The scene would’ve made any true hip hop lover’s heart palpitate: On the stage was Posdunous, one-third of the legendary rap trio from Long Island, New York, De La Soul. Pos was surrounded by a few other cats (non-celebrity types), discussing which records would get played during a performance later that evening. Lounging on a bar stool not too far away was Talib Kweli, a Brooklyn-bred MC who has evolved into one of the best things hip hop has ever produced.
Excited yet?
In walks Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel, childhood friends and creative minds behind Sacramento’s #1 rap import, Blackalicious. While the talented left coast duo isn’t nearly as well known as Pos or Kweli on the Atlantic, deep in the Pacific underground, Black gets more love than a lil’ kid with fat cheeks.
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Nia, the group’s critically-adored, commercially-ignored debut, revealed why. The 2000 release was smart, artistic and fun. Their new album, Blazing Arrows, while a tad more eclectic, is still smart, artistic and fun. An excited MCA Records-Arrows is Blackalicious’ first major label release-is doing all it can to spread the word, too. Gab and Xcel have been featured recently in nearly every magazine but Sports Illustrated, and are currently touring like a Smithsonian guide, all in an effort to promote the CD and keep up with Cali brethren like Dilated Peoples, DJ Shadow and Jurassic 5.
HipHopDX was fortunate to catch up with the busy artists for a few minutes behind the same sound stage mentioned earlier. The guys wanted to discuss a few things going on in the world in and outside of hip hop, but more importantly, they needed to formally introduce themselves to the East Coast.
Well, fellas, here’s your big chance…
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Let’s get right to it. Why should Joe Everday pick up Blazing Arrows?
Chief Xcel: Hopefully, they’ll just gravitate to it on their own. I mean, we got a fifteen year chemistry. Blazing Arrows is just the next logical direction for us. Our thing is to not change our game so somebody else can fit into it. Our thing is just expanding on our previous work. Blazing Arrows is the next logical step from Nia. If people dug that [album], they’ll dig this. If not, I don’t know.
Gift of Gab: It’s like X was saying, it’s our next important body of work. The way we kinda look at it is that when you look at people like Tito Puente or Bob Marley or Stevie Wonder who have whole bodies of work, our goal is to have people say, “Blackalicious made good music consistently.” It’s a blessing because our fanbase grows every time we put a record out. We’re just trying to get our music across to people who may not have had access to it.
Xcel: I mean, we get asked the whole “indie vs. major” question all of the time. For us, with Nia, worldwide we sold like 200,000 records on our own. For us, the biggest frustration was being on tour and not having records in the store. [We were] selling them outta the bus, doing whatever we could. Working with whatever resources we had. For us, the whole thing is just being able to get the music out to the entire country.
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By having the backing of a major label on this album, do you run the risk of losing the underground fans of Nia?
Xcel: Nah, ‘cuz I feel like people gravitate towards integrity. People will gravitate towards good music. Our effort isn’t to go out and make music that fits into any demographic, whether it be major or underground. Our objective is to make the best music we can possibly make. Like Gab said, we’re trying to build a very, very comprehensive body of work. The end goal is to be looking back when we’re 70 like Quincy Jones was able to do, like Tito Puente was able to do. We want to have a 100 albums under our belt. This is just the next chapter in, God willing, a very long book.
On Blazing Arrows, you can hear some jazz, soul and funk. Who were your early musical influences?
Gab: Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron and a lot of gospel music. I’m more into artists who were poetic with their words. Take Bob Marley or Marvin Gaye. [They] were songwriters that spoke to the spirit. I think that when you speak from the spirit you speak to the spirit ‘cuz I think that it’s all one spirit, just different expressions of it. I’m definitely into artists like that. And the more I grow the more I’m just like, “It’s all unique-even rock and music from other countries.” I’m just trying to grow and be open to stuff I may not have listened to so I can grow as an artist.
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What part of the cycle do you think hip hop is in right now?
Xcel: I kinda feel like we’re on that upswing; this is just me speaking instinctually. We’re at that period right before [De La Soul’s] Three Feet High and Rising dropped. People are just waiting to see what happens.
Gab: Yeah, with all the people he mentioned, it’s a renaissance happening right now. It’s just taking effect. But it’s already started.
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You all sound optimistic.
Xcel: And I’m going to remain optimistic about this…
