Quannum Projects recording artists Blackalicious -- made up of lyrical mastermind Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel -- have been mainstays of the Bay Area underground hip-hop scene ever since dropping the classic single Swan Lake back in 1994.

The duo's first full-length album, NIA, was released to universal acclaim and ended up on numerous top-10 lists in 2000. Along with Quannum brethren Latyrx and DJ Shadow, Blackalicious continues to push the art of hip hop into groundbreaking new territory. The duo's 2002 major-label debut for MCA, Blazing Arrow, was an ambitious project boasting guest apperances by jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron, Ben Harper, former Rage Against the Machine singer Zach De La Rocha, Jurassic 5's Chali 2na and Cut Chemist and many more.

Gift of Gab stepped out on his own with the release of his solo album 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up in 2004 while Chief Xcel collaborated with Latyrx member Lateef the Truthspeaker under the name Maroon for an EP, but Blackalicious finally put together its third full-length album The Craft in 2005 to wide acclaim.

While the group has since issued the concert DVD 4/20 Live In Seattle, Gab has remained the more prolific of the duo with his latest effort The Next Logical Progression seeing release in March of this year. However, there have been rumblings of new material being recorded by the talented duo when the label announced last year that Gift of Gab and Xcel had finished eight new songs for an  upcoming album. Hopefully fans will get a preview of this material when the group headlines the New Parish Friday night. Rising conscious rapper Raw-G and his live band, rapper/musician Kev Choice and KPFA hip-hop DJ Davey D also appear.

Blackalicious
Friday, Jan. 26, 9 p.m. $20
The New Parish