Blackalicious - Nia

The hip-hop posts around here have been pretty sparse of late, so here's one of my personal favorites. Blackalicious have been justifying the importance of their often criticized and mocked genre, single handedly ever since this, their debut album hit the shelves years back. Not to say they're the only decent hip-hop act going but they're certainly one of the most important and enjoyable of this era. Their MC, Gift Of Gab is a fine example of the immense amount of skill that creating a well put together rap takes. He raps in a way that's completely clear yet still manages to go at break-neck pace.

I was lucky enough to catch them live this summer and watching Gab freestyle really surprised me, not many rappers seem to have such faith in their own talent as to be able to take a chance and really show off to the fans.

I chose "Nia" over "Blazing Arrows" and this year's "The Craft" mainly due to my love of it's lo-fi presentation. Very simple production and the voice never has any trouble being heard over the beat. This wasn't as true on the two later records, they seemed slightly over produced and awkward in composure. They're great records, don't get me wrong but "Nia" just has the edge.

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