Blackalicious is interviewed by the Victoria Times

San Francisco and its environs have given us some of the best-loved punk and rock acts of this generation, from Green Day and Metallica to Faith No More and the Dead Kennedys.

Not everything to spring from the fertile ground of the Bay Area featured six strings and a rhythm section, however. In fact, rock bands from that region of California now share bragging rights with a gang of critically lauded, underground rap acts led by hip-hop duo Blackalicious.

The team of Xavier Mosley (a.k.a. DJ Chief Xcel) and Tim Parker (a.k.a. rapper Gift of Gab) first met at Kennedy High School in Sacramento, back in 1987.

Punk was king around the area, but in time -- 1993 to be exact -- the bedroom productions of the group slowly began to make a name for both Blackalicious and its brethren in the SoleSides collective.

The seminal early recordings from Blackalicious and friends DJ Shadow, Lateef the Truth Speaker and Lyrics Born were not only groundbreaking for the rap genre, they effectively put California cities like Davis, Sacramento and Oakland on the map musically.

Mosley says Blackalicious, which currently calls Oakland home, soaked everything up -- and not just rap music. "You can't help but be influenced, inspired and exposed to the entire world of music living in such a diverse place," he says during a recent interview. "I feel fortunate and blessed to be based where we are."

Fittingly, the group's fifth full-length offering, The Craft, is due in stores Sept. 27 on Anti- Records, a boutique imprint of punk label Epitaph Records. What's more, the deliriously erratic effort was recorded in an Oakland studio complex that's also home to platinum punks Green Day.

"Green Day owns the studio next door to ours," Mosley says. "The Craft and their latest [American Idiot] were all recorded in the same building."

You won't hear any punk influence on The Craft, mind you; the recording is even funkier than past Blackalicious efforts.

With live instrumentation courtesy of Spearhead bassist Carl Young, Beastie Boys percussionist Alfredo Ortiz, and funk pioneers Larry Saunders and George Clinton, it's easy to see why.

"I think the funk element is definitely one of the key foundation pieces," Mosley says. "Soul, funk, rock, afrobeat, Brazilian, samba, what have you -- they're all a vital and integral part."

Blackalicious' first collection of new material since 2002's Blazing Arrow likely won't make the duo any bigger than it already is. There's no hit single in sight, and with little to offer in the way of marketability, Mosley and Parker know they are not candidates for the cover of rap magazine The Source.

Thanks be to that, says Mosley. He'd rather have a wide-ranging resume that includes work with Blind Boys of Alabama and Femi Kuti any day.

"It definitely feels good, especially because we're such fan of all those people. We have such a deep respect for every artist that is giving their offerings to this continuum of music.

"You have to realize it's all a continuum, and when you separate art from commerce, you realize that every artist's role is to contribute to that continuum and endless string of energy of music and creation."

Mosley says the new record was an extremely personal journey for Parker and himself; the two friends have overcome major obstacles in their 18 years, including Parker's alcoholism. Music is the bond that keep them alive.

The topic is addressed on The Craft's title track. Not surprisingly, it's one of the record's most engaging tracks, wherein Parker raps: "This stage, this mike, this crowd, this show, this life/I've been given a gift tonight, and for that I vow to be a vessel.'

The lyrics encapsulate everything Blackalicious strives to be, Mosley says. For them, music is much more than a paycheck.

"It's who we are and what we do. I've long believed that hip-hop and rap has formed such monumental parts of both of our lives, so it's also so much more than that. There's so much life material wrapped up in it that it becomes your source material and your inspiration for what you create."