The year 2021 continues to be marked by losses for the hip-hop community. Timothy J. Parker, perhaps better known as The Gift Of Gab, died at the age of 50. Gab was one of the co-founders of Blackalicious, the Sacramento, California crew, along with producer Chief Xcel. Together, Blackalicious was also part of the Solesides and Quannum Projects families. Latyrx member Lateef The Truthspeaker confirmed the news, revealing that Gab died a week ago (June 18).
« It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we announce the death of our dear brother Timothy J. Parker aka The Gift of Gab, » Lateef announced in a statement today (June 25). “Tim left this earth peacefully on Friday June 18th to be with our ancestors. He is survived by two brothers, a sister, many nieces and nephews, countless friends and fans around the world. ”The statement went on to say,“ We ask that family privacy be respected while we face the enormous loss to mourn our dear brother. »
A-F-R-O, R.A. The Rugged Man & Gift of Gab put on one of the best lyric displays of the year (video)
For much of the past decade, Gab’s health has been a battle he shared with the public. After kidney failure in 2014, the MC received a double kidney transplant in 2020 after years of dialysis. According to Pitchfork, Gab died of natural causes.
Gab’s career goes back almost 30 years. Blackalicious members met at John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento. Gab, who grew up in Los Angeles, among other places, moved north with his family. The Solesides crew formed on the University of California Davis campus, where Chief Xcel was studying. During their founding years, the clique included Blackalicious, DJ Shadow, Jeff Chang, Lyrics Born and Joseph Patel, among others.
In 1994 Blackalicious hit the market with « Swan Lake », combining mosaic patterns and gabs of accessible but introspective rhymes. This was followed by the Melodica EP, a classic of the underground hip-hop movement of the 1990s. Gave continued his collaboration, appearing on groundbreaking works by DJ Shadow and Latyrx. By 1999 the duo delivered a second EP, A2G. The Quannum release included « Alphabet Aerobics » (embedded below), an alliterative representation of Gab’s sharp poetry. With the production of Cut Chemist in the remix of the title track, the track has met with great approval in the more than 20 years since its release. Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe played the almost breathless song on the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.
In the same year Blackalicious released their debut album Nia. After working with Solesides, Quannum and the famous British label Mo’Wax, Gab and Xcel signed with MCA / Universal Records for Blazing Arrow in 2002. The release hit the top 50 on the charts, including Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against The Machine, Gil Scott-Heron and others.
In the mid-2000s, Blackalicious returned to the independent channels, releasing several more albums and straying from their sample-based roots for a while. In 2015 they shared Imani, Vol. 1 with fans for free. Gab also embarked on a solo career and released several albums, starting with 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up in 2004. He stayed active on Quannum’s album, forming The Mighty Underdogs with Lateef and Headnodic. This group released their only album on El-P’s Definitive Jux label. As a guest, Gab appeared on albums by G. Love, Zion I, Grouch & Eligh and N.A.S.A. to name a few. Before t
Ambrosia For Heads extends condolences to Chief Xcel, the Solesides and Quannum crews, and family, friends and fans of The Gift Of.
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