Rating:
Genre:
Rap
Release Date: 09/27/2005
OutKast was only one of many
rap artists to gain a profile among music fans of all stripes, even as they sold millions of records, but it must have been difficult for those in the
hip-hop underground to greet their general commercial breakout with equanimity rather than jealousy.
Big Boi and
Andre 3000 became paragons of cool among teenagers
and 30-somethings, owned the ears and wallets of generalist listeners as well as the critical cognoscenti, and earned glowing features in
The Source and
Rolling Stone. No doubt the San Francisco duo
Blackalicious were watching
OutKast as first
Stankonia and then
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below began crossing over, and though
Blackalicious already commanded respect from thousands of
hip-hop fans, their third full LP found them seeking out new audiences with a slightly greater emphasis on radio-ready
pop (courtesy of soon-to-be single
"Powers," a dead ringer for
"Hey Ya"). For several tracks, producer
Chief Xcel recruited the elements of a
funk band to shoulder the weight usually carried by his unerring sampling sense, and the guitars-and-beats formula works very well (not least because
Xcel and rapper
Gift of Gab feel free to desert the formula periodically). Although
Gift of Gab reveals a slight lack of material one year on from his first solo record, the band format helps
Gab find different ways to deliver his vocals -- avoiding the crutch of his flashy speed raps from previous records. While the first half of the album may sound like a watered-down
Blazing Arrow, everything picks up when the duo unveil two of the grooviest message tracks since
Stevie Wonder's
"Livin' for the City" in
"The Fall and Rise of Elliot Brown" and
"Black Diamonds and Pearls." As on
Blazing Arrow, they make the most of an influences track by recruiting an elderly, potentially unstable performer -- here
George Clinton, there
Gil Scott-Heron -- by minimizing their contributions (but not their impact).
~John Bush, All Music Guide
;)
Listen
