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The Craft (album)
''The Craft'' is the third studio album by American hip hop duo Blackalicious. It was released on Anti- on September 27, 2005. Chief Xcel said, "''The Craft'' is our passion to bring discipline to this music, the passion to keep growing, keep stretching, keep doing things we haven't before." It peaked at number 102 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. As of 2015, it has sold 67,000 copies in the US. Critical reception At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 22 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Jack Booty of ''Prefix'' gave the album a 7.0 out of 10, saying, " hiefXcel's production doesn't stray very far from its R&B and soul influences, but this time it comes without almost any samples, relying sometimes on players from a homebrewed funk band to create clearance-free beats instead." ''Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackalicious
Blackalicious was 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 soulful production.Edwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap'': The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC, Chicago Review Press, p. 322. The duo released four full-length albums: '' Nia'' in 1999, ''Blazing Arrow'' in 2002, '' The Craft'' in 2005, and ''Imani Vol. 1'' in 2015. Gift of Gab died in June 2021. Career 1992–1999: Early years, Quannum Projects, ''Nia'' album While Tim Parker (Gift of Gab) and Xavier Mosley (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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitchfork (website)
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working at a record store in suburban Minneapolis, and the website earned a reputation for its extensive coverage of indie rock music. It has since expanded and covers all kinds of music, including pop. Pitchfork was sold to Condé Nast in 2015, although Schreiber remained its editor-in-chief until he left the website in 2019. Initially based in Minneapolis, Pitchfork later moved to Chicago, and then Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Its offices are currently located in One World Trade Center alongside other Condé Nast publications. The site is best known for its daily output of music reviews but also regularly reviews reissues and box sets. Since 2016, it has published retrospective reviews of classics, and other albums that it had not previously review ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floetry
Floetry were an English contemporary R&B, R&B duo comprising Marsha Ambrosius ("The Songstress") and The Floacist, Natalie Stewart ("The Floacist"). The group recorded two studio albums and one live album and sold over 1,500,000 records worldwide. Formed in 1997 Floetry started on the performance poetry stage. They worked with many US musicians and artists including: Jill Scott (singer), Jill Scott, Queen Latifah, Michael Jackson, Common (rapper), Common, The Roots and Bilal (American singer), Bilal and more founders of Neo soul, Neo-Soul. Career Beginnings: 1994–2002 Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart first met on the basketball courts in London, England. There they quickly transitioned from rivals to friends bonding over their love for music and poetry. The first collaboration came when Ambrosius contacted Stewart about adding poetry to the chorus of a song she was working on called 'Fantasize'. Stewart invited Ambrosius onstage to perform the song at her show a few month ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pigeon John
John Kenneth Dust (born John Kenneth Dunkin: November 30, 1972), better known by the stage name Pigeon John, is an American rapper based in Los Angeles, California. He is a former member of L.A. Symphony. Early life Pigeon John claims that his stage name was provided by Jesus who was driving around Inglewood: "He hopped out and handed me a dead pigeon. He whispered, 'Please have a good time, you're really bumming me out.' I watched him sink back into the cushioned seats and drive, quickly away. And that's when it happened, the pigeon started shaking violently and became awake, picked up and flew away. I don't think I had a choice... it was 'pigeon' or die." He later explained that he was discussing his need for a stage name with a friend when the friend suggested "Chicken John", taken from the character Chicken George in ''Roots''. The friend's mother then interjected that John didn't look like a chicken, claiming that he looked like a pigeon and should therefore be called "Pig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lateef The Truthspeaker
Lateef Daumont, better known by his stage name Lateef the Truthspeaker, or mononymously as Lateef, is a hip hop artist from Oakland, California (United States). He is a member of several hip hop groups such as Latyrx, Lateef and the Chief, and the Mighty Underdogs. He was the founding member of the Solesides collective, which became Quannum Projects. Life and career Lateef was raised in East Oakland, where his father was security detail for the Black Panthers. His mother, a Panther medic, was a roommate and political associate of Angela Davis. He is of African American and Puerto Rican descent. He has released several mixtapes such as ''Ahead of the Curve'' (2007), ''Truth Is Love'' (2009), and ''Truth at Sea'' (2011). His solo debut album, ''Firewire'', was released in 2011. It features contributions from Chief Xcel, Del the Funky Homosapien, the Grouch, Lyrics Born, Dan the Automator and DJ Shadow. He was also featured on the songs "Wonderful Night" and "That Old Pair of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Clinton (funk Musician)
George Edward Clinton (born July 22, 1941) is an American musician, singer, bandleader, and record producer. His Parliament-Funkadelic collective (which primarily recorded under the distinct band names Parliament and Funkadelic) developed an influential and eclectic form of funk music during the 1970s that drew on science fiction, outlandish fashion, psychedelia, and surreal humor. He launched his solo career with the 1982 album '' Computer Games'' and would go on to influence 1990s hip hop and G-funk. Clinton is regarded, along with James Brown and Sly Stone, as one of the foremost innovators of funk music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, alongside 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 2019, he and Parliament-Funkadelic were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards. Career Beginnings George Edward Clinton was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, and currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida. During his t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lifesavas
Lifesavas is a hip hop group from Portland, Oregon. Their style exhibits tag-team rhymes, matter-of-fact storytelling and a soulful production. The emcee's styles and song writing skills are showcased in the arrangements of a funky collection of subject matter and concepts. Formation Vursatyl and Jumbo met playing basketball and ripping free-style in Portland city parks. Initially working on different projects out of the same makeshift studio, the two decided to join creative forces. DJ Rev Shines joined them, creating a trio. Chief Xcel from Blackalicious discovered the Lifesavas and invited the group to perform in San Francisco with Blackalicious Quannum Projects. Vursatyl was invited to perform backup vocals for Blackalicious during their live performances. Soon after, Jumbo and Shines joined Vursatyl on tour, opening for Quannum artists Blackalicious and Latyrx. That led to a record deal on Quannum Projects in 2003, where they released their debut album ''Spirit In Ston ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincent Ségal
Vincent Ségal (born 1967 in Reims, France) is a French cellist and bassist. He studied at the National Music Academy of Lyon and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. He is mainly known for the variety of his collaborations and unusual projects. He has worked with Steve Nieve, Elvis Costello, Cesaria Evora, Blackalicious, Carlinhos Brown, the French reggae band Tryo, Franck Monnet, the experimental project Mujeres Encinta, Georges Moustaki or with Alexandre Desplat in the O.S.T. of ''Lust, Caution'' and other of his films. In 1986 he and Cyril Atef and formed the band Bumcello, a downtempo electronica duo that won the Victoires de la Musique award and was named Electronic artist of the year 2006. He played on every Matthieu Chedid (''-M-'') album. In 2009 he worked with Sting on his album '' If on a Winter's Night...''. In October of the same year he recorded, in the studio of Salif Keïta in Mali, the album ''Chamber Music'' with Ballaké Sissoko Discography As leader * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honeycut
Honeycut is a San Francisco–based band, part of the Quannum Projects. Its members are Bart Davenport (voice), RV Salters (keys and samples) and Tony Sevener (beats, MPC drum machine). The band was formed in 2003. It released its first album in 2006 (''The Day I Turned to Glass'') and shortly after received the 17th annual SF Weekly music award in the category Best Soul/Funk Band. Its music has been influenced by rock, indie-pop, soul and funk and their sound is very rich for a three-man band. Bart Davenport and Tony Sevener originate from California, while RV Salters was born in Paris and lived in France until joining the Quannum Projects in 1999. RV Salters displays a unique style of dancing while playing keyboard during their performances. They mostly perform in the San Francisco Bay Area, for example at notable places like The Independent. A cut-down version of Honeycut's song "Exodus Honey" released in 2006 was used by Apple for the late-2007 iMac commercial and the we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gift Of Gab (rapper)
Timothy Jerome Parker (October 7, 1970 – June 18, 2021), better known by his stage name Gift of Gab, was an American rapper best known for performing in the Bay Area hip hop duo Blackalicious along with DJ Chief Xcel. He was also a member of Quannum Projects, a Bay Area hip hop crew and record label, and performed and recorded as a solo artist. Life Timothy Jerome Parker was born in 1970 and raised in the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. He had two brothers and a sister at time of death, he also had two sisters that passed before him. He attended high school in Sacramento with his future bandmate Xavier "Chief Xcel" Mosley. In the years leading up to 2020, Parker had suffered from kidney failure and was receiving dialysis multiple times a week. In January 2020, Parker received a kidney transplant. Parker died on June 18, 2021 of natural causes. Collaborations Gift of Gab was featured on Galactic's album ''From the Corner to the Block'' (2007). He collaborate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ledisi
Ledisi Anibade Young (; born March 28, 1972), better known simply as Ledisi, is an American R&B and jazz recording artist, songwriter, music producer, author and actress. Her name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba.Ledisi AllMusic In 1995, Ledisi formed a band after her middle name Anibade. After unsuccessfully trying to get signed to a major label, she formed LeSun Records with Sundra Manning. Ledisi and Sundra decided to release Ledisi's debut album entitled ''Soulsinger'' (black and white cover on the LeSun Music independent label) featuring the song "Take Time", which gained substantial airplay from San Francisco area radio stations. In 2002, Ledisi re-released her first album, titled '' Soulsinger: The Revival'' under Tommy Boy Records., featuring a bonus track with Grammy Award Winner Meshell Ndegeocello on bass. Ledisi also released her second album, '' Feeling Orange but Sometimes Blue'', which won "Outstanding Jazz Album" at the California Music Awards. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 issues per year, distributing over 103,000 copies to over 2,600 locations across Canada. The magazine has an average of 361,200 monthly readers and their website, exclaim.ca, has an average of 675,000 unique visitors a month. History ''Exclaim!'' began as a discussion among campus and community radio programmers at Ryerson's CKLN-FM in 1991. It was started by then-CKLN programmer Ian Danzig, together with other programmers and Toronto musicians. The goal of the publication was to support great Canadian music that was otherwise going unheralded. The group worked through 1991 to produce their first issue in April 1992, with monthly issues being produced since. Ian Danzig has been the publisher of the magazine since its start. James Keast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
