The "thank you" portion of the liner notes for Blackalicous' fifth LP, The Craft, is un-hip-hop-like in its brevity. "We would like to thank God, our families, friends, peers and fans. Everyone involved in the making of this project and everyone who has supported Blackalicious from day one. Thank you."
That's it, that's all.
No shout-outs to crews (What's up Drive-By Posse?), to homies (To my boy doing double life for murder, keep ya' head up!) or 'hoods (Westside Glock-Toters in the house!).
It's emblematic of the Oakland duo's career, an 18-year odyssey of sonic and lyrical innovation mostly confined to the realm of underground hip-hop, an under-the-radar universe largely devoid of rap's commercialism, materialism, nihilism and acceptable talk of genocide. For rapper Gift of Gab (Tim Parker) and producer Chief Xcel (Xavier Mosley), the music and message have always trumped the money. For The Craft, Xcel united bassists and a percussionist, keyboardist and guitarist who've worked with the likes of Dead Prez, Spearhead, Beastie Boys and Femi Kuti—around French cellist Vincent Segal. The band cut 120 songs. Meantime, Gab was Gab, using his gift throughout with verses like this on "Supreme People":
"Trapped like rats in mazes for the cheese.
Every resource is here, we don't really need,
Money, but certain people need power over people,
They act like that because they're trapped inside their ego—sphere."
Back in 1987, high-school debates over who rapped better, Ice Cube or Too Short, laid the groundwork for Blackalicious. (The issue isn't resolved).
Away at the University of California at Davis, Xcel linked with DJs Shadow and Zen and classmates Lyrics Born and Lateef. Gab's return from Los Angeles completed the crew; his verbal skills (capable of incendiary battle raps, esoteric wordplay and topical rhymes) melded with Xcel's superb production. Xcel honed his ear as a youth, listening to Three Dog Night, Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder and other artists in his father's music collection.
"When I got into hip-hop and discovered break beats, I could say where this person got that beat from," he says. (Xcel currently listens to Kanye West, "because he's an innovator," Lela James "because she embodies the soul of Aretha Franklin," Prince "because he's a master of song arrangements and songwriting," and legendary hip-hop producer Pete Rock "because he is the foundation.")
Like the liner notes, Blackalicous' career has been somewhat understated. The group has earned critical acclaim for its conscious music but lacks the name recognition of contemporaries like Brand Nubian, De La Soul, Gangstarr and Public Enemy. They're more prolific than fellow Bay Area hip-hop group Digital Underground (which introduced the world to Tupac), but not as well known. While Vallejo rapper E-40 gets much of the ink for proving that independent labels can succeed, Blackalicous was one of the earliest proponents, releasing 1994's Melodica on its own Solesides imprint and 1999's AG2 and 2000's Nia on the renamed Quannum Projects. Xcel says Nia (Swahili for "purpose") sold 200,000 records worldwide and 100,000 stateside.
Inked with MCA for its first major-label deal, Blackalicous released Blazing Arrow in 2002, selling more than 800,000 records. The group faced a tough decision when MCA folded—major label or indie.
"Sixty to 70 percent of the time we spent educating the company on how to reach existing fans. We wanted to be creative and not have to deal with bureaucracy and red tape," Xcel says. "The only music industry in the Bay is the independent industry. We had people to look to like Too Short, DU and E-40. Turf Talk, Keek the Sneak, etc., continue that legacy. Since Quannum already had a distribution deal with (indie label) Anti/Epitaph, we went with them for The Craft."
Born out of a desire to "make a record with the detail of The Low End Theory, the coherence of Yo! Bumrush the Show and the power of Straight Outta Compton," Xcel says The Craft is Blackalicious' most focused work. It's mostly message music: "Black Diamonds and Pearls" chronicles the life of a pregnant teen and a son who sells crack to his mother; "The Rise and Fall of Elliot Brown" traces an ex-felon's transformation into a community leader. There are also collaborations with London song-and-rap act Floetry ("Automatique") and the king of funk, George Clinton ("Lotus Flower").
"The way the Floetry session happened is an embodiment of the song: creativity being automatic and not being forced ... they each penned their verses in 15 minutes," Xcel says. "With Mr. Clinton, Parliament was playing in San Francisco. We already had the song's concept. He came over and vibed out. Two hours later, 'Lotus Flower' was born."
Xcel sees Blackalicious as part of a group of artists—Talib Kweli, Mos Def and Common, among them—serving as hip-hop's self-correcting mechanism, a survival reflex meant to stop the genre's devolution and restore the creativity, the passion. "When I was 14 or 15, I read an interview of Afrika Bambata in Rolling Stone. He was talking about how he did parties in the Bronx to introduce people to new musical styles. That was innovative. Rap should be innovative. It should be about the excitement you felt when you first heard (De La Soul's)Three Feet High and Rising. We're fans and students of the music. We maintain that same hunger as if we are just interns."
With The Craft finished, Xcel says the group can catch up on projects. They're working with artists in the Bay, in Portland and as far away as Sao Paulo, Brazil. They began touring in August.
Vegoose will mark their second time playing Vegas—the first was two years ago at Men's Apparel Guild In California (the biannual MAGIC Convention). When organizers of the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival asked them to perform, Xcel says, "We were happy to. Vegas is cool."