MA_Doom: Son of Yvonne in Bloomington, MN

The idea of a collaborative album from
Masta Ace
and
MF Doom
is exciting, interesting, and surprising all at once, and while
MA_Doom: Son of Yvonne
is all of three of those adjectives, it isn't really a collaboration.
Doom
is here for a verse, delivering the great "Think I Am" next to
Masta
and hip-hop royalty
Big Daddy Kane
, but the rest of the album is built mostly from
's old
Special Herbs
albums, the instrumental series he released between 2000 and 2005 under the name
Metal Fingers
(or
Metal Fingaz
). To top it off,
MA_Doom
is also a concept album dedicated to
the Masta
's late mother, and most of it focuses on the rapper's early life with tracks like "Me and My Gang" and "Home Sweet Home" delivering all the nostalgia and warmth their titles imply. Confusingly, the key track "Da'pro" grabs its beat from a
Nas
song and not
's, but like everything on the album, it works. Well worth a
,
, or underground hip-hop head's attention; just don't get hung up on the collaboration bit. ~ David Jeffries