Sacramento duo Blackalicious—MC Gift of Gab (aka Tim Parker) and producer/DJ Chief Xcel (aka Xavier Mosley)—always marched to their own beat. Over the course of four studio albums, they—alongside kindred spirits such as DJ Shadow, Lyrics Born, and other acts associated with Solesides and Quannum Projects—pioneered a distinctly underground Bay Area sound, as rooted in classic hip-hop production as it was the region’s sociopolitical consciousness. While Xcel brought a rustic, almost live-sounding edge to the boom-bap aesthetic, Gab (who died on June 18, 2021, at the age of 50) was a deft lyricist who was by turns funny and honest, plainspoken and abstract. And if tracks like “Chemical Calisthenics,” from 2002’s Blazing Arrow, are any indication, he could rap circles around MCs and scientists alike.