Masta Ace and his many, many worlds. Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur and DJ Thoro talk about Ace and all that he’s got going on, past, present and future possibilities. Eminem, Juice Crew, Born to Roll, Fat Joe and “The Falling Season.“
Masta Ace is one of Hip-Hop’s most respected lyricists, a quiet giant whose influence spans decades. From his early days in the legendary Juice Crew to cult classics like Disposable Arts and A Long Hot Summer, Ace has remained consistent, creative and deeply authentic. He’s one of us.
In this exclusive AllHipHop interview, Masta Ace opens up about his new stage play The Falling Season, why he never chased gimmicks, the origins of “Born to Roll” and the viral debates about whether Eminem borrowed his flow.
Jigsaw: Let’s jump right in. A lot of people online say Eminem might have borrowed from your flow. What’s your reaction when you hear that?
Masta Ace: I’ve seen those posts, and honestly, I don’t repost that stuff because I think it’s disrespectful. As artists we all feed off each other. Early on, I even sounded like Rakim. We’re all finding our way. Eminem has said himself he was influenced by a lot of people—Redman, Kane, Onyx, Grap, a long list. I might have been one of those names, but he took it to a whole different plateau. I respect him, and he respects me. He’s influenced me too—with the courage to say things you might not expect a rapper to say, and the way he rhymes words you wouldn’t think of.
Jigsaw: Speaking of influence, Disposable Arts and A Long Hot Summer are classics. You’re now bringing characters from those albums into your play The Falling Season. Can you tell us about that?
Masta Ace: Yeah, the play is influenced by three albums: Disposable Arts, A Long Hot Summer, and The Falling Season. I pulled characters from the skits—like Lisa from Disposable Arts and Fats Belvedere from A Long Hot Summer—and built them into full characters. The play follows a 17-year-old in high school, mixing in parts of my real life with those album storylines. It’s Hip-Hop theater, but authentically Hip-Hop—not just rapping like Hamilton, but something DJs, producers, and MCs can truly connect with.
Jigsaw: You’ve got one of the most consistent catalogs in rap, but you’ve said labels didn’t always see your vision. What happened with “Me & the Biz”?
Masta Ace: That was Warner forcing my hand. I wanted “Music Man” as my first single. They told me flat out, “If ‘Me & the Biz’ isn’t first, don’t expect a second single.” As a new artist, I couldn’t push back. The label made it into a novelty record, even with the puppet. That wasn’t me. But the lesson I learned pushed me to make Slaughtahouse gritty and hard. That album wouldn’t have sounded the way it did without that experience.
Jigsaw: And then came “Born to Roll,” which blew up. How close was that to never happening?
Masta Ace: Real close. “Born to Roll” was actually the remix to “Jeep Ass N###a.” Delicious Vinyl didn’t even want to release it—they were already pushing “Slaughterhouse.” I fought to get it tacked onto the B-side. Radio stations in the Bay and L.A. started playing it instead of the A-side, and it spread nationwide. That’s when the label scrambled and said, “We need a video.” That record set everything off.
DJ Thoro: Looking back at the Juice Crew—“The Symphony,” G Rap, Kane, Biz, Shan—what was that environment like?
Masta Ace: The bar was set very high. You had to sink or swim. We weren’t as close personally as people think—we’d mostly see each other at the label or shows—but the competition was real. I knew it’d be hard to stand out, but it shaped me. Funny thing, I wasn’t even signed to Cold Chillin’ when “The Symphony” dropped. They didn’t even plan an album for me until “Letter to the Better” blew up in the U.K. That’s when they finally said, “Okay, we’ll do an album.”
Jigsaw: You’ve been in the game since the 80s. What keeps you motivated?
Masta Ace: The fans. When someone like Thoro tells me a song helped him keep going, or fans come up to me at the merch table and say my music got them through something—that makes it worthwhile. Awards are nice, but knowing I’ve impacted lives is what really counts.
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