Haven’t I heard this before? First we got that magnetically funky, token RJD2 dance track that drunk college students the world over (glowing with underground cred) will tirelessly bump and grind to, followed by a couple more that’ll at least bob heads. And that’s where our favorite Philly beatsmith starts to play around — unfortunately, he’s taking us in all the same direction.

Aceyalone hasn’t exactly been on the top of his game the past few years (see Love and Hate), and here RJD2’s shape-shifting production often proves too challenging a racket for the struggling MC, as he simplifies and stumbles in an attempt to catch up. RJ takes the spotlight through vast electronic intervals of Acey-free instrumentation and even sings the sweet indie-rock chorus on “Here & Now,” both traits extensions of 2004’s Since We Last Spoke.

And while his sound is as grand as ever, complete with signature techno submarine bubbles and cinematic synth-crashes, anyone who has overdosed on his previous work (admit it) will wish it wasn’t quite so familiar.

With lame concepts like Superman and getting high, two stale story raps uncomfortably similar to Soul Position’s, and lines as weak as “There’s something wrong with my radio dial/ Some of these fools just ain’t got style,” hip-hop’s former warrior of wordplay is less than quoteworthy. Fortunately for Ace One and RJD2, they don’t have much competition in the hip-hop originality department these days and they’ll be ridin’ high in the underground with Magnificent City, if only by default.

Aceyalone and RJD2 will perform at Porter’s Pub on Feb. 16.