Magnificent City is a full American studio album by American rapper Aceyalone, accompanied by American hip hop producer RJD2. It was released on Decon and Project Blowed in 2006.[1] It peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart,[2] as well as number 43 on the Independent Albums chart.[3]

Magnificent City
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 7, 2006 (2006-02-07)
GenreHip hop
Length51:48
Label
ProducerRJD2
Aceyalone chronology
Love & Hate
(2003)
Magnificent City
(2006)
Grand Imperial
(2006)
RJD2 chronology
Since We Last Spoke
(2004)
Magnificent City
(2006)
The Third Hand
(2007)
Singles from Magnificent City
  1. "Fire"
    Released: 2005 (2005)
  2. "Supahero"
    Released: 2006 (2006)

RJD2 released a compilation of instrumental versions of songs from the album in 2006, entitled Magnificent City Instrumentals.[4] The track "A Beautiful Mine" was adapted as the opening theme of the AMC television series Mad Men.[5]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic81/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [7]
The A.V. ClubA−[8]
Robert Christgau [9]
Exclaim!unfavorable[10]
HipHopDX3.0/5[11]
IGN8.0/10[12]
Pitchfork3.2/10[1]
Slant Magazine     [13]
Stylus MagazineB−[14]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 10 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[6]

John Bush of AllMusic gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, saying: "Ten years after West Coast rap began to slow down, Rjd2 shows he can interpret it for the 21st century, with huge hooks that draw listeners in, but clever productions that allow for all of Aceyalone's talents to shine through."[7] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club gave the album a grade of A−, saying: "Aceyalone hasn't felt this vital in ages, and RJD2's creative winning streak continues unabated."[8]

Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine named it the 9th best album of 2006.[15]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."All for U"3:28
2."Fire"4:11
3."Cornbread, Eddie & Me"2:46
4."Mooore"4:49
5."Supahero"4:11
6."High Lights"3:22
7."Disconnected"3:21
8."Caged Bird"3:12
9."Solomon Jones"3:46
10."A Sunday Mystery"1:33
11."Junior"3:41
12."Heaven"3:38
13."Here & Now"4:21
14."A Beautiful Mine"5:29

Charts

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Chart Peak
position
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[2] 39
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[3] 43

References

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  1. ^ a b Breihan, Tom (February 12, 2006). "Aceyalone: Magnificent City". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Aceyalone: Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Aceyalone: Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  4. ^ "Magnificent City Instrumentals - RJD2". AllMusic. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  5. ^ Nagy, Evie (May 20, 2015). ""Mad Men" Theme Composer RJD2 Plans his Next TV Takeover". Fast Company. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Magnificent City by Aceyalone". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Bush, John. "Aceyalone / RJD2 - Magnificent City". AllMusic. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  8. ^ a b Rabin, Nathan (February 8, 2006). "Aceyalone and RJD2: Magnificent City". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Magnificent City". Robert Christgau. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  10. ^ Patch, Nick (April 2006). "Aceyalone - Magnificent City". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  11. ^ J-23 (February 14, 2006). "Aceyalone & Rjd2 - Magnificent City". HipHopDX. Retrieved April 16, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Durig, Jim (February 7, 2006). "Aceyalone (accompanied by RJD2) - Magnificent City". IGN. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  13. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (February 11, 2006). "Aceyalone: Magnifcent City". Slant Magazine. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  14. ^ Nishimoto, Dan (February 6, 2006). "Aceyalone - Magnificent City". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  15. ^ Cinquemani, Sal; Keefe, Jonathan (December 15, 2006). "The Best Albums & Singles of 2006 (Page 4 of 5)". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
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