BLACKALICIOUS (USA)

If you have never heard of Blackalicious — well, then you have probably never heard of hip hop either. The group had its beginnings in the late 1980s in Northern California, where DJ/producer Chief Xcel and rapper The Gift of Gab met in school and ended up, after a few weird accidents, making music together. The wonderful name did not come self-evident, either, and the duo tried three titles until they finally came up with Blackalicious in 1991.

In the same year, The Gift of Gab decided to give up school and concentrate full-time on music only. Together with such names as DJ Shadow and Lateef the Truth Speaker the Blackalicious duo proceeded to found the SoleSides label. In 1994, SoleSides released the first EP by Blackalicious, Melodica, that met with wild success in underground circles and got massive airplay with college radio stations. With DJ Shadow's recommendation, Blackalicious's EP was released in Europe by the legendary British trip hop label MoWax, and so the duo got their first gigs in Europe.

Now that Blackalicious has stayed together for almost two decades, it is still a beautiful specimen of a hip hop group that can be called "real", unlike most of the junk that MTV tries to sell people under that definition. Last year's album The Craft is a living proof that Blackalicious still can, and wants to, give out material that can have a profound effect on today's hip hop. What you will see in Ilosaarirock is two old school friends who have been through hell and high tide, but have stayed together all the same, thanks to their love and dedication to making music.

www.blackalicious.com

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