Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (born April 12, 1967, South Gate, California), better known as Mellow Man Ace, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 1st hit single “Mentirosa”.
The story of Mellow Man Ace begins in Cuba…Born under communism in Cuba, Mellow Man Ace became his families’ ticket to freedom and passport to the United States . At that time in Cuba , having a child meant a family became eligible for an exit visa. “I was the third born and my number hit the lotto, although we didn’t get to leave until four years later due to politics. My family gives me the credit for being here enjoying our freedom in the U.S. ” Upon arriving in America , the family was greeted in Miami , moved to New Jersey and ended up in South Gate , California on Cypress Avenue where it all began. “At 15 years old, it hit me that I was put here in the U.S. for a reason, I had a purpose,” says Mellow Man.
Mellow Man first got into rap music in 1983 after hearing The Treacherous Three for the first time. As he says, “It wasn’t really happening out here yet, we were still pop locking and break dancing. When I first heard rap, I knew I had found my calling. ” Writing as many rhymes as he could and cutting demos with his brother Sen Dog and B-Real, he still hadn’t found his exact niche within Hip-Hop. From then on he began his journey of creating and perfecting bilingual songs. “I was ecstatic to realize I could fulfill my dreams and represent for my Latino people all in one!”
Havana-born Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (Mellow Man Ace) and older brother Senen Reyes (Sen Dog) formed a rap quartet DVX (Devastating Vocal Xcellence) with Lawrence Muggerud (DJ Muggs) and Louis Freese (B-Real). After a few years Mellow Man was signed by Delicious Vinyl and then Capitol Records to launch a solo career. The remaining three members formed the group Cypress Hill, named after Cypress Avenue , the street in South Gate where they all grew up. With the debut of his first LP entitled Escape From Havana on Capitol Records, Mellow Man created a unique style of rap that traded off between his native tongue Spanish and English, he called it “Spanglish”. Mellow would not only be the creator of “Spanglish” and Spanish rap, but also the first Latin rap artist to reach Gold and Platinum sales in the U.S. and Latin America . This achievement would open a non-existent door for a host of other groups such as Control Machete, Big Pun, Fat Joe and The Beatnuts to name a few. A 1 hit; “Mentírosa” (Liar) became the recipe to follow for Latin artists who wanted to rap in Spanish. The best in the business were brought in from the likes of The Dust Brothers, DJ Muggs and Tony G. working with such sample wizardry as Santana, War and James Brown. A rigorous touring schedule through the U.S. , all over Latin America, Europe and Japan brought him together with musical giants Celia Cruz, En Vogue, A Tribe Called Quest and others. Countries like Columbia , Costa Rica , Mexico , Argentina and Chile had never experienced anything like a Hip-Hop show let alone a rapper who spoke in their native tongue.
As success grew, songs like “En La Casa” and “Welcome to My Groove” were featured in the motion picture, Marked For Death, as well as writing “Real Estate” for Cypress Hill’s first album Cypress Hill which went on to Platinum sales. Soon after the follow up LP entitled The Brother With Two Tongues was also released on Capitol Records. The LP proved that Mellow Man Ace had matured not only lyrically but musically as well by bringing something different to the Hip-Hop table.
Extended Info Here:
http://mellowmanace.com/bio.htm
chicano latino cuban rap sureno sur 13 x3 mentirosa old school cuba mellow man ace 1989 89 havana
