Blackalicious: Chief X-Cel, Gift Of Gab (rap vocals).

Additional personnel include: George Clinton , Ledisi (vocals); Floetry, Lateef The Truth Speaker, Lifesavas, Pigeon John (rap vocals).

Recording information: Studio Calm, Paris, France.

Not since the glory days of Eric B. & Rakim has so much hip-hop intensity exuded from one MC & one DJ. With a voice echoing the measured sermons of KRS-One and Black Thought, and with just a hint of Kool Keith dementia, Blackalicious MC Gift of Gab unfurls his narratives with an inspired mix of deliberation and fire, throwing out a flurry of ideas so immense it takes multiple listens to absorb them, but with a delivery so appealing as to never overwhelm. Meanwhile, DJ Chief Xcel throws together beats both familiar and far-flung in a manner that, even when he experiments, no listener is left behind. Their third offering, THE CRAFT, is one of those rare records (like THINGS FALL APART or STANKONIA) that expands hip-hop while maintaining pop appeal, where a bizarre anything-goes rock-pop concoction like "Powers" can co-exist peacefully alongside a straightforward but exemplary club-banger like "Your Move," and the mystic-funk of "Lotus Flower" next to the minimalist avant-garde parable of "The Fall and Rise of Elliot Brown."

Spin (p.137) - "[T]heir 'Black Diamonds & Pearls' goes a level deeper than Kanye's diamond song..." - Grade: B

Uncut (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 - "The Bay Area duo were aiming for a concise statement of their 'craft'....The twists and turns of this album do focus attention back to their strengths."