Gift of Gab
Escape 2 Mars - QUANNUM
FILTER Grade: 86%

On Escape 2 Mars, Gift of Gab takes his tongue twisting, syllable-splicing verbal skills into new directions, creating a strong follow-up to 2004’s 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up. As MC of the seminal underground hip-hop duo Blackalicious, Gift of Gab developed a reputation as one of the most eccentric and exciting lyricist of the early 2000s. He keeps the abstract righteousness going on Escape 2 Mars, which alternates between live hip-hop and electro-influenced beats. “El Gifto Magnifico” will please fans of Gift’s verbal acrobatics, while the MC’s talent for making great message rap comes through on “Richman, Poorman.” The minor key jazziness of “Dreamin’,” featuring on-point verses from Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Brother Ali sounds like a hip-hop funeral march (via New Orleans, not Poland) and is the album’s best track. Gift of Gab is assured and even-keeled on Escape 2 Mars—never reaching the intensity of Blackalicious’ best work, or descending into the mellow lounge-scapes of 4th Dimensional Rocketships.