not stupid (like 98% of all rappers nowadays). He rides the production like he rides his cars, and that has been missing in a lot of hip-hop for the past decade. It’s the perfect combination of what hip-hop needs to sound like.
Alright, off of my soapbox. Bottom line is: THIS IS an anthem for the riders. THIS IS an anthem from the 90s. THIS IS an anthem for hip-hop. PERIOD.
