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BLACKALICIOUS IN CONCERT:
Classic Cali hip hop duo Blackalicious thrilled fans in early 2015 with the announcement of Imani Vol. 1, their first album of new material in nearly ten years. The past decade has been fairly quiet for rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel, but you wouldn't know it judging from their amped-up energy and razor-sharp delivery at their recent shows. In concert Xcel unleashes a potent stream of vintage beats on the ones and twos, creating a sample-heavy sonic world that provides the perfect foundation for Gab's clever, complex rhymes. Whether they're busting out cuts from 2005's critically acclaimed The Craft or debuting new material, Blackalicious always gets ticket buyers out of their seats and moving their feet with their no-nonsense brand of classic hip hop.
BACKGROUND SNAPSHOT:
Gift of Gab (Timothy Parker) and Chief Xcel (Xavier Mosley) met in the late '80s during home economics class at their Sacramento high school. After graduating they moved to San Francisco and started Blackalicious, quickly making a name for themselves in the city's underground hip hop scene thanks to Gab's deft lyricism and Xcel's turntable skills. Following the release of several EPs and singles, Blackalicious made their album debut in 1999 with Nia, a critical masterstroke that made them hip hop royalty virtually overnight. Two more acclaimed albums followed -- 2002's Blazing Arrow and 2005's The Craft -- before they put the project on hiatus. While on the break Gab released several solo albums and Xcel produced for artists like Ledisi, and in 2015 they announced they'd be reuniting for Imani Vol. 1. The release is the first of a three-part series, meaning fans have plenty more to look forward to from the pair as they hit the road to tour the new material.
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The show was very good. Gab was ill, but he still rapped like his tongue moves faster than a locomotive. Lateef the Truth Speaker also performed with the group. The opening act was a revelation to me. I've never really heard DJs sampling live before. I liked it more than I expected.
The show was amazing! Much respect to Gift for repping with all going on! Lateef was sick for sure!
Every show at the Masquerade seems to have this problem. 30-60 minutes between acts is brutal and more so when acts don't seem to go on until hours after doors.
Great show, but Blackalicious didn't come on stage until 11:15pm ...
They put on a great show for what I saw but I didn't realize that the whole first 2 hours would be nothing but local acts. The downtown parking garage in Portland closed at 12 so we only caught about 35 minutes of Blackalicious. Very disheartening! Next time you should make a note on the event that the main act wouldn't be starting until 11pm so we could have found parking especially considering there was a parking ban. We drove over an hour to catch the beginning of Blackalicious. Big Bummer!
I would have gone just to see Freestyle Fellowship alone but add in Blackalicious, Don't Talk To The Cops, and Hi-Life Soundsystem and it makes for an incredible night of hip-hop.
