For a while there, it seemed like Blackalicious would be no more – they burst out of the blocks in the early noughties with three classic LPs, before a decade-long silence after 2005’s The Craft. But back in 2015, the duo broke their hiatus in a big way with Imani Vol. 1. The album is not perfect but it is definitely Blackalicious, and the power of the music and lyrics is still there.
The title of Imani is a reference to the Swahili word for “faith”, and this is definitely a theme of the album. Gift of the Gab’s rhymes on this album manage to be both technically proficient and genuinely inspirational. Blackalicious have always flirted with revolutionary positivity, but here it is the dominant lyrical motif. It sometimes veers a bit too close to daytime talk show territory in its wide-eyed optimism, but overall it stays on the right side of the line. Usually, popular music that is supposedly “positive” is really just full of hackneyed cliches, so it’s refreshing to hear contemporary music that manages to be both positive and good. “The Hourglass” is the track that best exemplifies the uplifting power of Gift of the Gab’s rhymes.
The other positive to take from the new album is that Xcel is still producing excellent music for his partner’s lyrics. Blackalicious hasn’t gone for more of the same musically either – Imani presents subtle shifts forward. The arrangements are more stripped back, with piano coming to the fore, and with horn samples aplenty and some lovely melodies sung by collaborators, particularly on the title track.
However, it’s not all perfect here. The album is too long – while the talents of the duo remain undimmed by the decade away, the album fails to sustain itself over its 57 minutes. It would have been better perhaps to make a tauter album on the return, rather than trying to give every possible idea they had space. Also, one does get the feeling that time has caught up with the group – emotionally complex and introspective lyrics are now not only accepted, they are actually demanded in rap music, if the popularity of Drake and Kendrick Lamar is anything to go by. But Blackalicious still have their place. Their new music positions them as elder statesmen of the game, with something to teach the newcomers. Based on the class and musicality of Imani Vol. 1, the promised follow up will hopefully consolidate and improve on the sound in this solid comeback.
Review Score: 7.6 out of 10.
Imani Vol. 1 is out now.
———-
