The Complete MC Blog

With the exception of Tupac Shakur, Gift of Gab is without a doubt the strongest MC to ever come out of the Bay Area. Whether working with Chief Xcel as Blackalicious, or doing solo work on “Fifth Dimensional Rocket Ships Going Up” Gift of Gab has consistently proven himself to be a top notch MC.

Let’s break down this MC down by his strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths:

Lyrical content. Gift of Gab is one of the few emcees out there that can mix dope battle tracks with socially conscious songs. “Alphabet Aerobics,” where he raps the entire alphabet, and “Chemical Calisthenics” where he actually works his way through the periodic table are some of the most wickedly original songs ever written, while songs like “Make You Feel That Way” not only make you think but plug your heartstrings.

Speed. Following in the footsteps of E-40, another Bay Area rapper, Gift of Gab is one of the fastest rappers out there. His breath control is amazing on record; it’s as if he can rap over 30 bars without taking a breath. The very first track on “Fifth Dimensional Rocket Ships Going Up” is one of the most amazing exercises of breath control I’ve ever heard.

Original rhyme patterns. Simply put, Gab is a true master when it comes to developing original rhyme schemes. For example, take a look at “Green Light: Now Begin:” his flow has a very distinguishable swagger to it.

Weaknesses:

Struggles with catchy hooks. This is a very common affliction of MCs worldwide. You can write some of the dopest rhymes ever, but it’s damn near impossible to write catchy hooks. Most of the choruses from blackalicious are cuts from other tracksStill, it’s touch to deny that the beats are still banging.

Lackluster live performance.
I’ve seen Gift of Gab perform three times, and have never been terribly impressed with his performance. He’s a really big guy, and it’s hard for him to move around the stage and interact with the crowd. It probably doesn’t help that two of the three times I saw him perform, Lyrics Born (one of the greatest live MCs I’ve ever seen) was a special guest.

Vocal quality. While he’s highly adept at changing flow patterns, Gift of Gab rarely changes the emotional quality in his voice. He’s a lot like Nas in that respect; always very calm, cool and collected. It makes certain tracks unbelievable; particularly when he is trying to come across as angry and upset. If you say you’re pissed off, you sure as hell better sound like you mean it.

This is the first installment of the masters of their craft. We’ll continue to look at some of the best rappers that are out there today, as well as some of the all time greats. Let me know some current MCs that you’d like to see on this board, and we’ll get cracking.

Gift of Gab
Blackalicious

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 1:11 am and is filed under Masters of their Craft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.