Blackalicious keeps its funk, fire, and spirit on its major-label debut
by Joe Tarr
Bands on independent labels often get tagged as being more "authentic" while those who sign with the majors are seen as "commercial" and somehow not quite true artists. And when a band makes the jump from indie to major, they risk the label of "sell-out."
Fans like to claim something for themselves—it's more intimate to follow an artist who is selling his CDs by mail order from his apartment than it is to plunk down your cash on a band with a marketing budget. And fans get more protective and possessive of those independent artists, because they seem to speak for them.
Bay Area rappers Blackalicious remained independent for almost a decade, but they finally made the jump to a major label with this year's Blazing Arrow on MCA. Although the music press has made a big deal of their graduation, Blackalicious' MC Gift of Gab says it was a natural progression. He says the division between indies and majors is silly because there's a lot of great hip hop on major labels, and a lot of underground hip hop is stale.
"All of our fans just showed us love. I haven't really seen anybody come at us like [we're sell-outs]," says Gab, whose real name is Tim Parker. "People just need to listen to the music. I think people get too caught up in what's mainstream and what's underground.... They lose focus on the music itself. Is it good music?
"I'm not dissing anybody who represents the underground because we come from underground. But whatever you do, you have to stay true to the art form."
Gab and the other half of Blackalicious, Chief Xcel (Xavier Mosley), met in high school in Sacramento in 1987. Drawn together by a love of hip hop, they soon started performing together. They separated in 1989, after Gab graduated, but kept in touch. In 1991, they decided to work together again and formed Blackalicious.
At the time, Xcel was in school at the University of California at Davis, where a new crew was forming, called the SoleSides—which also included DJ Shadow, Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truth Seeker. Blackalicious put out its first record in 1992 on their own SoleSides label.
In 1997, the SoleSides label dissolved and was reborn as Quannum. Although they still run their own label, Blackalicious decided to take the leap themselves to the majors. It offered a refreshing chance to focus solely on their music.
"It was good. It was a lot more concentrated on our music. When we was doing it on our own, there were other things we were dealing with, like having other jobs, running the label," Gab says. "When we recorded Blazing Arrow, we could wake up in morning, eat breakfast and do nothing but music."
It is an amazing record. The production has plenty of polish and flare, but Chief Xcel doesn't let those elements overwhelm the songs, which have a warm, soulful quality.
Most guests on Blazing Arrow are folks with whom Blackalicious already worked, including Chali 2NA and Cut Chemist of Jurassic 5, Rakaa and Babu of Dilated Peoples, ?uestlove and Lateef. The exceptions are '70s soul guru Gil Scott-Heron and DJ Hi-Tek, who produced some tracks.
Gab has a mesmerizing, rapid-fire delivery, and although it can be hard to keep up with, it's also amazingly crisp, clear and warm. His vocals bend and move with the music, instead of just rapping over it. "Most of the time, with my style, I just ride the feeling," he says.
When paired with Scott-Heron's aging drawl on "First in Flight," Gab weaves his voice around his elder's words, giving a righteous punch to the hard-worn wisdom.
Gab grew up listening to his siblings' Scott-Heron records and says it was an honor to work with him. "He was such a humble person," he says. "We played him the song and he let us know he was really feeling it."
There's a strong sense of spirituality in Blackalicious' music. "Sky is Falling" is a Revelations-style apocalyptic tale of urban decay; "Passion," envisions a way beyond that decadence.
"I don't sit down and say I'm going to write about something spiritual," Gab says. "That's just what comes out through what I write. All I'm talking about is the human experience."
June 20, 2002 * Vol. 12, No. 25
© 2002 Metro Pulse
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