While Tim Parker (Gift of Gab) and Xavier Mosley (Chief Xcel) spent their early childhood years in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area respectively, the two first met while attending John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento, California.

At UC Davis, Xcel had been working with a hip-hop group named SoleSides, whose members included DJ Shadow, Lateef the Truthspeaker, and Lyrics Born.

[6] By 1997, Solesides Records had transformed into the now acclaimed Quannum Projects, and under this label, the group released a 1999 EP titled A2G, featuring the hyper-accelerated song "Alphabet Aerobics".

[8] The album was released in Europe by Mo' Wax on August 30, 1999, and later re-released in the United States by Quannum Projects on February 29, 2000, with a slightly altered track list.

[9] In 2002, MCA/Universal released Blazing Arrow, which boasted guest appearances including Zack de la Rocha (of Rage Against the Machine), Questlove (of The Roots), and legendary soul and jazz musician Gil Scott-Heron.

[13][14] On October 28, 2014, actor Daniel Radcliffe recited the full lyrics to the Blackalicious song "Alphabet Aerobics" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

[18] In 2015, after ten years since releasing a project together, Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel announced the fourth Blackalicious album Imani Vol.

The group partnered up with PledgeMusic to give dedicated fans the opportunity to purchase the album and other special items, with over 120% of the project's goal funds being met.