Duval Clear (born December 4, 1966),[2] better known by his stage name Masta Ace, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City.

A lead member of Mr. Magic's hip hop collective Juice Crew, he is best known for his guest appearance alongside Kool G Rap, Craig G and Big Daddy Kane on the group's 1988 posse cut "The Symphony".

[2] In the years following his debut, Ace developed bitter feelings toward the commercial state of hip hop music and the prominence of Gangsta rap.

The singles "SlaughtaHouse", "Saturday Nite Live", "Style Wars" and "Jeep Ass Niguh" were taken from the album.

After the split, Ace was largely missing from the hip hop scene over the next five years, save for a number of random vinyl singles.

[2] Masta Ace also performed numerous "Dubtitled" voice overs on the television series titled Kung Faux.

Subsequently, Ace announced the formation of his new rap crew named eMC, including himself, Punchline, Wordsworth and his protégé Strick.

[8] eMC's first group album, The Show, was scheduled for early 2007 but was released in February 2008 digitally and April 2008 physically.

[9] Arts & Entertainment got shortened to A&E which resulted in the cable TV channel A&E asking Masta and Edo to remove the symbol from their original album artwork.

[11] In an interview, Ace explained that he devised the Son of Yvonne album to express things he had been unable to say to his mother before she died.

[12] In January 2014, Masta Ace reunited with Stricklin, Wordsworth and Punchline as eMC, signing a record deal with Penalty Entertainment and Sony Red.

At the end of the interview, Masta Ace also confirmed he has begun filming another documentary for his critically acclaimed album "A Long Hot Summer".

[19] Masta Ace was prominently the vocal artist on his co-authored track "Talkin' What I Feel" by the short-lived but hugely respected early 1990s British formed group Young Disciples fronted by Carleen Anderson .

He appeared on Czech hiphop group Prago Union's album "HDP", where he performed on the track "Beat and I a já und ich" along with German rapper Dendemann.

He is also featured on the track "Sminke" by the critically acclaimed Norwegian Hip Hop duo Karpe Diem.

In 2010, he appeared on "You don't know about it" alongside M-Dot, a track by French hip hop DJ/Producer DJ Jean Maron from his album "RUN MPC".

[20] The same year, he is featured on "The Bridge", a song by Polish hip hop squad Slums Attack from album "CNO 2" In 2014, he collaborated with Canberra-based Australian rapper Nix on the single "SHE".

[2] Commenting on how Masta Ace is sometimes overlooked despite his skill, Rolling Stone says, "even the most avid fan of raw hip-hop lyricism can sometimes neglect to mention Masta Ace alongside hard-bitten champs such as Rakim, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick and Kool G Rap".