Music about music is a tradition of popular culture. In hip hop, music about the musician is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor. To allow a look past your persona and be vulnerable can ruin your image as a badass, a gangsta, a force of nature or whatever deity Kanye West is sitting by the pool with. For Blak Ace, we’re treated to a reminder that inspirational messages tied into vulnerability can bring a greater sense of character in a powerful way. My Passion is a track that’s about music and the musician. The relationship between art and artist doesn’t have to be abstract. It doesn’t have to focus solely on struggles and sorrows. Black Ace finds that music is worth whatever it takes and is willing to give himself to it for the sake of the life music gives back. Moreover, this song encourages others.
Anyone who can’t get past the notion that hip hop is about selfishness, aggressiveness and general thuggery needs to open their ears. Blak Ace is not the first, nor will he be the last, to understand that music has power and that power can change people. Spreading messages of following ones dreams and living their passions to the fullest doesn’t sound like the bad influence scapegoat that hip hop has become to so many parents. In fact, one of the best qualities of My Passion is that it teaches pride in oneself and belief in a time when people aren’t always ready to follow their dreams. Today, we need more artists like Blak Ace.
-Paul Weyer