Blackalicious

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Blackalicious
Gift of Gab (left) and Chief Xcel (right)
Gift of Gab (left) and Chief Xcel (right)
Background information
Origin Davis, California, USA
Genre(s) Hip hop
Years active 1992 – present
Label(s) Solesides Quannum Projects MCA Records ANTI-
Associated
acts		 DJ Shadow
Website http://www.blackalicious.com
Members
Gift of Gab
Chief Xcel

Blackalicious is an American alternative hip hop duo. Gift of Gab (Tim Parker) and Chief Xcel (Xavier Mosley) met at John F. Kennedy High School in 1987 in Sacramento, California and formed the group in the early 1990s and released their first recording, "Swan Lake", on Solesides Records. The Solesides Crew consisted of the two and friends of theirs who all met at UC Davis, including DJ Shadow, Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truth Speaker. The single was an underground hit, but label trouble prevented the duo from immediately capitalizing on their fame.

In late 1997, Solesides became Quannum Projects and in 1999 Blackalicious released the A2G EP, which served as a precursor to their debut full length album, Nia, released the following year. This was followed by a major label contract with MCA Records and the release of the critically acclaimed album Blazing Arrow in 2002.

In May 2004, Gift of Gab released his first solo album, 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up. In September, Chief Xcel released The Underground Spiritual Game, a mixtape built around his favorite moments from the extensive catalog of afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. One month later, another Xcel project, Maroons: Ambush by Lateef and the Chief, was released.

A third full length, entitled The Craft, was released on Epitaph Records imprint ANTI- on September 27, 2005.

The song Alphabet Aerobics was featured in Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3 for the Xbox.

In 2002, Blackalicious toured around the country to promote their then new album Blazing Arrow. They played shows at numerous colleges around the country.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] EPs

  • A2G (EP), (1999) 3-2-1/Quannum Projects (re-released on Quannum/Sub Verse)
  • Melodica (EP) (domestic release), Solesides 003

[edit] Singles

  • "Lyric Fathom" b/w "Swan Lake", Solesides 002
  • "Deception" b/w "Turmoil" & "Redemption", Quannum Projects
  • "Trouble", Quannum Projects/Mo' Wax
  • "If I May" b/w "May I" & "Reanimation", Quannum Projects/Mo' Wax
  • "Passion" b/w "Paragraph President", MCA/Quannum Projects
  • "Make You Feel That Way", MCA/Quannum Projects
  • "Your Move", ANTI-/Quannum Projects
  • "Powers", ANTI-/Quannum Projects

[edit] Compilation appearances

  • "Touch The Stars", Connected Compilation, 3-2-1
  • "One of a Kind" & "Jada's Vengeance", Quannum-Spectrum, Quannum Projects
  • "Calcutta Convention", on the Droppen the Bomb V.2 Bomb Records (recorded in 1996)
  • "Soul In Flesh", on The Unbound Project compilation, Realized Music
  • "Street Mix 5" with the single, "Powers", Red Pill Records

[edit] External links

Quannum Projects
Groups
Apsci | Blackalicious | Honeycut | Latyrx | Lifesavas | Lateef and the Chief (Maroons) | Poets of Rhythm
Members
Chief Xcel | Curumin | DJ Shadow | General Elektriks | Gift of Gab | Tommy Guerrero | Lateef the Truthspeaker | Lyrics Born | Pigeon John | Joyo Velarde
Full Length Albums
Latyrx (The Album) | The Muzapper Mixes | The Muzapper Remixes | Quannum Spectrum | Nia | Solesides Greatest Bumps | Discern/Define | Blazing Arrow | Spirit in Stone | Later That Day | Maroons:Ambush | 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up | Thanks for Asking | Achados e Perdidos | Cliquety Kliqk | Same !@#$ Different Day | The Craft | Supreme Lyricism | Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born Live
EPs
Melodica | A2G
Affiliated Groups or Members
Solesides
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