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Blackalicious.
Blackalicious isn't a group known for their prolific output so when Gift Of Gab, the rapping half of the team, put out a solo record last year and producer Chief Xcel teamed up with Lateef the Truth Speaker for his own side project, it seemed like it might be a while before anything more was heard from the Oakland duo. But both parties assured fans that Blackalicious was still alive and well and sure enough, they've now emerged from hibernation with another classic long player entitled 'The Craft'. Anyone familiar with Blackalicious knows that they put a lot of thought into their album titles, and Gab assures me that this one is no different.
"'The Craft' is just about being a vessel; it's about honouring your craft, whether it be writing, whether it be rapping, whether it be painting, whatever it is you do. It's just about realising that whenever you're dealing with any form of expression, you're dealing with something greater than yourself."
Clearly both Gab and Xcel tapped into the motherlode for this release since the final product was culled from a wealth of newly-created material: in fact, Xcel produced about 120 tracks, with Gab selecting 40 of them to write to. Gab assures me that it wasn't too difficult to pare this number down to a final track selection, though. When putting the record together, everyone was looking for one thing: "Cohesiveness. We really wanted to get the songs that really sounded cohesive. There were songs that were dope in those 40 songs but they weren't necessarily cohesive with the rest of the album, and we wanted the album to feel like a body of music." And what of the rest of the material, those dope songs that never made it out? "We'll use them as B Sides, or on compilations, perhaps we'll put out a lost tapes album one day."
Gab's happy with the way the tracks work together, but they
certainly didn't come out all sounding the same: The Fall
& Rise Of Elliot Brown is a perfect example. It's unusual
because this track sees Gab dropping his usual stream of consciousness
flow and switching to storytelling mode. Speaking about the
song, Gab expresses happiness that he's able to move in new
directions and cites it as one of his favourites; "I like that
because it captures the vibe of the record, it's very cinematic.
It's a story and it's very visual and the music is extremely
big on that one."
Despite the obvious enjoyment he derives from experimenting with different concepts, it's clear that the off the wall lyrics that he dreams up on the fly are still his greatest inspiration. "Freestyling, to me, is one of the greatest highs. It's one of the ultimate forms of faith because you have to have faith that the word is gonna rhyme, you have to kind of surrender to it."
It makes sense that the music should flow in the same direction as lyrics and with a live band on tour, Blackalicious can make the sound go anywhere they want to. The MC and DJ combination is the definitive hip-hop format and while it's clear that Gab has many fond memories of the ten years that the group performed as just him and Xcel, a live band presents a host of new possibilities. After trialing more live musicianship on 'The Craft' than on their previous records, they also brought a band on their recent North American and it worked so well it's something they'll continue to do. "I think it's funner," Gab enthuses. "It's more things you can do, more directions you can go. Improv is great, it's the moment, it can go anywhere. If it goes down, you can go down with it, if it goes sideways you can go with it, that's improv."
With members of Femi Kuti's band Positive Force on board there's not telling which direction the music will go in, but expect the band to test Gab to his limits. And expect to see a big grin on his face as he rises to the challenge.
Alexis Buxton-Collins
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Blackalicious play at Earth on Thurs 8 Dec and 'The Craft' is out now through Jam Recordings.
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