Blazing Arrow

Features the bonus track 'Just What Can Happen'.

Blackalicious's debut, Nia, was grossly underrated despite emcees Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel's witty, Afro-centered conceptual leanings. Blazing Arrow picks up where Nia left off, but features a more mature-sounding duo utilizing even tighter beats and more cerebral rhymes. When they're teaming up with fellow West Coasters like Dilated Peoples' Rakka Iriscience ("Passion") or Jurassic 5's Chali 2NA ("4,000 Miles"), the results are off the meter. The sheer number of well-utilized guest spots from non-rap genres (Ben Harper, Rage Against the Machine's Zach de la Rocha) and downright catchy choruses ("Sky Is Falling," "Make You Feel That Way") expand mainstream rap's limited new-school paradigms in ways that are desperately needed. Although the duo still aren't anywhere near the most-skilled emcee's in the Bay Area's burgeoning underground movement, "Paragraph Preside" is a must-hear track, featuring wildly schizophrenic rhyme chemistry and wily wordplay. At a time when dullards like Fabolous get props for being a skilled emcee, any rhyme duo that is more interested in pushing envelopes than licking 'em deserves your ducats. --Dalton Higgins