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Blackalicious - A2G ep 1999 has been kind of a bland year in hip-hop unfortunately. There's been very little new hot shit, especially on the mainstream scene. Only a couple of underground selections have really been impressive. But it's possible that I may have just recently listened to the best 25 minutes of music I've ever heard in my life. Well, okay, not best ever. But listening to this 25 minutes of music from Blackalicious, I do beleive I have heard what hip-hop will sound like in 5 to 10 years. Easily the most innovative release in rap music in recent memory. Unfortunately, the bliss only lasts for 25 minutes. The MC: The Gift of Gab The DJ: Chief Xcel Remember that. "A to G" We begin our journey into the future of hip-hop with a dope piano loop and a guitar lick. When the drum drops, it's head-nodding hip-hop at it's best. A sampled voice from a children's educational album says "We're going to learn to hear words with Vowel A sound, listen with care" The Gift of Gab then does something I've never heard before. Rips a short verse with most of the words starting with the letter A:
"I be the analog arsonist, aimin' at your arteries
All-seeing abstract analyze everything Adding on, absolutely abolishing Average amatuers, arsenal just astonishing" Then the voice comes back on to say, "next we will learn words that begin with letter B", and The Gift of Gab does this all the way through letter F. Then we learn words that begin with letter G, but Chief Xcel flips the script. The beat stops completely, and every hip-hop song that has ever had the words "gift" or "gab" are sampled and scratched up to close the song out perfectly at 2 and a half minutes. I was in awe. I couldn't beleive what I had just heard. (little did I know what was coming up) After the song was over I was still impressed that dude said he was the "analog arsonist" You barely notice how incredible the beat is. "Clockwork" Starting with some scratching, the dopest beat I've heard all year drops. Just a hard thumping dope ass beat with a bassline that goes all over the place. The hook further showcases Xcel's scratching skills, as he spends about 30 seconds mixing vocal loops. The song even has a bridge with different instruments being played, which leads into XCel scratching and cutting even more, all the while the hard boom-bap of the drum and bassline has your head nodding. Oh, the lyrics. Well, in one song, The Gift of Gab shows everyone what the definition of the word "flow" Somehow he raps some lines slightly off-beat, while still ending each line at the end of every bassline. He also has lines where he starts spitting the lyrics very fast, like Twista, while still being understandable. Oh, and if an extra kickdrum hits, Gift of Gab drops an extra word in the line. To anyone who has ever wondered what "flow" is or means, just listen to The Gift of Gab. 2 Tracks in, I'm convinced he's got the best flow I've ever heard. Ever.
"Handyman with lyrical hardware, and my house ain't made of ginger
But it's made with an array of pages that'll slay you like a ninja" Seriously, at 2 songs in, I'm completely amazed. "Rock the Spot" What's next? Oh, just one of the dopest old-school tracks I've ever heard. After giving me hip-hop from the future, this seems to take me back. The beat is tight, has an old-school flow. Horn loops in the background with mad scratching. Sound effects and synth loops thrown in. Wait, I never heard any production like this in the 80's, but it still has an old school flow. The hook is practicully sung: "Homeboys take time and elevate your mind, we came to rock the spot"
The first 2 verses The Gift of Gab defines flow again. Extra kick drum = extra word. Incredible. Nothing less. But then the 3rd verse gets better. Words get scratched into each line by Chief XCel. Peep: (words in parenthesis are scratched in, samples from old hip-hop songs)
"We drop it on the (one), we drop it on (two)
We're comin' out (fresh) and we do it (for you) You know the deal we're Blackalicous we don't play From (New York, New York) to the (streets of LA)" They do a whole lengthy verse like this. Incredible. "Back to the Essence" Featuring Lateef the Truth Speaker Another fresh beat. Simple drum loop, but dope percussion and flutes in the background. Not as dope as the previous 3, but that would be impossible. Lateef drops a dope verse, but is clearly overshadowed by the lord of flow. I mean, The Gift of Gab. The subject matter is how Blackalicous is bringing hip-hop Back to the Esssence. A good song, but it's just not like 1 thru 3. Still, I must stress it's dope. "Deception" Yet another style gets flipped. Over a simple piano loop, the hook is a chant that sounds like it could be on a pop song. Some La-Di-Da chanting that is just as catchy as anything Puffy has done. You won't get this out of your head. It's fresh, yet mad simple. No scratching or mixing. The Gift of Gab also flips styles. No incredible flow. No rapid-fire lyrics. He slows it down to further get the point of the song across, AND rhymes every 1st, 2nd and 5th line, while the 3rd and 4th lines rhyme thru the whole song. Peep:
"This is a story of kid his name is Cisco
Who made more money than The Count of Monte Crisco He lived the lavish style of life, fast money, women, cars, and he liked to frequent bars, Clubs, and discos." The story is about a kid who becomes an MC and works real hard to perfect his skills. He gets signed, and blows up with number 1 pop songs and mad money. But the money changes him, he loses his love for hip-hop, only raps about money, disses the people who put him on early, and falls off. The story is predictable, but one that every rapper who you see on MTV could learn from. "Making Progress" Another solid beat, this one's kind of all over the place again. The drums are sloppy, but sound effects and a nice flute loop make it work. The Gift of Gab displays his skills, this time dropping knowledge about how the black race needs to keep "making progress" Dope song with a good message, yet another highlight. By the way, Chief XCel rips the track up with dope scratching that you have to hear. Now, 6 cuts in, you know I'm all over this album. I'm convinced I'm halfway to hip-hop heaven. But, somehow, Blackalicous saves the best for last. That's right, the best was yet to come. This is the best song I've ever wrote a review for. "Alphabetic Aerobics" You wouldn't think that "Alphabetic Aerobics" could be self-explanatory, but it is:
"Artificial amateurs, aren't at all amazing
Analytically, I assault, animate things Broken barriers bounded by the bomb beat Buildings are broken, basically I'm bombarding Casually create catastrophes, casualties Cancelling cats got their canopies collapsing" Now, here's the dope part. The beat starts off somewhat slow, but each time Gift of Gab moves on to the next letter, the beat gets faster. And faster. And Faster. AND FASTER. And The Gift of Gab keeps pace, once again proving that his flow is amazing. Let's get this straight, EVERY 2 LINES THE BEAT GETS FASTER!!!!!! Oh, and half way thru they add an incredible bassline further enhancing the dopeness of this song. It's mad short at like 2 minutes, but it's possibly the most creative rap song I've ever heard. After listening to this album, I realized 3 things: 1. This CD was time-warped back to me from the year 2005. This is what hip-hop will sound like in the future. 2. If this group gets any popularity or notice, than we will all agree 5 years from now that The Gift of Gab is the MC in hip-hop. 3. I still ain't ready for it. I'm still triping off the first line from track 1. Dude said "I be the analog arsonist" The only drawback is it's an EP, not the most music for your money. 7 songs, 25 minutes long, 8 or 9 dollars. Economists will avoid it. But, it is an incredible 25 minutes. Think of all the filler that gets thrown into your avearage 60+ minute CD. This is pure dopeness all the way through. I'm going to go out on limb and recommend this EVERYONE, wheather you listen to The Ruff Ryders or the Mystik Jouneymen. I can't see a reason everyone won't be amazed. I'll avoid giving it a rating, after all, it's only 25 minutes long. I'll just say, BUY IT! ***This is underground hip-hop, not available in all areas. But you can get it anywhere on the internet, and I beleive Tower Records has this at all locations. | |