Sacramento, California hip-hop duo Blackalicious first jumped onto the rap radar in the early ’90s, with their groundbreaking EP, Melodica. Rapper Gift of Gab (Timothy Parker) and DJ/producer Chief Excel (Xavier Mosley) issued the same cerebral take on lyricism and sonic grooves as peers like A Tribe Called Quest, and were a heady alternative to the then-incoming flux of Gangsta Rap. The band’s upcoming fourth LP, Imani Vol. 1, is slated to drop next month.
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