earCandy: Blackalicious - the Craft (2005) 4/5

The Craft is the third album from the San Francisco-based duo of positivity and awareness that is Blackalicious. Although I don't think it's quite as strong an outing as their earlier albums (Nia and Blazing Arrow), it's a welcome respite from a lot of the vacuous rap out there today. Mostly absent from this album are rapper Gift of Gab's mind boggling verbal gymnastics like Blazing Arrow's "Chemical Calisthenics" (which builds up to what is the fastest coherent rapping I've ever heard) or concept pieces such as Nia's "A to G" (where the rap progresses through each of the first seven letters of the alphabet), but that's not to say it's not entertaining - it just sounds like it's a bit more geared towards radio play. Cuts like "Give It To You" and "Black Diamonds and Pearls" are fantastic tunes in their own right, and the duo reaches out into a rock-ier sound for the catchy "Powers". Even though it's the weakest of their albums, the Craft still stands out against the bulk of today's rap offerings.