Name: Craft, The
Brand: Anti/Epitaph
SKU: 236448
Price: 6.64 GBP
Availability: InStock

The Craft,

Rating

Album: The Craft,
#	Song Title		Time
1)	World Of Vibrations	More Info...
2)	Supreme People	More Info...
3)	Rhythm Sticks	More Info...
4)	Powers	More Info...
5)	Your Move	More Info...
6)	Lotus Flower	More Info...
7)	My Pen & Pad	More Info...
8)	Side To Side	More Info...
9)	Automatique	More Info...
10)	The Fall & Rise Of Elliot Brown	More Info...
11)	Black Diamonds & Pearls	More Info...
12)	Give It To You	More Info...
13)	Egosonic War Drums	More Info...
14)	The Craft	More Info...

Album: The Craft,
#	Song Title		Time
1)	World Of Vibrations	More Info...
2)	Supreme People	More Info...
3)	Rhythm Sticks	More Info...
4)	Powers	More Info...
5)	Your Move	More Info...
6)	Lotus Flower	More Info...
7)	My Pen & Pad	More Info...
8)	Side To Side	More Info...
9)	Automatique	More Info...
10)	The Fall & Rise Of Elliot Brown	More Info...
11)	Black Diamonds & Pearls	More Info...
12)	Give It To You	More Info...
13)	Egosonic War Drums	More Info...
14)	The Craft	More Info...

Performer Notes

Blackalicious: Chief Xcel, Gift of Gab (rap vocals).
Personnel: Brad Kobylczak, Marsha Ambrosius, Noa Schnall, Robert Collins, George Clinton , Nyra Dynyese, Syble Scovell, Larry Saunders, Ledisi (vocals); Floetry, Lateef the Truthspeaker, Lifesavas, Pigeon John (rap vocals); S?bastien Martel (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Vincent Segal (electric guitar, cello, electric cello, piano); Jean-Marc Apap (violin); Herv? Cavelier (viola); Herv? "RV" Salters (piano, organ, synthesizer); Teke Underduze (synthesizer); Alfredo Rolando Ortiz (percussion).
Audio Mixers: Mike Cresswell; Russell Elevado.
Recording information: Accompong Compound (Studio 880); Studio Calm, Paris, France.
Not since the glory days of Eric B. & Rakim has so much hip-hop intensity exuded from one MC & one DJ. With a voice echoing the measured sermons of KRS-One and Black Thought, and with just a hint of Kool Keith dementia, Blackalicious MC Gift of Gab unfurls his narratives with an inspired mix of deliberation and fire, throwing out a flurry of ideas so immense it takes multiple listens to absorb them, but with a delivery so appealing as to never overwhelm. Meanwhile, DJ Chief Xcel throws together beats both familiar and far-flung in a manner that, even when he experiments, no listener is left behind. Their third offering, THE CRAFT, is one of those rare records (like THINGS FALL APART or STANKONIA) that expands hip-hop while maintaining pop appeal, where a bizarre anything-goes rock-pop concoction like "Powers" can co-exist peacefully alongside a straightforward but exemplary club-banger like "Your Move," and the mystic-funk of "Lotus Flower" next to the minimalist avant-garde parable of "The Fall and Rise of Elliot Brown."

Professional Reviews

Spin (p.137) - "[T]heir 'Black Diamonds & Pearls' goes a level deeper than Kanye's diamond song..." - Grade: B

Uncut (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 - "The Bay Area duo were aiming for a concise statement of their 'craft'....The twists and turns of this album do focus attention back to their strengths."