MA_Doom: Son of Yvonne

Personnel: DJ Skizz (scratches).
Audio Mixer: Rich Ahee.
Recording information: ProMixMaster Studios, NYC.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Torae; James Williams ; Rich Ahee; Pav Bundy; Juwan "Young Ace" Slater; Guys At the Store; Yulanda "Yvonne" Knights; Big Daddy Kane.
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 Doom'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 Doom's, but like everything on the album, it works. Well worth a Masta, Doom, or underground hip-hop head's attention; just don't get hung up on the collaboration bit. ~ David Jeffries