Imani Vol. 1

Imani Vol. 1 is the fourth and final studio album by American hip hop duo Blackalicious. It was released on September 18, 2015, after a decade-long hiatus since their previous album, The Craft.^[1][2][3][4] The title of the album means "faith" in Swahili, and it is the first part of what was a planned trilogy of albums before Timothy Parker died of kidney failure in 2021.^[5] Work began on the album in 2012,^[6] with the making of the album being crowdfunded via the website Pledgemusic.^[7]

Imani Vol. 1
Studio album by Blackalicious
Released	September 18, 2015 (2015-09-18)
Genre	Hip Hop
Length	56:58
Label	OGM Recordings
Producer	Chief Xcel
Blackalicious chronology
The Craft (2005) Imani Vol. 1 (2015)

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The A.V. Club	B[9]
The Guardian	[10]
Paste	7.3/10[11]
Pitchfork	7.2/10[12]
PopMatters	[13]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 7 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[8]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Faith" (featuring Amde of The Watts Prophets)	1:23
2.	"Blacka"	2:43
3.	"Ashes to Ashes"	3:28
4.	"On Fire Tonight" (featuring Myron of Myron & E)	2:40
5.	"Escape"	4:40
6.	"The Sun" (featuring Imani Coppola)	3:26
7.	"That Night" (featuring Vursatyl and Jumbo of Lifesavas)	5:54
8.	"Inspired By" (featuring Bosko)	3:29
9.	"We Did It Again" (featuring Danielle Flax)	3:55
10.	"I Like the Way You Talk"	2:30
11.	"Twist of Time"	3:12
12.	"The Blow Up"	4:01
13.	"Love's Gonna Save the Day" (featuring Fantastic Negrito)	3:13
14.	"Alpha and Omega" (featuring Lateef, Lyrics Born, Monophonics, and DJ D Sharp)	5:31
15.	"The Hour Glass"	3:22
16.	"Imani" (featuring Zap Mama)	3:31
Total length:		56:58

Charts

Chart	Peak position
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[14]	39
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[15]	28
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[16]	21

References

1. Reed, Ryan (April 21, 2015). "Blackalicious Return With 'Imani, Vol. 1,' First Album in 10 Years". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
2. "Blackalicious Will Be Dropping a New Album This Summer - XXL". XXL. April 22, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
3. Adams, Gregory (April 21, 2015). "Blackalicious Unveil Their New First LP in 10 Years". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
4. Blackalicious. "Imani, Vol. 1 – Available 9.18.15". Blackalicious. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
5. Kreps, Daniel (2021-06-25). "Blackalicious Rapper Gift of Gab Dead at 50". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
6. Reed, Ryan (2015-04-21). "Blackalicious Return With First Album in 10 Years". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
7. "Blackalicious: 'Imani Vol. 1' on PledgeMusic". 2015-08-04. Archived from the original on 2015-08-04. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
8. "Imani, Vol. 1 by Blackalicious". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
9. Mincher, Chris (September 18, 2015). "Back after 10 years, Blackalicious brings fresh production and perspective". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
10. MacInnes, Paul (October 22, 2015). "Blackalicious: Imani Vol 1 review – hip-hop veterans return with nostalgia and gratitude". The Guardian. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
11. Schonfeld, Zach (September 16, 2015). "Blackalicious: Imani Vol. 1 Review". Paste. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
12. Pearce, Sheldon (September 17, 2015). "Blackalicious: Imani, Vol. 1". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
13. McCarthy, Sean (November 2, 2015). "Blackalicious: Imani". PopMatters. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
14. "Blackalicious: Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
15. "Blackalicious: Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
16. "Blackalicious: Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2018.

External links

• Imani Vol. 1 at Discogs (list of releases)
• Imani Vol. 1 at MusicBrainz (list of releases)