（作者: Raffaello） 　　Aceyalone原名Eddie Hayes，是美国最著名的地下饶舌歌手之一。 　　 　　他是西岸著名地下饶舌团体Freestyle Fellowship的创始者，除了Freestyle Fellowship以外，他同样也是Haiku D’Etat（另两人是Mikah 9和Abstract Rude）和The A-Team（另一人是Abstract Rude）组合的一员。 　　 　　他和Freestyle Fellowship一起发行了两张专辑《To Whom It May Concern》和《Innercity Griots》之后，Aceyalone签约到了Capitol唱片公司，并于1995年发行了颇受好评的个人处子专辑《All Balls Don’t Bounce》。3年之后他和制作人Mumbles合作发行了他第二张个人专辑《A Book Of Human Language》。1999年，他作为Haiku D’Etat组合的一员推出了一张同名专辑。2001年，The A-Team发行了他们第一张也是唯一一张《Who Framed TheA-Team?》。 　　 　　2001年，Aceyalone又以个人名义回归了，第三张个人专辑《AcceptedEclectic》成功发行。2002年，Freestyle Fellowship上张专辑推出9年后，他们终于又出专辑了，取名为《Shockadoom》。2002年和2003年Aceyalone分别发行了一张个人专辑《Hip Hop and the World We Live》和《Love &Hate》。 　　 　　2006年，他和著名制作人RJD2合作的《Magnificent City》上市，紧随其后的是他另一张个人的b-sides选集《Grand Imperial》，2007，Aceyalone再发一张《Lightning Strikes》，也成为了Hip-Hop界最为多产的艺人之一。 　　 　　Just a few months after Magnificent City came out, rapper Aceyalone came back with a limited-edition mixtape of exclusive tracks, remixes, and other goodies. As to be expected (and desired), three of the songs on Grand Imperial were made with the producer he shared the honors with on Magnificent City, RJD2, who is really quite talented in his ability to make a diverse set of beats while still sounding like himself, and all three tracks included here continue to prove that. "Never Come Back" is all about sweeping synthesizer/xylophone rolls and hollow beats, while "Angelina Valintina" employs a fiery and seductive violin riff. "Impact", the closing track on the album, is probably the closest to a "traditional" RJD2 beat, with a fuller, lusher backdrop similar to what was found on his solo records. Unlike Magnificent City, Grand Imperial also includes guest artists. In fact, the songs that stand out on the album are actually the ones that Aceyalone did with other people. "Everything Changes", which features haunting vocals from Mystic and a desolate piano and drum combination from Z-Trip, is fantastic; and while the hook to "Sunsets & Waterfalls" is a little grating, guest rappers Otherwize and Pterradacto are excellent, with witty rhymes that are so quick the song will be over before you actually catch what they're saying. There are a few cuts that don't quite live up to all that Aceyalone can usually provide: "Pose", for example, has a beat that's probably been used already in a thousand battles, and the rhymes are simply mediocre, and while the reggaeton club anthem "Push" is boring lyrically, and depends mainly upon the bass. But these are just little quips, and songs like "Makebalillia", a live rehashing/medley of "Makeba" and "Annalillia" or the title track, with Kenny Segal producing a Faithless-esque guitar background punctuated by funky horns that would easily fit onto anything by Cut Chemist, all but make up for whatever mistakes occurred. If you can get your hands on one of the few copies of Grand Imperial out there, do it fast. You won't regret it.