The Craft (album)

The Craft is the third studio album by American hip hop duo Blackalicious.^[1] It was released on Anti- on September 27, 2005.^[2] Chief Xcel said, "The Craft is our passion to bring discipline to this music, the passion to keep growing, keep stretching, keep doing things we haven't before."^[3] It peaked at number 102 on the Billboard 200 chart.^[4] As of 2015, it has sold 67,000 copies in the US.^[5]

The Craft
Studio album by Blackalicious
Released	September 27, 2005 (2005-09-27)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	58:11
Label	Anti-
Producer	Chief Xcel
Blackalicious chronology
Blazing Arrow (2002) The Craft (2005) Imani Vol. 1 (2015)
Singles from The Craft
"Your Move" Released: 2005 "Powers" Released: 2006

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
The A.V. Club	favorable[7]
Robert Christgau	A−[8]
The Guardian	[9]
HipHopDX	[10]
Paste	favorable[11]
Pitchfork	7.4/10[12]
PopMatters	[13]
Stylus Magazine	B[14]
XLR8R	favorable[15]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 22 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[1]

Jack Booty of Prefix gave the album a 7.0 out of 10, saying, "[Chief] Xcel's production doesn't stray very far from its R&B and soul influences, but this time it comes without almost any samples, relying sometimes on players from a homebrewed funk band to create clearance-free beats instead."^[16]

Exclaim! placed it at number 6 on the "Hip-Hop: Year in Review 2005" list.^[17]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"World of Vibrations" (featuring Ledisi)	X. Mosley T. Parker	5:02
2.	"Supreme People"	S. Martel Mosley Parker H. Salters V. Ségal T. Underdue	4:03
3.	"Rhythm Sticks"	Mosley Parker	4:36
4.	"Powers"	Martel Mosley Parker Salters Ségal Underdue	3:47
5.	"Your Move" (featuring Lifesavas)	Mosley Parker	3:55
6.	"Lotus Flower" (featuring George Clinton)	Martel Mosley Parker Salters Ségal Underdue	4:12
7.	"My Pen and Pad"	Mosley Parker	2:02
8.	"Side to Side" (featuring Lateef and Pigeon John)	L. Daumont J. Dust Mosley Parker	4:36
9.	"Automatique" (featuring Floetry)	M. Ambrosius Mosley Parker N. Stewart	4:07
10.	"The Fall and Rise of Elliot Brown"	F. Leaneir Mosley Parker	3:55
11.	"Black Diamonds and Pearls" (featuring Ledisi and Larry Saunders)	Mosley Parker	4:22
12.	"Give It to You" (featuring Kween and Lyrics Born)	Mosley Parker T. Shimura	3:51
13.	"Ego Sonic War Drums" (featuring P.E.A.C.E.)	M. Davis Martel Mosley Parker Salters Ségal	5:57
14.	"The Craft"	Mosley, Parker	3:46
Total length:			58:11

Charts

Chart	Peak position
US Billboard 200[4]	102
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[18]	5
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[19]	79

References

1. "The Craft by Blackalicious". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
2. "Blackalicious Polishes Its 'Craft'". Billboard. June 2, 2005. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
3. "Blackalicious Unveil The Craft". IGN. June 2, 2005. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
4. "Blackalicious: Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
5. "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on August 25, 2015.
6. Bush, John. "Blackalicious - The Craft". AllMusic. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
7. Rabin, Nathan (October 12, 2005). "Blackalicious: The Craft". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
8. Christgau, Robert. "Blackalicious". Christgau's Consumer Guide. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
9. Lynskey, Dorian (September 23, 2005). "Blackalicious, The Craft". The Guardian. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
10. Tardio, Andres (November 22, 2005). "Blackalicious - The Craft". HipHopDX. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
11. Howe, Brian (September 27, 2005). "Blackalicious - The Craft". Paste. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
12. Murphy, Matthew (September 29, 2005). "Blackalicious: The Craft". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
13. Stirling, Stephen (October 3, 2005). "Blackalicious: The Craft". PopMatters. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
14. Passantino, Dom (September 30, 2005). "Blackalicious - The Craft". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
15. Thill, Scott (December 1, 2005). "Blackalicious: The Craft". XLR8R. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
16. Booty, Jack (October 3, 2005). "Blackalicious: The Craft". Prefix. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
17. Dix, Noel (January 1, 2006). "Hip-Hop: Year in Review 2005". Exclaim!. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
18. "Blackalicious: Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
19. "Blackalicious: Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2018.

Further reading

• Micallef, Ken (October 1, 2005). "Higher Frequencies". Electronic Musician. Retrieved November 25, 2015.

External links

• The Craft at Discogs (list of releases)
• The Craft at MusicBrainz (list of releases)