Nia | ||||
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Studio album by Blackalicious | ||||
Released | August 30, 1999 | |||
Recorded | 1998–99 | |||
Genre | Hip hop | |||
Length | 74:01 | |||
Label | Mo' Wax, Quannum Projects | |||
Producer | Chief Xcel, Lyrics Born, DJ Shadow | |||
Blackalicious chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Alternative Press | 4/5 |
Entertainment Weekly | A− |
Muzik | |
NME | 6/10 |
Pitchfork Media | 7.3/10 |
Rolling Stone | |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Spin | 8/10 |
The Village Voice | A− |
Nia is the first studio album by American hip hop duo Blackalicious, consisting of Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel. It 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.
John Bush of AllMusic called Nia "an album that stakes the claim of Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab as not only the best pair of rappers in the underground, but also the best pair of producers." Patrick Jones of PopMatters commented that it "renews your faith in the power and potential of hip-hop."Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club said, "Blackalicious' work will strike some listeners as hopelessly naïve and New Age-ish, but Nia is nevertheless an audacious, uncompromised, enormously promising album by a group with the courage to disregard hip-hop's codes and unwritten rules to create music that is vitally, distinctly its own."Exclaim!'s Del F. Cowie praised the album's "superior conceptual execution and soulful statement".
Nia ranked number 45 on NME's 101 Albums to Hear Before You Die.