Blackalicious
Blackalicious is an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's "classic" beats. The duo have released four full-length albums (2000's Nia, 2002's Blazing Arrow, 2005's The Craft, and 2015's Imani Vol. 1). Gift of Gab has stated that Imani Vol. 1 will be the first in a three-volume series to be released over the next two years.
History
1992-1999: Formation of Blackalicious, Quannum Projects
While Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel spent their early childhood years in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area respectively, the two first met while attending John F. Kenndedy High School in Sacramento, California. At the time, Gift of Gab was known as Gabby T, while Chief Xcel went by the stage name of DJ IceSki. After graduating from Kennedy High in 1989, the two went their separate ways.
In 1992, during a time when Xcel was attending the University of California, Davis, Gift of Gab joined him in Davis, California to form Blackalicious. At UC Davis, Xcel had been working with a hip-hop group named Solesides, whose members included DJ Shadow, Lateef the Truthspeaker, and Lyrics Born. Solesides Records was the name of the collective's Northern California record company, and in 1994 the label released Blackalicious' debut single "Swan Lake", which garnered acclaim within the independent music scene. In 1995, Blackalicious released an EP titled Melodica under Solesides Records. By 1997, Solesides Records had transformed into the now acclaimed Quannum Projects, and under this label, the group released an EP titled A2G in 1999.
Podcasts:
Blackalicious
ALBUMS
- The Craft released: 2005
- Blazing Arrow released: 2002
- NIA released: 2000
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40 oz. For Breakfast
by: BLACKALICIOUSA forty ounce for breakfast gets a brother through the day
I guess I shoulda had a V8 instead; anyway
Let me contemplate my thought something back to a time
When my fridge was full of booze but in my pocket not one dime
I remember back on Willis Ave, with my ace-boom homey Mark Black
I would start the day off hearin the sound of the fo'-oh crack
I went to work blitzed, so eventually I got dissed
And caught a shocker when my supervisor said "You're dismissed"
Now as I stare at my last check now my mind is stressed and depressed
I spell relief S-T-I-D-E-S yes with a little excess less the worry
Why go job hunting today?
When I can sit back and smoke this sack and drink
And feel my problems shrink away
And by now, the rent's due in two weeks
But inside my mind that's just another problem brew can delete
I got evicted, to the point where the court martial came to my door
And said, "Get this kid: get your bags and split you don't live here no more"
And now I'm ass out; I'm so damn hungry I feel like I'm gonna pass out
I asked my brother for a handout and he hooked me
Though I knew he had doubts
And rightfully so, cause I had new shit to deal with
I'm so confused I have no control of my life I think I'll get lit
So as my problems compile, I steady smile, oh yes
Sippin on that forty ounce that's leadin me to a path of nowhere
So as I think about tomorrow, I hesitate and say:
A forty ounce for breakfast, will get me through the day..
A forty ounce for breakfast gets a brother through the day
I guess I shoulda rolled a joint up instead; anyway
Seems like everytime I start I don't know when it's time to say when
Now my mental gets all blurred and inside talk the ill-behavin
Coolin with my boys, no names need to be mentioned
At a party with some brothers I don't know I'm chillin in some E&J
With a forty O-Z to wash the shit down
And plus a lot of marijuana now I need to sit down
I can't remember the last time I was this blew out of my cranium
My ears and head begin to hum aloud as the room spun; anyway
Next thing I know I blacked out woke up with vomit all over my coat
Start talkin out my ass I can't see straight but yet I quote
And I don't know what came over me, I started dissin both my homies
That I used to freestyle with and now I'm askin them to show me
What they got not thinkin straight I don't know why I posed the challenge
Now my ego is erupting as if I was Mt. Saint Helens
Some shit was said I know I can't erase and now shit ain't the same
I wish I had just one more chance to live that day again
I strain; cause this bid was to find a true friend
And loose them to booze in my system just ain't how I'm livin
Nothin I could really say to mend up how someone else feels
And so I guess I gotta wait and see if maybe the wounds will heal
And I really didn't mean a word I said though I can't prove that
Now the only thing that I can really say is I went out
And out I went and now and then I get irate and say
A forty ounce for.. nah
A forty ounce for.. fuck!!
Just one more forty just one more I'll make this last day