Chief Xcel

Blackalicious
Blackalicious duo Chief Xcel (left) and Gift of Gab performing at the Paid Dues hip hop festival in 2008
Background information
Origin	Sacramento, California, United States
Genres	Alternative hip hop, West Coast hip hop, indie hip hop
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Quannum Projects MCA/Universal Records SoleSides ANTI-
Associated acts	DJ Shadow, Lateef the Truthspeaker, Lyrics Born
Website	blackalicious.com
Members	Gift of Gab Chief Xcel

Blackalicious is an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's deemed "classic" beats. The duo have released four full-length albums (Nia in 1999, Blazing Arrow in 2002, The Craft in 2005, and Imani Vol. 1 in 2015).

While Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel spent their early childhood years in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area respectively, the two first met while attending John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento, California. At the time, Gift of Gab was known as Gabby T, while Chief Xcel went by the stage name of DJ IceSki. After graduating from Kennedy High in 1989, the two went their separate ways.

In 1992, during a time when Xcel was attending the University of California, Davis, Gift of Gab joined him in Davis, California to form Blackalicious. At UC Davis, Xcel had been working with a hip-hop group named Solesides, whose members included DJ Shadow, Lateef the Truthspeaker, and Lyrics Born. Solesides Records was the name of the collective's Northern California record company, and in 1994 the label released Blackalicious' debut single "Swan Lake", which garnered acclaim within the independent music scene. In 1995, Blackalicious released an EP titled Melodica under Solesides Records. By 1997, Solesides Records had transformed into the now acclaimed Quannum Projects, and under this label, the group released an EP titled A2G in 1999. Later that year, the group released its debut full-length debut album Nia. The album was released in Europe by Mo' Wax on August 30, 1999 and later re-released in the United States by Quannum Projects on February 29, 2000 with a slightly altered track list.