Blackalicious - never out of breath
It begins with the fingers. Then come the bald head, the glasses and finally, the voice. They don’t call him Gift of Gab for nothing.
Although the man looks like your regular avuncular neighbor, his delivery is anything but that. First, one would consider the man autistic: the constant flow of words, the downcast eyes, fingers whipping the air. But when the beat escalates, he seems to awake from his stupor. The audience is mesmerized. When Gab calls for hands in the air, they rise. When he asks permission to freestyle, the noise from the audience becomes deafening. Chief Xcel takes care of the beats and decks. The backgrounds fade occasionally, but the bass is unerring.
And the voice, the voice. It does sound intense on the records, but this something completely different. This is Blackalicious.
Text: Olli Sulopuisto
Translation: Jari Rytkönen