Blackalicious Isn't Just What I Think of Beyonce

Okay, so when I started this blog, I promised to myself that I would act as a beacon - as best I could - to put information out there for things I'm passionate about.

Music, no doubt, is one of those things.

An artist I want to feature in this Beacon - I'd like to call it the Minorstream, but I don't know if that already exists - is Blackalicious.

Now, disregard the name, because it sounds like the kind of rap you hear on the crappy pop stations pretending to play rap music. Blackalicious is the real thing. There's no real single undercurrent running through the music. It's not overtly political, sexual, spiritual, etc. but it can be in parts, if that makes any sort of sense whatsoever.

Gift of Gab, the lyricist, is sort of hard to pin down singularly. His flow is pretty good - he raps pretty fast on certain songs - but for the most part his primary focus in the material is the boast. And he's good at it.

If I had to liken it to another group, I'd have to say Blackalicious resembles Jurassic 5 a little bit. Cut Chemist, of J-5, makes an appearance on Chemical Calisthenics, a verbal workout if I've ever heard one.

The album to cut your teeth on is Blazing Arrow The highlights of the record are "Blazing Arrow", "Paragraph President", "Chemical Calisthenics", and "Aural Pleasure".

I hope you guys check Blackalicious out. It's what I'm listening to right now.