By Daniel Paiz

A Week’s Worth Album Review returns in 2024 by diving into Masta Ace and Marco Polo’s newest collaboration, Richmond Hill. These two have collaborated before, but this collaboration might be their best to date. The Brownsville-Brooklyn emcee’s rhymes mesh fluidly with beats from the Toronto raised producer. 2024 is quite young at this point, but this album might still be making noise at the end of the year. Lessons from youth are always 20/20 in hindsight, but there are good reminders here, nonetheless.

Lessons from Richmond Hill

It’s an interesting method of chronicling different parts of life that have shaped Polo. Marco goes about with a few interludes that dive into certain segments of life. There’s birth, growing up, getting into school, and into trouble. There are a few ways to learn a lesson, but it boils down learning it the easy way or the hard way. Usually the hard way sticks more, because it’s conistent repetition. Marco Polo and Masta Ace dig into that with “Heat of the Moment” and “Jordan Theory”.

Perception is a big driver for “Jordan Theory”, as the short-term gains lead to long-term dysfunction. The frugalness of poverty is an intriguing flip of the short-term harming the long-term. This last section breaks it down best:

“I’m saying woosah, can’t have tantrum,

Mom saying “no” was our favorite anthem,

we’ve been hearing no, na-uh, no, most of our lives it was uh-ah, no,

You can’t have that, you can’t go, we can’t afford that, uh-uh, no

all of our lives it was uh-uh no, all we ever heard was uh-uh, no,

can’t build wealth now, we can’t grow, cuz we still remember that uh-uh, no.

Masta Ace on “Jordan Theory”

It’s interesting how being risk averse due to a lack of funds leads to not taking action that will help to get out of said financial situation. Holding onto what one has is born out of not just poverty, but a time where you held onto everything you had. This largely stemmed from the 1920s Stock Market crash, which ruined families; nearly one hundred years later the mindset still permeates.

Something else lingering for the better is Ace’s lyrical prowess. Not only does he deliver thorough narrative across the album, but he also holds his own with guests ranging from Coast Contra to Inspectah Deck dropping feature verses. On “Hero”, Ace showcases some of that range:

Wear a mask and cape, but keep the tights,

You can’t compare us, so prepare for some sleepless nights,

My thick skin can withstand all these creature’s bites,

They won’t allow this Black man to reach his heights,

But I LEAP,

Over low blows in a single bound

verse 1 from Masta Ace on Hero

What’s impressive here is this track is well-designed for Inspectah Deck to shine, as it has that comic book setup, CZARFACE style. The previous track, “Cartunes (skit)”, sets up “Hero” nicely. Ace depicts action through the excerpt above, keeping pace with Inspectah Deck’s verse that follows after the chorus. Ace is beating the competition, defeating creatures, and society’s perspective on Black men; that’s a full day’s work in a single verse.

Reasons to check this out

The chemistry is strong between Masta Ace and Marco Polo. Ace drops rhymes that snugly fit Polo’s beats, and Polo constructs sounds that displays Ace’s bars. This Boom Bap meets underground Hip Hop sound has that quality of sound that’s from the Golden Era yet sounds like it just released. When songs can be played over several times and you get something new each time, that’s a good sign; however, when you play it and you get eerily similar feels to that first play, that’s the mark of something memorable.

There’s also the time value of getting 18 tracks in about 45 minutes. Skits help set up a few songs, and they all serve a purpose at moving the project along. The album also has a nice mix of guest features, including Blu, Che Noir, Coast Contra, Inspectah Deck, and more. If you like consistency and rhymes that craft intriguing imagery, you likely will enjoy this project. These two are kind of slept on when it comes to Hip-Hop team-ups, so wake up to this seasoned duo.