Gift of Gab having health problems, shows cancelled

Blackalicious cancels show

Devin Davis

News Editor

Brad Lambert

Online News Editor

February 26, 2003

Thursday's highly anticipated show featuring Blackalicious and Lifesavas at Chico State has been cancelled.

Gift of Gab a.k.a. Tim Parker, Blackalicious' MC, checked into the emergency room Sunday night for eye surgery according to A.S. Presents. The group also cancelled a show in their hometown of Davis scheduled for today. Their upcoming European tour is on hold as well. Chico was to be the duo's final U.S. appearance before embarking on a six-date spurt in Europe.

Blackalicious' manager Robert Bennett said Parker had retinal surgery Tuesday.

"Today, to stop the bleeding internally they're doing laser surgery. Monday they're going to drain the eye to put in new fluids," he said.

Parker's doctor expects him to be out of commission for two months, Bennett said.

Parker has diabetes, and this isn't the first time he's had health problems, Bennett said.

"We've been dealing with it as we went along," he said. "We thought we had it under control."

Bennett said the group hopes to reschedule a Chico concert before school ends.

"We're trying to let the school know early next week about making up that date," he said.

Blackalicious has carved out a niche for itself in the world of rap by using creative word play and unusual bouncy beats to attract fans of the underground hip hop scene.

This would have been the third appearance for the group in Chico. At their last show, the group's other half of the duo was unable to make it. Chief Xcel a.k.a. Xavier Mosley wasn't able to be present due to the death of his grandmother, Bennett said.

Senior Matt Kossick bought his ticket a week ago and said he was disappointed to hear that the hip hop duo had cancelled their Chico date.

"I bought my ticket in advance, it was one of the bands that I wanted to check out," Kossick said. "It's kind of disappointing when you get your mind set on something."

The reason Kossick was attracted to the group in the first place was how they keep true to their underground roots while still enjoying moderate popular success.

Bennett said the duo has just started to head into the studio for work on a new album.

"They're really just getting a concept developed and some basic tracks," he said.

A.S. Presents has had some recent trouble getting acts to show up.

Last semester, comedian Dave Attell, host of Comedy Central's popular late-night show "Insomniac" cancelled his appearance.

Amo Bedjan, the A.S. Presents organizer who booked the Blackalicious show, said Attell might be rescheduled for September.

As far as the cancelled Blackalicious show, Bedjan remains optimistic the group will reschedule as soon as possible. In the meantime Bedjan hopes to fill the void with a replacement show to round out the semesters programming.

"We'll try to get another hip hop show," Bedjan said. "I'm looking at the (Living) Legends maybe, MURS just dropped that album so we'll see."

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