BLACKALICIOUS, Blazing Arrow!

BLACKALICIOUS, Blazing Arrow! By Joanna Chaundy Forget all your "Muthaf#k this, Muthaf#k that..." here is a blast of some real hip-hop shit! I'm talking about the new album from BLACKALICIOUS, Blazing Arrow! It's about time people like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Dilated Peoples and Jurassic 5 took the limelight. Some of you that pick this album up, might not realize, that this is Blackalicious' 4th album over a period of a decade in the business. This seems to be Chief Xcel & Gift Of Gab's time to shine. This album is definitely an experience you should take part in. It has a wide variety of Hip-Hop, "real" lyrics and dripping with originality. It features a star studded list of other well respected artists, including; Zach De La Rocha (formerly of Rage Against The Machine), Ben Harper, ?uestlove (The Roots), Chali 2Na and Cut Chemist (Jurassic 5), Rakaa & Babu (Dilated Peoples), Gil Scott-Heron, Keke Wyatt, Jaguar Wright, Sean Lennon...and damn, the list goes on... The first single off the album is, Make You Feel That Way, which is a wonderful track to kick off the album. It's a strong first single. There are some CRAZY tracks here though, some of which I cannot even describe because they are so original. Gift Of Gab's speedy lyrics are powerful and full of that early hip-hop sound. Between them both, their creativity makes you listen hard to the lyrics, which they put across in such a feel good way.		Personally, my favourite tracks are; 400-Miles ft: Chali 2Na & Lateef The Truth Speaker. It's heavy with a dope beat. It's Going Down ft: Lateef & Keke Wyatt is a great combination of artists. It has a catchy chorus and Keke does the track proud. Brainwasher's ft: Ben Harper is smooth, soulful which you can just kick back to. Now, Chemical Calisthenics ft: Cut Chemist is off the hook! It's hot! The rhythm of this is incredible, you have to hear this. But, my ultimate favourite track would have to be, Aural Pleasure ft: Jaguar Wright. I'm a huge Jaguar fan so I'm a little biased, but it's tite. This has the potential to be a great summer single. It's on the same kinda lines as Guru & Angie Stone but more old skool. For all you early 90's Hip-Hop fans, check out the track, Paragraph Presidents. I would give Blazing Arrow 8/10 and if you're a true Hip-Hop head, you should have this in your collection, no question. It seems that Blackalicious are finally getting the recognition they deserve. As Gab says; "Blazing Arrow is action."