Aceyalone

Edwin M. "Eddie" Hayes, Jr., better known by his stage name Aceyalone,is a rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of Freestyle Fellowship, Haiku D'Etat and The A-Team and a co-founder of Project Blowed. Aceyalone is best known for his role in evolving left-field hip-hop on the West Coast at a time when the West Coast was dominated by Gangsta Rap.

Project Blowed and Freestyle Fellowship
Aceyalone emerged from the legendary Project Blowed collective, considered to be the longest-running open mic hip-hop workshop. He began rapping as part of the group Freestyle Fellowship, which consisted of himself, Myka 9, and Self Jupiter and, later, P.E.A.C.E.. The Fellowship developed a reputation for influencing a style of fast double-time rap used by rappers like Busta Rhymes and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

Solo projects
Following the Freestyle Fellowship releases of To Whom It May Concern... and Innercity Griots as well as a Project Blowedcompilation in 1994, Aceyalone signed as a solo artist to Capitol Records after Island failed to break the Fellowship on mainstream radio.

Aceyalone released his breakthrough solo debut album, All Balls Don't Bounce, in 1995. He returned three years later with his second album A Book of Human Language, a collaboration with producer Mumbles, which was a dark concept album.

His third solo album, Accepted Eclectic, was released in 2001, featuring Abstract Rude and production from Evidence. He released Hip Hop and the World We Live In in 2002 that featured a compilation of tracks recorded from 2000-2002 with Elusive of Living Legends. Aceyalone’s next offering came a year later, and was titled Love & Hate. The album featured production from Def Jux alum, RJD2, and El-P as well as a feature from Goapele. The track “Find Out” was featured on the soundtrack to You Got Served. In 2006, Aceyalone released Magnificent City, a collaborative album with producer RJD2 followed by the Grand Imperial mixtape. Aceyalone frequently collaborates with producer Bionik such as on the 2007 release Lightning Strikes and the 2009 release Aceyalone & the Lonely Ones. Both albums explored different genres – dancehall and doo-wop respectively – as part of Aceyalone’s goal of “exploring the world of music through hip hop.” The Phil Spector-inspired Aceyalone & The Lonely Ones followed. Inspired by Spector’s Wall of Sound, Motown and Bo Diddley, Aceyalone said: “I’m not from that era, but this is my ode to it. I’m just putting myself into that character as a showman and bandleader. Leanin' on Slick, released in 2013 with Decon Records, continued the retro flow of the previous release, this time taking inspiration from ‘60s style-R&B and hot buttered soul. The album featured production from Bionik and features from Cee Lo Green and Daniel Merriweather.

Lyrical innovations
Aceyalone has been noted particularly for his innovative lyrical style and content. Some attribute the double-time rap styles that emerged in the mid-1990s to Aceyalone and theFreestyle Fellowship, although this is disputed by others. Aceyalone and the Freestyle Fellowship were noted for their rejection of the West Coast trend in Gangsta Rap. Aceyalone developed strong critiques of rap music’s commercialization and glorification of violence.

Albums

 * All Balls Don't Bounce (1995)
 * A Book of Human Language (1998)
 * Accepted Eclectic (2001)
 * Hip Hop and the World We Live In (2002)
 * Love & Hate (2003)
 * Magnificent City (2006)
 * Grand Imperial (2006)
 * Lightning Strikes (2007)
 * Aceyalone & the Lonely Ones (2009)
 * Leanin' on Slick (2013)
 * Action (2015)

Singles

 * "Mic Check" (1995)
 * "Moonlit Skies" (2003)
 * "Lost Your Mind" (2003)
 * "Fire" (2005)
 * "Supahero" (2006)

Freestyle Fellowship

 * To Whom It May Concern... (1991)
 * Innercity Griots (1993)
 * Temptations (2001)
 * Shockadoom (2002)
 * The Promise (2011)

Haiku D'Etat

 * Haiku D'Etat (1999)
 * Coup de Theatre (2004)

The A-Team

 * Who Framed The A-Team? (1999)
 * Lab Down Under (2003)

Guest appearances

 * Fat Jack - "Gimme Five Feet" "Golden Mic" from Cater to the DJ (1999)
 * Dilated Peoples - "The Shape of Things to Come" from The Platform (2000)
 * Anti-Pop Consortium - "Heatrays" from Tragic Epilogue (2000)
 * Self Jupiter - "4808-4911-A" from Hard Hat Area (2001)
 * Busdriver - "Jazz Fingers" from Temporary Forever (2002)
 * Linkin Park - "Wth>You" from Reanimation (2002)
 * Zion I - "Cheeba Cheeba" from Deep Water Slang V2.0 (2003)
 * Wildchild - "Bounce" from Secondary Protocol (2003)
 * Abstract Rude - "What Tyme Iz It?" from Showtyme (2003)
 * Fat Jack - "Keep Rock'n On" from Cater to the DJ 2 (2004)
 * Ellay Khule - "B-Girl Queendom" from Califormula (2005)
 * DJ Z-Trip - "Everything Changes" from Shifting Gears (2005)
 * Myka 9 - "Options" from 1969 (2009)
 * Myka 9 - "Oh Yeah... Alright" from Mykology (2012)
 * Abstract Rude - "The Media" from Dear Abbey (2012)

Compilation appearances

 * "Jurassick" "I Think" "Maskaraid" "Treble and Bass" on Project Blowed (1995)
 * "Project Bliznaiznowed" on The Funky Precedent (1999)
 * "Future Rockers" on Tags of the Times 3 (2001)
 * "Do the Math" "Give It Here" "Superstars" on Project Blowed Presents the Good Brothers (2003)
 * "Doin' My Job" on 2K6: The Tracks (2005)
 * "Enter the Kaos" "Do Unto Others" "Ruff Rhymes" on Project Blowed 10th Anniversary (2005)
 * "Let's Go Get It" "Borderline" "Krazy World" on Calicomm 2004 (2005)
 * "Champions" on Dan the Automator Presents 2K7 (2006)