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| Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow Classification: Pop Band: Blackalicious Tracks: - Intro: Bow & Fire - Blazing Arrow - Sky Is Falling - First In Flight - Green Light: Now Begin - 4000 Miles - Nowhere Fast - Paragraph President - It's Going Down - Make You Feel That Way - Brain Washers - Chemical Calisthentics - Aural Pleasure - Passion - Purest Love - Release Part 1,2 & 3 - Day One The second coming for Blackalicious This album is dope!! The reason i didn't give it 4 stars is cuz NIA (they're 1st LP), was so damn clean i just couldn't put the two in the same category. This def has what it takes to be in ur collection though. The production is off the hook and Gab's delivery is outta hand as usual. If your a first time buyer/listener of Blackalicious, don't be skeptical about these guys. They're some of the best hip hop has to offer. The best cut is track 14 w/dilated's Iriscience & Babu. The beat is head noddin body movin, and both emcee's spit dopeness while Babu throws skratches. Other tight songs are 4,000 miles, with J5's Chali2na and fellow Quannum label pal, Lateef. #8, Paragraph President, will leave u questioning you intelligence, even if ur a harvard grad. It's a pure display of lyrical mastery. The songs are star packed with ?uestlove from The Roots and J5's Cut Chemist doin some production. There's even some non-hop in there like Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine. This is a true display of what hip hop's all about. If ur into that bling bling ish and that make em say uhhh garbage, this isn't for u. But if ur about Dope lyrics with ill metaphors and tongue twisting emcees backed up by some coo beats, pick this album up and don't Sleep on NIA either. Keep hip hop real, Peace Meditation, meditation, meditation.... This CD has been in steady "Replay" mode in my CD Player since I bought it earlier this year. It's absolutely the hottest hip hop album of the 21st century. A tremendous breath of fresh air in the stale rap pop community dominated by Nelly, Ja Rule, and the rest. MTV's TRL and their studio Audience can keep those guys, and their N'Sync collaborations. Leave groups like Blackalicious to people who understand true hip hop... Someone asked me to pick a favorite track on this album, and honestly, I can't bring myself to do it. Even tracks that I thought I didn't care for at first listen (Nowhere Fast, Passion) have been promoted from Skip Next Track purgatory. There are so many wonderful moments on this album, and it reels you in right from the fantastic Bow & Fire introduction. Gift of Gab explodes right off the bat in the title track, Blazing Arrow -- "Amazin phase your days your hazy ways my Blazing Arrow,<BR>The rays that range from Asia way to Rio De Janeiro" and it never looks back. Oddly enough, probably My Favorite moment on the entire album isn't even listed as an official track. There's a brief "mini-track" at the end of Aural Pleasure that absolutely blew my mind the first time I heard it. A brief snippet by Gab: <BR>"Unless your flame light surpasses eternal, <BR>you couldn't swing it if you had a pendulum strapped to your sternum<BR>I am the Sun, one with the son of man righteousness<BR>Won't be defeated by the underhand faceless heads<BR>In the presence of greatness,<BR>I'll teach you how to backstroke with cinderblock bracelets<BR>Dog paddle and kick it in a Quicksand oasis<BR>Contents under pressure, test out who your faith is..." I mean -- c'mon now. Until Ja Nelly comes out with something that hittin', I'm just gonna keep on grooving to my West Coast Blackalicious crew.... Revolution or Evolution? Blackalicious earned its reputation as the best (underground or not) hip hop group from the Bay Area based on the Gift of Gab's elite rhyme skills and the beguilingly simple beats of Chief Xcel. For their newest album, the West Coast's equivalent to Gang Starr has retained the elements of its success while continuing its musical covergence with R&B. If you preferred Blackalicous's trademark raw and experimental sounds (e.g., "Alphabet Aerobics", "Smithzonian Institute of Rhyme") there is still vintage material, albeit less of it. Tracks such as "Passion" and the unbelievable "Release" (featuring show-stealer Saul Williams) are still inimitably, vibrantly Blackalicious. However, these tracks are no longer the bulk or even highpoints for Gab and Xcel's album. Instead, they fill a complimentary role to the newer, smoothed out Blackalicous combination of rhyme and R&B hooks. Accordingly, your enjoyment of Blazing Arrow will primarily depend upon your appetite for this style change-up. The new direction that Nia pointed to on tracks such as "If I May" and "As the World Turns" featuring Gab singing and rhyming a la Lauryn Hill, Mos Def and Cee-Lo Green are now the Heart of the LP. Luckily, this isn't a bad thing--indeed, it's actually surprisingly good. The guest collabs are uniformly fabulous, featuring luminaries incl. Gil Scott-Heron and Ben Harper effortlessly blending in with and enhancing Gab's rhymes and crooning. Yeah it's different but it's not for Vain cross-over appeal--just musical growth Blackalicious continues to be at the top of *their* game--rewriting the rules as they see fit to match to their personal and artistic growth. _Blazing Arrow_ continues Blackalcious's redefinition of hip hop. Buy Blackalicious Blazing Arrow at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.comJamster - the latest ringtones for your phone! |
