- Nia (album)
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Nia 
Studio album by Blackalicious Released 1999 (Mo 'Wax)
February 8, 2000 (Quannum)Recorded 1999 Genre Hip Hop Length 74:01 Label Mo' Wax / Quannum Projects Producer Chief Xcel
DJ Shadow
Lyrics BornBlackalicious chronology A2G EP
(1999)Nia
(2000)Blazing Arrow
(2002)Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[1]The Independent [2]Pitchfork Media (7.3/10)[3] PopMatters (favorable)[4] RapReviews 
[5]Robert Christgau (A-)[6] Rolling Stone 
[7]Nia is the debut full-length album by American hip hop duo Blackalicious, released in Europe in late 1999 by Mo' Wax and later released in the United States by Quannum Projects with a slightly altered track list.
Contents
Reception
Nia received extremely positive reviews from music critics such as Rapreviews.com's Steve Juon, who said "This album is the answer to the question, "What's been lacking in hip-hop lately?.".[8]Allmusic gave it a near perfect rating of 4.5/5 calling it "an album that stakes the claim of Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab as not only the best pair of rappers in the underground, but also the best pair of producers."[9] PopMatters added that it "renews your faith in the power and potential of hip-hop."[10] Daily Vault's Ben Ehrenreich gave the album an "A" and said:[11]
Nia contains a perfect balance of upbeat bangers and slow-paced grooves. There is even the excellent “Ego Trip By Nikki Giovanni,” which does nothing but enhance the experience of Nia. Even Blackalicious’s interludes are far superior to the majority of the ones found on many hip-hop albums.Track listing
# Title Time Producer(s) Performer(s) Sample(s) 1 "Searching" 1:48 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab - Featuring Erinn Anova
2 "The Fabulous Ones" 2:59 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 3 "Do This My Way" 4:48 Lyrics Born Gift of Gab - Featuring Lyrics Born
4 "Deception" 5:10 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 5 "A to G" 2:23 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 6 "Cliff Hanger" 6:20 DJ Shadow Gift of Gab 7 "Shallow Days" 4:19 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 8 "Ego Trip by Nikki Giovanni" 1:43 Chief Xcel Nikki Giovanni and Erinn Anova 9 "You Didn't Know That Though" 4:34 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 10 "If I May" 3:55 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab - Featuring Erinn Anova and Lateef
11 "Dream Seasons" 3:44 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 12 "Trouble (Eve of Destruction)" 4:48 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 13 "Smithzonian Institute of Rhyme" 4:27 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab - Featuring Lateef
- Contains a sample of "Colonial Mentality" by Fela Kuti
14 "As the World Turns" 4:23 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab - Featuring Erinn Anova
15 "Reanimation" 5:40 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 16 "Beyonder" 4:05 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 17 "Making Progress" 3:10 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 18 "Sleep" 3:53 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab 19 "Finding" 1:53 Chief Xcel Gift of Gab - Featuring Erinn Anova
Trivia
- The front and back covers of Nia shows a number of vinyl stacks. Some of these records include The Album by Latyrx, Endtroducing..... by DJ Shadow and Blackalicious' own debut EP, Melodica.
References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ The Independent review
- ^ Pitchfork Media review
- ^ PopMatters review
- ^ RapReviews review
- ^ Robert Christgau review
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ Juon, Steve (April 6, 2000). "Blackalicious :: Nia :: Quannum". Rapreviews.com. http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2000_04_nia.html.
- ^ John, Bush (George Bush's son). "Nia". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r465653.
- ^ Patrick, Jones. "Blackalicious: Nia PopMatters Music Review". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/b/blackalicious-nia.shtml.
- ^ Ehrenreich, Ben (2007-01-24). "The Daily Vault Album Reviews: Nia". Daily Vault. http://www.dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=4689.
External links
Quannum Projects Groups Apsci | Blackalicious | The Blacktop Project | Honeycut | Latyrx | Lifesavas | Lateef and the Chief (Maroons) | Poets of RhythmMembers Chief Xcel | Curumin | DJ Shadow | General Elektriks | Gift of Gab | Tommy Guerrero | Lateef the Truthspeaker | Lyrics Born | Pigeon John | Joyo VelardeAlbums Latyrx (The Album) | The Muzapper Mixes | The Muzapper Remixes | Quannum Spectrum | Nia | Solesides Greatest Bumps | Discern/Define | Blazing Arrow | Spirit in Stone | Soul Food Taqueria | Later That Day | Maroons:Ambush | 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up | Thanks for Asking | Achados e Perdidos | Cliquety Kliqk | Same !@#$ Different Day | The Craft | Supreme Lyricism | Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born LiveEPs See also Categories:- Blackalicious albums
- Quannum Projects albums
- 2000 albums
- Mo' Wax albums
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