(Quannum/Jam/Shock)

With ‘The Craft’ Blackalicious have one again excelled themselves to produce an album that is dense with lyrical mastery and sodden with sampling techno-trickery. Their record label reckons that this one is the killer, on a par with the likes of Outkast’s ‘Aquemini’, The Roots’ ‘Things Fall Apart’ and Gang Starr’s ‘Daily Operation’. You know what? I think they’re not far off the mark – this is going to go down as one of the albums of the year, for sure.

It has a lot to live up to. Critically acclaimed, the licious’ have already produced some stunning slices of modern hip-hop with the release of 1999’s Nia and 2002’s Blazing Arrow. They called this one The Craft to reflect their maturing approach to the music, which is apparent in the tighter-than-tight lyrics and production. It’s incredibly hard to pick favourites, though the rocking soul-mamma number Powers is up there, along with the excellent opener World of Vibrations. Rhythm Stick shows off the breath-taking (or lack of breath-taking I should say) abilities of Gift of Gab. The man has no equal!

Gab turns his gaze outward for inspiration, which produces some epic tales wrapped in dazzling sound. The Rise and Fall of Elliott Brown is charts the helter-skelter journey of a young man from lost and tortured soul to leader in huge community. The bold, heart racing use of production techniques results in a salubrious mess of jazz, percussion, trumpets, keyboards and stunning tongue-tripping rhymes that veer from fast to slow. Black Diamonds and Pearls follows the lives of “tragic and triumphant characters”, say the crib notes, but they don’t convey the sad tinge to the tales that roll over lazy beats.

Egosonic War Drums dips into darker zones, with growling lyrics storming atop rumbly beats, and The Craft – the album’s title track – finishes things off with a focus on reflective lyrics and laid back beats. “The Craft,” Xcel says, is our passion to bring discipline to this music, the passion to keep growing, keep stretching, keep doing things we haven’t done before.”

If it’s this good now, just imagine what their toils will bring us in future. Gold Star.