Chief Xcel

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Chief Xcel Bio
In the world of rap music, your reputation is only as good as your last hit song. Careers are fleeting and in today’s landscape, acts that are splashed all over magazines and websites one minute are trivia answers the next.
But there are certain artists that have been able to transcend fads and trends with timeless music and a proven track record. 13 years after releasing his first single, Chief Xcel, founding member of Blackalicious, co-owner of Quannum Records and skilled producer, remains on this list.
Even before Blackalicious, Quannum or the name Chief Xcel, there was a 10-year old kid in the Bay Area rummaging through his father’s record collection. During his formative years, when most kids were playing tag or watching TV, Xavier Mosley would be listening to the funk, soul and early hip-hop songs that would flood his ears early on.
“The very first song I became obsessed with was ‘Planet Rock,’” says Xcel. “I was probably 10 and was just amazed at the production and the movement of the songs and how it took you somewhere. A few years later, when I first heard Kraftwerk, I thought, ‘That’s “Planet Rock!”’ My dad was like, ‘Naw son, that’s Kraftwerk.’ That’s when the light bulb went off [about sampling] and I was able to connect the dots.”
A DJ since the age of 12, Xcel quickly devoured the family record collection before moving on to buying his own 12”s. As a student at Sacramento’s Kennedy High School, Xcel would meet fellow student Tim Parker (Gift of Gab), who was rapidly becoming a local star with his lyrical gift. The duo would form a musical partnership in Blackalicious that continues to this day.
Everybody’s gotta start somewhere. For Xcel, who formed Blackalicious precursor GTI under the name DJ ICE-SKI at 14 years old, it was “a cassette deck, two turntables and a mixer,” he recalls fondly. “Our early demos would just be me cutting breaks back and forth. That’s where digging started for me because pretty soon, I had just abused all the records in my dad’s collection. The digging came out of a need to have more material for production and in order to cut ‘em back and forth, I would need two copies [of each record].”
After spending the summer before college studying his recently-bought 4-track, sampler and drum machine (putting high school graduation checks to good use), the producer-in-training attended UC Davis. It was there that his initial bonding with Josh Davis (DJ Shadow), Jeff Chang, Lateef Daumont, Joseph Patel and Tom Shimura (Lyrics Born) would lead to Solesides, the label that would eventually become Quannum and change the face of hip-hop.
As co-founder and co-owner of Quannum Projects, Chief Xcel heads up one of the most respected independent record labels in the nation. While his label acumen is undisputed in hip-hop, it’s behind the boards that the producer feels most comfortable. Over five albums with Gift of Gab, Blackalicious have become the de facto leader in Bay Area hip-hop. With each album, fans have seen both emcee and producer enhance their respective skills, with each artist’s gift forcing the other to maintain the highest levels of quality control.
While Blackalicious are still very much together, the creative forces that drive Xcel’s fertile mind have recently found numerous outlets to express themselves. Xcel is handling the music for Bay Area singer/songwriter Ledisi, who is following up her two solo albums with a new project called Magnolia. Xcel is also lending production to Kween, of whom Blackalicious fans will already be familiar, from her work on the group’s “Give It To You” from 2005’s The Craft. The powerful singer currently is writing her debut album, featuring Xcel, among other producers.
Focusing on his more technical side, Xcel has been in the studio with vintage keyboard aficionado Herve Salters (of Honeycut/ General Elektriks), recording Walking Into A Burning House, an album consisting solely of clavinet and beats.
Never one to stray too far from his roots, though, Xcel gives weight to the debut solo album by Vursatyl, of powerhouse hip-hop duo Lifesavas. In addition, there are production collaborations in the works with JUMBO of Lifesavas and AMP LIVE of Zion I. Vocalist Myron Glasper, who has toured with Blackalicious, has Xcel on the boards for his debut LP. This fall Quannum is re-releasing Blackalicious’ Melodica and other projects including Chief Xcel’s first solo LP, a Chief Xcel instrumental record, a Maroon’s LP with Lateef, a Tony Allen remix record and a Blackalicious LP in 2009. Finally, (yes, there’s more), he is also focusing on television and film scoring.
With every artist he works with, Chief Xcel is quick to point out the most important production tool in his vast arsenal. “My ears,” he says without hesitation. “You can have all the equipment and all the records in the world but if you can’t hear the idea, it doesn’t matter. I’m completely self-taught. I don’t write out charts for my musicians. The ear is my most vital tool.” In stark contrast to the beats-by-numbers approach employed by too many of his peers, Xcel has always been seen as an arranger and composer more than simply a beatmaker.
Does his approach change working with other artists versus Blackalicious? “The way that I construct the original music is pretty much the same across the board in terms of my approach,” he explains. “But the difference in each project is how I carve out the actual song. There’s a difference in constructing the song when the specific artist or writer comes in with what they’ve written to the music.”
Even at a young age, Xcel would begin to be influenced by both hip-hop and soul producers. “The ones who really intrigued me early on, like Prince Paul and Leon Ware, were the producers that were also arrangers and composers who could paint pictures with sound.”
Today, Xcel carries on that tradition with any one of his numerous projects. “Everything in art runs in a cycle,” says Xcel when asked about where hip-hop is at today. “I think we’re coming out of the cycle of sparse stripped-down stuff and you’re gonna start seeing more and more arrangements. That’s the way things naturally go. Nothing is new. Everything comes, goes and returns again.” That’s mostly true. But as with select producers like Chief Xcel, holding steady at the top of his craft, there are some who never seem to go out of style.