Disco de Blackalicious: “Blazing Arrow”

Blackalicious's new album shows Blackalicious evolving musically beyond what they did on their first LP, Nia, and doing it to awesome effect. Gift of Gab has improved as an MC and the production by Chief Xcel has gotten even more interesting.

If you aren't familiar with Gift of Gab, he's one of the best MCs in the game today. One thing about him is that he's able to vary his flow song to song which results in an extremely musical sound in his delivery. He also is able to rap fast and clear. In addition, he's intelligent and political.

The production on this album provides the listener with a big variety of cool sounding beats which all sound like classic hip hop.

There are a number of awesome collaborations on this album including the amazing "First In Flight" featuring the great Gil Scott-Heron, "4000 miles" featuring Chali 2NA of Jurassic 5 and Lateef the Truth Speaker of Latyrx, "Chemical Calisthenics" featuring sound collage wiz Cut Chemist of J5, "Aural Pleasure" featuring a really cool vocal from Jaguar Wright, and the mindblowing "Release" featuring Zach De La Rocha shouting release, Saul Williams the amazing poet, and Lyrics Born from Latyrx with a funky as hell verse. Obviously, there are a lot of collaborations on this album, but they all come off not sounding forced, and i was really impressed with the variety of sounds on the album. They sample a Harry Nilsson song for God's sakes!

This album is an amazing sonic journey that is inspiring and just makes you feel good. One of the best hip hop albums of 2002 thus far. Don't even think twice about copping this one.

I have listened to Blackalicious for a few years. I love the EP and Nia to death, but I was seriously taken aback at first listen to Blazing Arrow. I felt the first 4 or so tracks seemed a little forced and I felt that possibly they had sacrficed their art for those coporate honchos at MCA. Then I kept listening and found that I was incredibly wrong. Quite seriously I have not felt so adamant about a hip hop album; scratch that, an album of ANY genre in a VERY long time. This album flows absolutely perfectly. At first I was deterred with all the guests I saw that were going to be on this album. Usually, guest appearences feel a bit forced. These are the exact opposite. Every guest on here just goes with the flow. And the flow is that of knowledge, empowerment, passion, respect, and creativity. To me, this is one of those albums that with every track I listen to, while I am listening to it, I think to myself "That's my favorite track" and then the next one comes on and I realize that it is nearly impossible to pick one out of the group. If someone were to point a gun to my head and say "PICK ONE!" Then I would say that "release" could be one of the greatest hip hop songs ever orchestrated. 3 parts of a song, that perfectly take you through emotions in a realistic/theraputic fashion. Gab and Zach spit out the anger, then saul drops the concious thoughts one goes through every so often (some of us a few times a day) and then Lyrics and Gab are there to motivate you to get it together. Truly incredible. Those transitions are the most seemless that I have EVER heard. The entire album's production is amazing. This album is really a milestone for hip hop, it really isnt easy for me to say that, but.. Listening to it non-stop for the past week I can't help but write in and make that statement. I titled this review Frightening because I am actually frightened of this album to a degree. I'm questioning whether or not anyone can ever reach this degree of excellence again. A whole slew of others will try this year, and I hope they pull it off, but, I do have my doubts. Pick your favorite from any genre, be it Radiohead's the Bends, Mos Def and Kweli are Black Star, Roots DYWM, Tribe Low End Theory, Stone's Exile on Main Street, Zepplin IV, Sly and the Family Stone's Anthology, Aceyalone's Accepted Eclectic, any great album in any genre, and then you can add this one to that list.

Blackalicious earned its reputation as the best (underground or not) hip hop group from the Bay Area based on the Gift of Gab's elite rhyme skills and the beguilingly simple beats of Chief Xcel. For their newest album, the West Coast's equivalent to Gang Starr has retained the elements of its success while continuing its musical covergence with R&B.

If you preferred Blackalicous's trademark raw and experimental sounds (e.g., "Alphabet Aerobics", "Smithzonian Institute of Rhyme") there is still vintage material, albeit less of it. Tracks such as "Passion" and the unbelievable "Release" (featuring show-stealer Saul Williams) are still inimitably, vibrantly Blackalicious. However, these tracks are no longer the bulk or even highpoints for Gab and Xcel's album. Instead, they fill a complimentary role to the newer, smoothed out Blackalicous combination of rhyme and R&B hooks.

Accordingly, your enjoyment of Blazing Arrow will primarily depend upon your appetite for this style change-up. The new direction that Nia pointed to on tracks such as "If I May" and "As the World Turns" featuring Gab singing and rhyming a la Lauryn Hill, Mos Def and Cee-Lo Green are now the heart of the LP. Luckily, this isn't a bad thing--indeed, it's actually surprisingly good. The guest collabs are uniformly fabulous, featuring luminaries incl. Gil Scott-Heron and Ben Harper effortlessly blending in with and enhancing Gab's rhymes and crooning. Yeah it's different but it's not for vain cross-over appeal--just musical growth

Blackalicious continues to be at the top of *their* game--rewriting the rules as they see fit to match to their personal and artistic growth. _Blazing Arrow_ continues Blackalcious's redefinition of hip hop.

This album is dope!! The reason i didn't give it 4 stars is cuz NIA (they're 1st LP), was so damn clean i just couldn't put the two in the same category. This def has what it takes to be in ur collection though. The production is off the hook and Gab's delivery is outta hand as usual. If your a first time buyer/listener of Blackalicious, don't be skeptical about these guys. They're some of the best hip hop has to offer. The best cut is track 14 w/dilated's Iriscience & Babu. The beat is head noddin body movin, and both emcee's spit dopeness while Babu throws skratches. Other tight songs are 4,000 miles, with J5's Chali2na and fellow quannum label pal, Lateef. #8, Paragraph President, will leave u questioning you intelligence, even if ur a harvard grad. It's a pure display of lyrical mastery. The songs are star packed with ?uestlove from the roots and J5's Cut Chemist doin some production. There's even some non-hop in there like Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine. This is a true display of what hip hop's all about. If ur into that bling bling ish and that make em say uhhh garbage, this isn't for u. But if ur about dope lyrics with ill metaphors and tongue twisting emcees backed up by some coo beats, pick this album up and don't sleep on NIA either. Keep hip hop real, Peace

If someone were to ask me whom the most creative group in recent hip-hop history is, I would definitely have to say Blackalicious. The very first time I heard Alphabet Aerobics from 1999's "A2G" I was dumbstruck. I felt like there was finally a group out there that wasn't merely making rap music. Here were a couple of talented guys who sought to bring creativity to the game. Now they have dropped their 4th album, and major label debut, "Blazing Arrow."

Having formed Blackalicious back in 1991, you could say that emcee the Gift of Gab (born Tim Parker) and producer Chief Xcel (Xavier Mosley) have a good working relationship. This album definitely shows that. I was impressed all the way through the album how well the two work together. On the songs where Xcel does all of the production everything meshes so well, that it`s not even funny. These are two craftsmen, not content to make dope beats and fresh rhymes, but to make great songs.

Everything about this album is tight. The Gift of Gab has one of the most unique voices in hip-hop, which lends everything that he touches charm. It is melodic, yet strong. It melts over every track like butter on your popcorn. His flow ranges from ridiculously fast to slow and steady, and he seems comfortable with either. One of my favorite tracks, Chemical Calisthenics, demonstrates this with aplomb. In this one song he ranges from a very deliberate pace with his words, to an extremely fast word bending, tongue twisting flow.

Equally adept at his chosen form is Chief Xcel. In my opinion, he is one of the very best producers in hip-hop at this moment. The thing that catches you when you're listening to the tracks on "Blazing Arrow" is that he not only knows how to make beats, he knows how to write music. The soulful hook of Aural Pleasure really shows this off. However, don't think that he can't create a bangin' beat, because he can. If you need proof, take a listen to Passion, or 4000 miles.

If the skills of Chief Xcel and the Gift of Gab aren't enough for you, don't worry. This album features a guest list of musical luminaries that all add their own special something. Gil Scott-Heron lends his soulful vocals to First in Flight, while Chali 2NA and Cut Chemist from Jurassic 5 show up on 4000 miles and Chemical Calisthenics respectively. Other guest musicians featured include former Rage Against the Machine front man Zack De La Rocha, poet/musician Saul Williams, Ben Harper of Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals and Motive Records artist Jaguar Wright. The guest list doesn't end with vocal help. Chief Xcel gets a little production help on a few tracks from such producers as ?uestlove from the Roots, and Talib Kweli's longtime collaborative partner, Hi-Tek.

To close, if you've never heard any of Blackalicious' material, get ready. The experience is one that you will not soon forget. If you have heard Blackalicious' previous stuff, then why are you still reading this? Click "Add to Cart" right now.