Blackalicious
| Company type | Hip hop duo |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Sacramento, California , United States |
| Products | Hip hop music, albums, singles |
Blackalicious was a hip-hop duo originating from Sacramento, California, composed of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They gained acclaim for Gift of Gab's intricate, multisyllabic lyricism combined with Chief Xcel's rich, soulful beats. Their discography includes four albums: Nia (1999), Blazing Arrow (2002), The Craft (2005), and Imani Vol. 1 (2015). Gift of Gab passed away in June 2021.
1992–1999: Formation, Quannum Projects, and the Nia release
Tim Parker (Gift of Gab) and Xavier Mosley (Chief Xcel) first connected at John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento. After their 1989 graduation, they went separate ways but reunited in 1992 while attending the University of California, Davis. At that time, Xcel was active within the hip-hop collective SoleSides, which featured artists such as DJ Shadow and Lyrics Born.
In 1994, Blackalicious debuted with the single "Swan Lake" under Solesides Records, earning attention within the indie music circuit. They followed up in 1995 with the EP Melodica. By 1997, Solesides had transformed into Quannum Projects, which released the 1999 EP A2G, spotlighting the rapid-fire track "Alphabet Aerobics". That same year marked the release of their first full-length album, Nia, initially launched in Europe through Mo' Wax on August 30, 1999, before a revised U.S. edition was issued by Quannum Projects in February 2000.
2000–2004: Major label signing and Blazing Arrow album
In 2000, Blackalicious secured a contract with MCA Records. Their sophomore album, Blazing Arrow, arrived in 2002 under MCA/Universal and featured collaborations with artists including Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine, Questlove from The Roots, and the legendary soul and jazz figure Gil Scott-Heron. The record contained the well-known single "Make You Feel That Way". Following extensive touring, both members pursued individual endeavors; notably, Gift of Gab released his first solo album, 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up, in 2004.
2005–2013: Release of The Craft and solo ventures
The pair reunited to produce their third album, The Craft, which came out in 2005 through Anti- and Quannum Projects. Grammy-winning engineer Russell Elevado contributed to its production, which featured enhanced live instrumentation and garnered positive critical reception. Afterward, Gift of Gab became part of the supergroup The Mighty Underdogs, releasing Droppin' Science Fiction in 2008. He also put out two solo projects: Escape 2 Mars in 2009 and The Next Logical Progression in 2012.
2014–present: Cultural resurgence of "Alphabet Aerobics," Imani album, Gift of Gab's passing, and forthcoming projects
On October 28, 2014, actor Daniel Radcliffe performed "Alphabet Aerobics" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, significantly increasing the track’s mainstream visibility. Blackalicious later adapted the song with sports-themed lyrics for a feature on Bleacher Report.
After a decade-long hiatus from joint releases, Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel announced their fourth album titled Imani Vol. 1 in 2015. Utilizing crowdfunding via PledgeMusic, they exceeded their financial target by more than 120%. The album was released on September 18, 2015, receiving widespread critical praise. Gift of Gab described it as the initial installment of a planned trilogy. By 2019, work on over seventy tracks for Imani Volume 2 was underway, with final production stages reportedly occurring later that year.
Gift of Gab endured kidney failure for several years and underwent dialysis before receiving a transplant in January 2020. He died on June 18, 2021, at age 50.
In April 2022, Lateef the Truthspeaker confirmed that a concluding Blackalicious album is still planned—potentially under a new name—and that he is collaborating with Chief Xcel to finalize it. This project was reaffirmed as ongoing as recently as October 2023.
Discography
Studio Albums
| Album Title | Release Information | Highest Chart Rankings | Sales Figures | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B/Hip-Hop |
US Rap |
US Indie |
AUS | |||||||||
| Nia |
|
— | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| Blazing Arrow |
|
49 | 33 | — | — | 84 | |||||||
| The Craft |
|
102 | 79 | — | 5 | — |
| ||||||
| Imani Vol. 1 |
|
— | 28 | 21 | 39 | — | |||||||
| "—" indicates albums that did not enter the charts. | |||||||||||||
- EPs
- Singles
- "Swan Lake" / "Lyric Fathom" (1994, Solesides)
- "Deception" (1999, Quannum Projects)
- "If I May" / "Reanimation" (2000, Mo' Wax / Quannum Projects)
- "Paragraph President" / "Passion" (2001, MCA / Universal)
- "Make You Feel That Way" / "Sky Is Falling" (2002, MCA / Universal)
- "Your Move" / "My Pen And Pad" (2005, Quannum Projects / ANTI- / Epitaph)
- "Powers" (2006, Quannum Projects / Anti- / Epitaph)
- DVDs
- 4/20: Live In Seattle (2006)
External links
- Quannum Projects artists
- Hip-hop groups from California
- Alternative hip-hop groups
- Musical groups from Davis, California
- Musical duos from California
- MCA Records artists
- Musical groups from Sacramento, California
- Musical groups established in 1994
- Musical groups disestablished in 2021
- American hip-hop duos
- 1994 establishments in California
- 2021 disestablishments in California
- Anti- (record label) artists
- Underground hip-hop groups