There are times when you wonder how it is that somebody can be so incredibly good at that thing they do, to a point where you don’t actually want to know, because to know would be to humble yourself beyond hope of ever becoming so good at that very thing. Lucas MacFadden, aka Cut Chemist, is the type of artist who can make you feel that way.

And while he’s been in the game since the late ’80s at the birth of Unity Committee, the years gone by have yet to faze his good humor and affability, as Cut Chemist is one of the genuine nice guys in the business. There’s no pretension here: Just a dude who likes to talk records. Submerge caught up with MacFadden as he prepped a juice cleanse for the coming “shit-show” of eating on tour (even the big boys get stuck scarfing junk at truck stops), which will find him at Harlow’s on Sunday, March 4, with El Dusty and Shortkut.

I read that there’s a point where you just need to clear off the desktop of your computer and finish ideas, and that will lead to a new record. How did Die Cut come about?
It was more like assembling the desktop. I didn’t really have any ideas from past projects that I wanted to use on this one. So I actually used this thing called Funk Off Megamix [a remix album of French synth and drum machine-based music released in 2015], which serves as a litmus test—but it’s not material hanging over, it’s me assembling new material to inspire the album. It’s all like proto-industrial instead of my own productions. And that music is responsible for between a third and half of the album—the sample sources.

What’s it like to work with the Biz creatively? He’s one of these guys that just seems to make people smile, even at the mention of his name. The very first burned CD I ever owned was a one-song copy of “Just a Friend,” and it still makes me smile.
Ah, man. Exactly what you’d expect it to be. We’ve been friends for 20 years, and we’ve messed around doing freestyles here and there, nothing serious. And then one day we were sitting down and I was playing him some beats for the new album, and he didn’t really respond to any of them. But I had this small little intro piece that I tacked on and didn’t really pay much attention to. And I said, “You like this?” And he’s like “No, but that’s a hit and you don’t even know it. If you loop that I’ll rap to it, and we’ll make a hit.” And I think back to all the Juice Crew records and Biz always had an ear. All the samples that he chose are amazing. So I just thought to myself, he’s got the golden ear, and if he’s hearing something in that loop that I’m not, I’m gonna just defer to him. So he got in my closet, busted a freestyle to this beat, and immediately, like you said, I just smiled and said, this makes me feel like being a kid again. This makes me love hip-hop again. This makes me feel like 1989 all over again but also fits well now. He’s the only guy that really made my microphone sound dope [laughs] … That’s how he makes records. It makes everybody smile.

Another track that took me was the “Die Cut (Wrap)” at the end, because that is some serious wordsmith shit right there.
Sometimes you gotta put two people in a room, and just leave. That was Deantoni Parks on drums and Myka 9 on the vocal doing what they do best, which is doing everything you could possibly do with your gift. And yeah, man, as soon as I knew Deantoni was gonna be part of it I thought immediately, “We gotta get Myka 9,” because they’re both going to challenge each other in a way that’s gonna build into some crazy punk rock-jazz shit. And that was what happened. Deantoni was one take and Myka took a couple just to get his part down, but it’s the most untouched part of the record. I wanted to keep everything intact that happened in the moment.

I’d actually been playing “Work My Mind” for a couple months now without fully realizing it was your production. With Chali 2na, it’s kind of a pop cut in the scheme of the album because it sits right in the middle. I like the placement a lot.
Oh good! I mean, when you go through all this almost obscure, avant-garde stuff, it is refreshing to hear that song come in with a verse-chorus-verse structure with 2na delivering it. I agree. [And] I had to have Chali on the record. It’s amazing to me that he wasn’t on the last record. This one I was like we gotta do something; me as my own fan, I need to hear that. And it’s different because I wanted to do something electronic, and I think his voice cuts through electronics really well. It’s not something you would necessarily expect and people are really digging it.

Do you listen to the Heliocentrics?
Yeah of course. Did you like the one with Mulatu [Astatke]?

That hit me big time. Mulatu is really special to me. When I listen to the stuff you’re doing, I often think of Mulatu and things like that; just a little bit of Eastern melody worked in here and there. And you had a phase a few years ago where you were really digging in with African music, right?
Absolutely. Actually, Ethiopian music in general. Get this: During The Audience’s Listening in like 2003, 2004, I was listening to tons of Ethiopian music, collecting it like crazy. And then I was listening to a lot of Nirvana Unplugged and Radiohead. So on one hand I was really into rock, and on the other end of the scale Eastern, African—and not just the funk stuff, but like the traditional stuff, the wedding rhythms and stuff like that. And I think that’s how I came to do songs like “What’s the Altitude,” because it’s a rock sample, but it’s an Ethiopian chord progression, which seemed kinda weird at the time, but I was like, “You know what? That speaks to me.” And now I know why [laughs].

I just think it fits so perfectly with the kinds of things you do. It just makes sense.
Yeah, from the Ozomatli era, indigenous music is a big deal all the way around in what I do. No matter if what I do sounds rock-y or not, it’s always there. African, Latin, Columbian; it’s always been a huge deal and it always will be.

See Cut Chemist live at Harlow’s (2708 J St., Sacramento) on March 4, 2018. Also performing will be El Dusty and Shortkut. Tickets are $20 in advance and can be purchased through Harlows.com.

**This interview first appeared in print on pages 20 – 21 of issue #260 (Feb. 26 – Mar. 12, 2018)**

The Soul Survives

It’s been almost 30 years since Timothy Parker (aka Gift of Gab) and Xavier Mosley (aka Chief Xcel) started discussing the points of NorCal versus SoCal hip-hop at Sacramento’s John F. Kennedy High; it’s been more than 20 years since the then-freshly minted duo, Blackalicious, put out their propulsive and forward-thinking debut EP Melodica; and its been exactly 10 years since the third and last album from the duo, The Craft, appeared as their consummate statement on the art of hip-hop, a testament to their skills and experience. After a decade of strong solo efforts and collaborative work, 2015 is the year Blackalicious returns to the mothership, heading at light speed to the place they’ve always lived: the future.

2015 will bring us the first volume in a trilogy of releases collectively known as Imani (Swahili for “faith”), easily the most ambitious undertaking to date from the lyrical auteurs. The dense first installment functions as a fitting reintroduction to the group’s sound and mission statement. Xcel and Gab together form a highly melodic rhythm section, perhaps the most locked-in sonic relationship ever achieved between DJ and MC. Thematically, the material swarms with vibrant positivity, a message that’s conscious without sermonizing, an attitude that’s perceptive without being ironic.

Blackalicious could spend their time battling to keep their unique position in hip-hop, but they don’t have to. Their focus has always been on the craft of music, and after three years of preparation and one life-threatening situation (Gab underwent a kidney operation in 2012), the group seem to be heading toward another euphoric career high.

Recently we were able to speak with Chief Xcel, the sonic sorcerer of the partnership, and learn about this bold new era being forged by Imani. We learned a little about faith, the benefits of musical immersion, and how important it is to be moved by the music you make.

So you’re in the studio today… What are you working on?
We just finished Vol. 1, so now I’m getting the soundscape together for Vol. 2.

What’s your process for creating a soundscape?
There’s really no one way. I mean, I pretty much create music every day… The way Blackalicious records work is, I just amass a certain amount of music and then I just shoot it all over to Gab. Case in point, I’ll make like 50 to 60 beats for him, and he may pick 10 to 15. I’ll give him some time to narrow it down. We’ll go in, lay down rough ideas and from there, pick out the ones that inspire us the most. So out of those 10 or 15, we may pick only three to five, and decide that these are definite keepers. And then we’ll go in and really zero-in on those and develop those ideas and concepts.

I heard you and Gab have something you call “The Goosebumps Theory.” How would you describe that?
That’s something that we really had explored while working on The Craft, our last record. I had actually learned it while reading Quincy Jones’ autobiography, and that was the approach that he and Michael Jackson took when they were doing Thriller. With each song, they had to feel like the hairs on the back of their necks raising, like they were getting goosebumps. So we took that concept and really just meditated on it. We were really intrigued by it—just to be able to take things to that level—Does this music move you? That’s the underlying theme. The aim was always to make something that is timeless, and in order for it to be timeless, it has to touch you; It has to strike that chord. It’s the kind of thing where you just know. Certain things you listen to and you know they move you. It comes to a point where it’s beyond you, really. You have to step out of the way of the creativity, and you just let it happen.

Ten years on from the last Blackalicious project, after several respective solo projects, do you feel you and Gab have brought some new styles and influences into the mix? Were there any new discoveries in that time/any soul-searching?
I wouldn’t really call it soul-searching so much as studying. Especially for me, as a producer, each time I go into a different creative environment with a different artist, or even a different producer, it’s always a learning process. I’ve just been blessed and fortunate in terms of the people that I’ve been able to learn from, whether it was working with Gil Scott-Heron, or George Clinton, or Harley White. Each one has a unique way of tapping in to their creative process, so for me, it’s been a career of synthesizing all of these influences into a distinct sound. For us, making a Blackalicious record is just a period of absorption. It’s almost like data selection, you know what I mean? We have this specific approach to making records, but each time, it becomes a little bit sharper.

There seems to be a pretty sharp concept to the new record. I noticed the last track, “Imani” segues perfectly into the first track, “Faith.” What was the idea behind that?
It’s designed to really come full circle. That’s the simplest way I can sum it up. It’s designed to feel infinite. The concept for this album is really a reflection of who we are, and where we are.

Is there a similar vision for the next two volumes?
You’ll have to hear them! I don’t want to give out too much—everything builds upon what came prior. There will definitely be more collaborations on the second one—some will be surprising. It’s like a story that keeps building and developing.

You’ve both mentioned that this feels like a new beginning for the group. How so?
It’s another chapter. I mean, Gab’s in a place where he’s probably in the most prolific state he’s ever been in, in the entire course of his career, which is exciting. It’s exciting for me as a producer, because I never know what any given day in the lab is going to produce. There are very few artists that you work with where, no matter what I create, I know he is going to become an instrument within that given song. And take it to a level I hadn’t even thought about. I think that’s one of the key ingredients to our longevity over the past two decades.

Where do you think hip-hop is now after the past two decades?
Hip-hop tends to have a self-correcting mechanism. So whenever things tend to go too far in one direction, there always tends to be artists that can kind of ground it and bring it back on track, you know? And it happens maybe every five, six years? But I think the artistry is coming back. From my perspective, music is a continuum. There’s no beginning, no end, it’s all part of one continuum.

How do you and Gab achieve such a tight connection between the production and the rhymes?
Sometimes there’s an effortlessness that comes, just because we’ve been working together for more than half of our lives. We know each other, kind of like two people that have been on the basketball court for years, since they were in grade school, and now they’re in the NBA. They can do certain things because they know how the other person thinks. We’re at a point in our career now where we’ve really just hit that stride, creatively. Now we’re both just trying to hit that point of creative, rarefied air, you know?

You’re well known as a big time crate-digger/record collector. Has your taste in music/sound palate shifted significantly since you worked with Gab on The Craft?
I don’t know if it changes so much as it develops. You’re into something one day and something different the next. It’s more about continuing to learn. I may go back and revisit things, records that I’ve listened to just one or two times, 10 to 15 years ago, and go, “Wow! I never realized that was in there.” I think your ear for music develops all the time, so you start hearing things differently. As a result, you start to take different approaches to things.

What does it mean to be a musical scholar?
It’s important to study, man. And not just studying, I mean really listening and submerging yourself—no pun intended—into music. Dive as deep into it as you possibly can. There’s only a certain amount of notes and a certain amount of chords, but at the same time never ever, stop learning. When you stop learning, that’s when people—to use a phrase that they used way back in the day—fall off. You always want to be students.

How was the TBD experience?
I always love playing in Sacramento. I tell people all the time, Oakland and the Bay is home, but Sacramento is the genesis for us. So each time we play here, we feel it’s the place where it all began for us. And we’re really looking forward to the Concert in the Park on the 29th as well.

What can the park crowd expect?
Well the people that are planning to come out, who’ve seen us before, they all know we do a great show. We work to always make it an experience, and whether there are five thousand people in the crowd or just five, our aim is always to connect those different energies into one energy. That’s what I think people enjoy about coming to see us live is that interaction.

You can catch Blackalicious along with DLRN, Element Brass Band and more at Cesar Chavez Plaza this Friday, May 29, 2015, at 5 p.m. as part of this summer’s Concerts in the Park series. Like all concerts in the series, the price for admission is FREE for all ages. For a full list of remaining shows, go to Godowntownsac.com.

Once again winter has passed (if you can call that a winter), which means that spring is here and with it, the 2015 Concerts in the Park series, which officially kicks off on Friday, May 1! We’ve got your first glance at the eclectic lineup right here, and there’s a little something for everyone. Dig country music? Don’t miss May 15 with Cripple Creek Band and Golden Cadillacs. Want to throw your hands up at a hip-hop show? Mark your calendars for Blackalicious and DLRN + Stevie Nader on May 29 and a sure-to-be-insane collaboration set featuring Task1, Century Got Bars, J-Ras and Charleee on July 24. Wanna rock out with some post-hardcore? Check out Jonny Craig’s new band Slaves alongside A Lot Like Birds on June 26. Want to dance your face off? Hit up Joy and Madness on May 8. What about punk rock, you ask? Yeah, they’ve got that too. Check out Mr. T Experience, The Four Eyes and others on June 19. The indie-rock loving crowd will enjoy July 17 featuring From Indian Lakes and Sunmonks, and reggae enthusiasts can get their fix with Element of Soul on June 5 and Arden Park Roots on July 24. Peep the entire lineup below! If the artist’s name is linked, click on it to read a feature on them from a recent issue of Submerge. We’ll see you out at Cesar Chavez Plaza on Friday nights starting on May 1!

May 1 – CIP Kick-off!

Island of Black & White
Drop Dead Red
Riotmaker
DJ Epik

May 8

Joy & Madness
Sol Peligro
Zyah Belle & The Funkshun
Paul Gordon & the Ambient Experience

May 15

Cripple Creek Band
Golden Cadillacs
Be Brave Bold Robot
Ashley Barron
DJ Rawhide

May 22

Frank Hannon Band
Alex Vincent Band
Pressure Lounge
DJ Peeti-V

May 29

Blackalicious
DLRN + Stevie Nader
Element Brass Band
Druskee

June 5

Element of Soul
Burro
Once An Empire
50-Watt Heavy
TL Miller / imf.DRED

June 12

Jonah Matranga
The Storytellers
Kevin Seconds
One-Leg Chuck
DJ Elements

June 19

Mr. T Experience
The Four Eyes
The Enlows
Rebel Punk
DJ Whores

June 26

Slaves
A Lot Like Birds
Tell the Wolves
We Went to the Moon
Z Rokk

July 3

No show! Happy 4th of July!

July 10

The Soft White Sixties
The Nickel Slots
Justin Farren
Vintage Vandals
El Conductor

July 17

From Indian Lakes
Sunmonks
Xochitl
Dusty Brown

July 24 – Season Finale!

Arden Park Roots
Task1ne + Century Got Bars + J-Ras + Charleee
Ideateam
Braden Scott Band
Shaun Slaughter

Gift of Gab at Home in the Unknown

It is hard to believe it’s been nearly 20 years since rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel formed Blackalicious within the walls of Kennedy High School and later went on to form Soulsides Records after meeting DJ Shadow at Davis’ KDVS. That was 1992. Times have changed, but one ideal remains true: testing Gift of Gab on the mic will put MCs in trouble.

Soon the prolific wordsmith will be over the hill, and 2012 will be Blackalicious’s 20th year in hip-hop. “Hip-hop has grown up. Most of the dopest rappers on the planet, in my opinion, are over 30. If you never stop loving what you do and doing it with a passion, you can’t outgrow it. Unless you get caught into that box.”

Next week the self-proclaimed El Gifto Magnifico will release his second solo record away from Chief Xcel, entitled Escape 2 Mars. Furthermore, Gab says he has already finished his next album.

“I feel like I haven’t done half of the music I’m going to do yet,” he said. “It’s all about busting myths. Twenty years ago, you’d probably think you can’t rap at the age of 30. This is something you do when you’re a teenager.”

An important transition in Gab’s career is staying out of the dreaded box, but he seems content with his situation. He has been on both sides of the fence and has truly discovered which side has the greener grass. Although MCA folded beneath Blackalicious’ only major label record, he remains grounded in independent music. Gab started his own distribution company three years ago called Giftstribution releasing two mixtapes and a Mighty Underdogs EP. “Sometimes a big machine like that is needed to get to those outlets that may be more political based than culturally or artistically based,” he said.

Free to create, Gab is releasing Escape 2 Mars this week through Giftstribution. The title and Mayan calendar apocalypse artwork might be cause for alarm that Gift of Gab is buying into the end of the world theories. The imagery is not meant to be a direct translation, though, and he’s not suggesting he’s got reservations booked on the first alien spacecraft out of here come 2012. “I’m not promoting 2012 in any way,” he began, but then backtracked, “Well, I am subtly, but to say I believe in it would be going too far. It’s just interesting information.”

Intriguing information is the motivation behind the songwriting for Gift of Gab’s record. Gab weighs in as an environmentalist with songs like the title track and “Electric Waterfalls.” The escape to Mars for Gab is less of a prophecy and more of a result should we not take care of what’s left. “I’ve seen a couple movies and read some information, so it was something that was in my mind at the time I wrote some particular songs,” Gab explains.

Production is primarily handled by DNAE Beats with fellow Bay Area producer and Headnodic behind the boards for a few beats as well. DNAE Beats is heavily influenced by electronic music, giving his laser synth beats a futuristic bounce. Gift of Gab hooking up with DNAE Beats for his electronic style is all part of Gab’s predilection for forward thinking. As we speak on the phone, he relates on several occasions that with each record he has the responsibility to “lyrically explore new styles.” With such province comes a necessity to challenge his sonic surroundings in order to escape convention.

Prior to going into the studio to work on Escape 2 Mars, Gift of Gab, performing as Blackalicious, did several shows with San Francisco dance DJs Bassnectar. For Gab, these shows were an eye opening experience that took him back to his younger days as a shorty on the hip-hop scene. “In a lot of ways this is the new hip-hop, because it’s so underground,” he said regarding his experience with Bass Nectar. “It’s still kind of pure and hasn’t been commercialized. The energy of the crowd is that of a hip-hop crowd… on a little more ecstasy though.”

As we chatted on the phone, Gab asked for my honest opinion of his album, assuring me he would be cheating himself to not hear me out. It was a rare moment, as we discussed the lack of introspective songs on the record, an element I have always respected, and his necessity to challenge preconception. “I’m aware that people listen to me for those songs on personal growth and look to me for that,” he said. “But if I set down [to write] and thought, ‘I have to write songs like these because this is what people expect me to do,’ I can’t be free.”

In preparing for the interview, I had my reservations about Escape 2 Mars. It took me a while to appreciate “Cliffhanger” off NIA, but the frigid synths on his latest solo left me in the dead of space seeking the soulful side of Gab. The dual producers do lend opportunity to hear him in familiar territory. Listening to the leaked single “Dreamin’,” which features Del the Funky Homosapien and Brother Ali lessened my criticism, but I questioned the two formats clashing. Gab did not share my concern, chalking it up as an expression of working the angles. “In my mind it’s a full body of work with different elements and angles to it,” he said. “With every record I’m trying to go into ground that hasn’t been charted, or if it has been charted, I’m trying to chop it up in a new way.”

See Gift of Gab on The Deadliest Catch Tour with Chali 2na, Mr. Lif and Lyrics Born on Nov. 23, 8 p.m. at Harlow’s.