Aceyalone & The Lonely Ones

Aceyalone & the Lonely Ones
[Decon; 2009]
Acey's Myspace
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After Aceyalone's failed attempt at meshing dancehall and reggae with hip-hop on 2007's Lightning Strikes, it would be hard for long-time fans to not be skeptical. While Acey has had a long-storied career of trading verses with groups like Freestyle Fellowship and dropping rapidfire, multi-syllabic rhymes, his recent body of work has been somewhat inconsistent. Magnificent City, the album he did with RJD2 was a good collaboration, but neither artist was at the top of his game, making for a rather forgettable effort, and Lightning Strikes was just plain bad. Now, with the help of a live band, Acey attempts to mesh doo-wop with hip-hop. And the result is surprisingly good and undeniably fun.

Acey's ode to doo-wop is carefree and upbeat; full of finger-snapping and oohs and ahhs. In short, everything you remember about doo-wop is here. The only difference is that Acey adds his own unique blend of vocals to the mix. Though you can hear Acey deliver some sing-songy lyrics throughout the album, he also doesn't shy away from showing off his signature rapidfire flow. He also covers a lot of topics in a short amount of time. Tracks like "Lonely Ones" and "Step Up" see Acey admiring the opposite sex. "Lonely Ones," the album's opening track grabs your attention with its uptempo tone and sets a nice pace for the rest of the album. Even the unoriginal ideas, like "Working Man's Blues" and "To the Top," are done with such grace and style you won't find yourself hitting the skip button. Acey even tackles more serious issues with "Power to the People," a Civil Rights-era anthem that provides a nice change of pace to the buttery '50s vibe of the rest of the album. For the majority of the album Bionik's production is on-point. The horns, finger-snaps, and cooing rarely distract from Aceyalone's mellow delivery, but all of those elements give the album an upbeat and carefree vibe. In all, Lonely Ones is a refreshing and creative album that easily could have failed. While some will find the doo-wop stylings a little cheesy, others will appreciate Acey's attempt at pushing hip-hop's boundaries yet again. If anything, this proves that when Aceyalone takes on a project, he goes all the way in.

1. Listen Start to Finish - 15
2. Listen Again Within a Week - 13
3. Originality - 17
4. Advancement - 12
5. Remorse - 13

Album Total Rating - 70