Editing Mellow Man Ace

{{Short description|Cuban American rapper (born 1967)}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| background        = songwriter, actor
| image             = Mellow Man Ace.jpg
| caption           = Mellow Man Ace performing in 2022
| birth_name        = Ulpiano Sergio Reyes
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|mf=y|1967|4|12}}
| birth_place       = [[Pinar del Río]], [[Pinar del Río Province]], [[Cuba]]
| origin            = [[South Gate, California]], U.S.
| genre             = {{hlist|[[Hip hop music|Hip hop]]|[[West Coast hip hop]]|[[Latin hip hop]]}}
| years_active      = 1987–present
| label             = {{hlist|[[Capitol Records|Capitol]]|[[EMI]]|X-Ray|Dimelo|Latin Thug|Royal Bloodline Records}}
| past_member_of    = [[Cypress Hill]]
}}

'''Ulpiano Sergio Reyes''' (born April 12, 1967), better known as '''Mellow Man Ace''', is a Cuban-American rapper known for bilingual delivery and [[novelty song|novelty]] rhymes.<ref name="LarkinDM"/> He was born in Cuba and moved to [[Los Angeles]] with his family at the age of four.<ref name="LarkinDM"/>

==Early life and career==
A Cuban rapper born in Cuba, Mellow Man Ace focused on lovers rap with a blend of urban hip hop and occasional bilingual delivery, and a heady gift for novelty rhymes. Born Ulpiano Sergio Reyes in 1967, he left Cuba with his family at the age of four and resettled in Los Angeles.<ref name="LarkinDM"/> His family moved to [[South Gate, California]] at a very young age. His debut album ''[[Escape from Havana]]'' was released on [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] on August 29, 1989, and featured production from [[Dust Brothers|the Dust Brothers]] and [[Def Jef]].<ref name="LarkinDM"/> The single "[[Mentirosa]]" was released on March 9, 1990.<ref name="LarkinDM"/> It was his only hit single, peaking at Number 14 on [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']]'s Hot 100 Chart, with Ace rapping over a crafty hook from the [[Carlos Santana|Santana]] songs "[[No One to Depend On]]" and "[[Evil Ways (Santana song)|Evil Ways]]".<ref name="LarkinDM"/> His use of these songs got him into some legal trouble, as he had not obtained permission to sample Santana's songs, nor were any royalty fees paid to Santana before recording and releasing the track. Ace recorded one additional album, ''The Brother with Two Tongues'',<ref name="LarkinDM"/> before virtually retiring from the music scene, but 2000 saw the release of the album ''From the Darkness into the Light''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/30288-Mellow-Man-Ace|title=Mellow Man Ace|website=Discogs|access-date=2016-12-24}}</ref> Next came the album ''[[Vengo a Cobrar]]''. It was released on June 8, 2004, on Dimelo Records. In 2006, he collaborated with his brother [[Sen Dog]] of hip-hop group [[Cypress Hill]],<ref name="LarkinDM"/> culminating in the album release ''[[Ghetto Therapy]]''. 2010 saw the release of the album ''Restoring Order''. In 2018, he released the single, "South Gate".

Mellow Man Ace was also a founding member of the hip hop group [[Cypress Hill]] and member of the [[Latin Alliance (album)|Latin Alliance]] project.<ref name="LarkinDM">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1998|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0252-6|page=221}}</ref>

==Discography==
;Studio albums
*''[[Escape from Havana]]'' (1989)
*''[[The Brother with Two Tongues]]'' (1992)
*''[[From the Darkness into the Light]]'' (2000)
*''[[Vengo a Cobrar]]'' (2004)
*''Restoring Order'' (2010)

;Collaboration albums
*''[[Latin Alliance (album)|Latin Alliance]]'' <small>with Latin Alliance</small> (1991)
*''[[Ghetto Therapy]]'' <small>with Reyes Bros</small> (2006)
*''La Familia Vol. 1'' <small>with Various Artists</small> (2008)

;Charting singles<ref name="billboard">{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/mellow-man-ace/chart-history|title=Mellow Man Ace Chart History |website=Billboard.com}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Hot<br>100
! scope="col" | Rap
! scope="col" | R&B
! scope="col" | Dance
! scope="col" | Latin
! scope="col" | Album
|-
| 1989
|"Rhyme Fighter"
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | 17
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| rowspan="2" |''Escape from Havana''
|-
| 1990
|"[[Mentirosa]]"
| style="text-align:center;" | 14
| style="text-align:center;" | 15
| style="text-align:center;" | 60
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| style="text-align:center;" | 34
|-
| 1992
|"What's It Take to Pull<br>a Hottie (Like You)?"
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | 92
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| ''The Brother with Two Tongues''
|-
|}

==Filmography==
* ''[[Only the Strong (film)|Only the Strong]]'' (1993) — <small>Student rapper</small>
* ''Heroes of Latin Hip Hop'' (2002)

==See also==
* [[Afro-Latin American|Afro-Latinos]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/mellowmanace/ Mellow Man Ace Interview on Dubcnn]
*[http://www.latinrapper.com/featurednews7.html ''LatinRapper'' interview]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101231001359/http://iheartdilla.com/ihd/2010/12/mellow-man-ace-kid-cazal-interview.html Interview on iHEARTDilla]
{{Mellow Man Ace|state=autocollapse}}{{Cypress Hill}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellow Man Ace}}
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from South Gate, California]]
[[Category:American musicians of Cuban descent]]
[[Category:Rappers from California]]
[[Category:Capitol Records artists]]
[[Category:Cuban people of African descent]]
[[Category:Five percenters]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American rappers]]
[[Category:Cypress Hill members]]
[[Category:21st-century American rappers]]
[[Category:West Coast hip-hop musicians]]
[[Category:American people of Afro-Cuban descent]]