Blackalicious

Blackalicious is an American Hip Hop duo from Sacramento, California, composed of Xavier Mosley aka Chief Xcel (DJ, Producer) and Timothy Parker aka The Gift of Gab (MC). If the duo stabilizes and chooses its final name in 1991, it is in 1987 at the Kennedy High School that it is created, will follow three years during which Blackalicious will pottery his subject, will separate more or less, then will work on compositions with the label Solesides ( DJ Shadow , Lyrics Born , General Elektriks ...). It was in 1994 that the fruit of his work will really come into being, with the single Swan Lake from a first EP named Melodica, the combined sales will be around 25,000 units, largely thanks to the relay of high school radios across the country. In the wake of this, Mo Wax signed the duo and distributed the EP in Europe, allowing it to tour in 27 cities in the old continent in 1995. At the same time Solesides ended and reborn as Quannum. In 1996, Blackalicious began to work on Nia (means goal in Swahili) which will only be released in 1999, after three trying years during which Gab will face his addiction to alcohol, this first very introspective mischief on the lives of the two members, which follows the EP A2G, sees the collaborations of Lyrics Born, Erinn Anova, Joyo Velarde and DJ Shadow. The growing success, the duo's position at the Billboard, makes the majors interested, which will bring a signature to MCA (Universal) for the second album Blazing Arrow, which will land in 2002 with a new collaboration of Dj Shadow, but also Lateef, Saul Williams and Zach De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine. After various tours, Blackalicious returned with a third opus, The Craft released in 2005 at ANTI- (Epitaph) is produced by Russell Elevado (The Dandy Warhols , Alicia Keys , Saul Williams ...), it will be followed the following year by a DVD Live titled 4/20. Following a big break, during which Chief will work notably on a new project, namely Burning House with Frenchman Hervé Salters (General Elektriks), the duo announces his return for 2015 with Emoni.
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