producers: chief xcel, cut chemist

There are a lot of great artists from a to g: like Aceyalone, Blackalicious, Chino XL, Digital Underground, Eminem, Frankenstein, and Gang Starr. But sometimes a to g can also stand for ‘absolutely beautifully cherishable, dope, enormously funky and great’. But then again, isn’t that "A2G"? Well it is. ‘Cause Blackalicious is bubbalicious. Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab are the names behind this excellently executed collection of the freshest beats and mind twisting rhymes. Let’s get into them first.

On "Alphabet Aerobics (The Cut Chemist 2.5 Minutes Workout)", Gift of Gab rips the microphone to shreds while going through every letter of the alphabet. He starts with "artificial amateurs, aren't at all amazing / analytically, I assault, animate things", progresses through "let me live a long life, lyrically lessons is / learned lame louses just lose to my livery" and ends with "zig zag zombies, zoomin’ to the zenith / zero in zen thoughts, overzealous rhyme zea-lots!". And as if this wouldn’t be making us trip enough, Cut Chemist decided to twist the speed knob on his beatmachine constantly higher, so that at the end Gift of Gab reaches almost auctioneer speed in his tongue breaking,....well,....aerobics.

"Deception" is another lyrical standout cut. Not only strays Gab away from the AABB rhyme scheme. The lyrics contain a tale of rise and fall of some posterboy rapper, that has his 15 minutes of fame, only to have his focus corrupted. Or to say it in Gab’s own words: "used to wanna be the best of the rap dons (rap dons) / now his only one concern is goin’ platinum (platinum) / and his skills has since decreased, and the inner hunger ceased / now content, just as long as fame and cash come (cash come)" and at the end "now he's dropped from his label, and he's goin’ broke (goin’ broke) / tried the underground return, ghetto pass revoked (pass revoked) / and the same faces that he dissed, on his way, to the top / laughed as they watched him do the downstroke (downstroke)". Deep, deep.

One of the most beautiful tracks of this year has to be "Making Progress". This strong and proud track is actually one big quotable (click here). It gives love to every Black man and female in the struggle, with rhymes like "as I embark on life's journey from the point where I'm at / peace to everyone I know or who I go way back wit / every pimp, every mack, every gangsta to jack / every hustler feedin’ babies, anybody pro-black". Or "head on black people got to meet the task / educate, keep learnin’, gotta question, ask / and let your light keep shinin’ and remember the past / by any means necessary, we'll be free at last". Nevertheless Gab doesn’t hesitate to put some critical thoughts to this track too, when he shares: "see the cycle keeps moving like a big machine / evolution of the mind, soul body and being / God'll never put upon you more than you can take / sometimes you even gotta learn from other people's mistakes". A ‘Hall Of Fame’ track.

Beat wise, this EP doesn’t lack behind. Not only the above mentioned change in pace on "Alphabet Aerobics", also every other track has something special, you might just have never heard before. May this be the musicality of "A To G", or the almost disco beat of "Making Progress", may it be the old schoolish feel of a track like "Rock The Spot", without even sounding old school, or may it even be the hard thumbs and flute of "Back To The Essence" or the jumping piano of "Deception". Not one track is lacking in production, just as they are not lacking in lyrics. And that should make them appealing for every bounce fiend, just as much as every hardknock.

So what you get here is a complete package. And you will not even complain, that it’s only 7 tracks long. This is too funky and too creative to be bitchin’ about. That makes it this very reviewers favorite release of this year, up ‘till now.