Aceyalone - The Way It Was ft. Bionik

If you set your dial to a mainstream hip-hop station today, you’ll likely hear a mix of recognizable samples, grimy eccentricity, and synth-driven club bangers so glossy they sound like they were beamed onto the airwaves from a passing spaceship.  Now, I’m not knocking the production trends du jour, but sometimes I want to hear something different—really different.  Enter industry vet and hip-hop experimentalist Aceyalone, whose latest single and first Booth feature, The Way It Was, sees him and beatsmith Bionik drawing inspiration from classic Motown soul, as well as Phil Spector’s revolutionary, reverb-drenched “Wall of Sound” production style.  Fortunately, both Ace and Bionik have pop savvy to match their high-concept creativity, as demonstrated in the former’s propulsive, pitch-perfect rhymes, and the latter’s insanely catchy hook.  Aceyalone & the Lonely Ones is set to serve up plenty more doo-wop, blues, and funk-influenced grooves when it hits stores March 31st—I’m certainly looking forward to it.