Album Reviews

Blazing Arrow | Blackalicious

By Mike ⋅ December 3, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

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I realized I hadn’t yet written any posts on hip-hop artists, and this is a misleading statistic. Most of my favorites have already been covered but there’s one I kept expecting Nirav to write which he hasn’t yet. For this reason, I now introduce you to Blackalicious. I realize it may sound more like a bubble gum flavor than a hip-hop act but don’t let that bother you. They’re a quality duo and I can think of a few reasons why you should immediately purchase their album Blazing Arrow (2002).

Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel formed Blackalicious in 1992 in Davis, CA. Gift of Gab has a unique rhyming style although I sense slight influences of Busta Rhymes, Supernatural, and Black Thought. Chief Xcel is a quality DJ/producer, period. If I had to compare him to another, I’d choose Nu-Mark formerly of J5. Both halves of Blackalicious have plenty of room to be creative and explore the musical space of this album without stepping on each other’s toes [the way I feel Green Lantern does to Immortal Technique on The 3rd World]. In this respect, it’s sure to please fans of the microphone and turntable alike.

The two main strong points of Blazing Arrow which I feel separate it from other quality hip-hop albums are:

Variety: This album has a stylistic balance of smooth vs. edgy and a lyrical balance of conscious vs. feel good (with a little bit of trash talking on the side). There’s no shortage of catchy beats, and just enough well-placed guest appearances to keep things fresh (of course my favorite is Chali 2na of Ozomatli + formerly J5). It also has influences of soul, R&B, and a pinch of jazz. There’s even some straight-up spoken word to be found here, including Release Part 2, which is an awesome poem (courtesy of Saul Williams) with a beat behind it. Then, Release Part 3 unleashes the funk in an Ozomatli-esque way. And there’s Chemical Calisthenics, which I define as progressive hip-hop. Imagine a chemistry lecture given in hip-hop format with a King Crimson influence (think 21st Century Schizoid Man). Finally, the album is capped off with Gift of Gab showing off his singing skills, which are worth showing off.

Production Value: It’s not uncommon for underground hip-hop albums to be lacking in this category but luckily that’s not a problem for this one. For an MC, I suppose this is a perk of teaming up with a quality DJ/producer such as Chief Xcel. It also doesn’t hurt to be assisted with production by the likes of Cut Chemist, ?uestlove, DJ Shadow, and Hi-Tek. This album just has a natural flow; most of the songs have a clear beginning and end but the transitions are smooth and you get the sense that everything is in the right place. Moreover, each song really feels like it belongs to this album in particular, which is even more impressive given the variety I highlighted above. There are also recurring themes which contribute to this cohesion.

Moral of the story, in case you missed it – if you’re a fan of hip-hop but haven’t heard this album yet, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Related Posts: Immortal Technique, Jurassic 5, Ozomatli

Blackalicious | MySpace | Wikipedia

Tags: hip hop