It is immediately obvious when you pop this CD into the player that it will not be your average hip-hop album. How many mainstream albums start with a spoken word piece? Blackalicious continues througout this excellent album to depart from the usual formula, mixing up their own batch of intoxication music.

Blackalicious, composed of Chief Xcel on production and Gift of Gab on the mic, have here put together 18 tracks of nothing but the fattest material. The first word that comes to mind when I listen to this album is balance.

Many albums seem to have strong production and weak lyricism, or brilliant wordplay and uninspired beats. With Nia, however, Gab and Xcel have found an almost perfect balance between the two. Chief Xcel's production is understated and seems simple at first listen. Give it a little more time, though, and you begin to realize the numerous little pace changers, small elements inserted to avoid monotony, breakdowns, switches and general depth of the beats. There are only two guest producers here, Lyrics Born and DJ Shadow. Their contributions don't overwhelm you as they fit into the overall feel of the album very well. Neither do you miss the contributions of more producers as no one falls into the trap of repetitiveness.

Lyrically, Gift of Gab more than holds up his end of the equation. It's amazing to hear one man with so many different flows. Sometimes it's hard to believe that it's the same man rhyming from track to track. Gab is completely unafraid to innovate, experiment with new styles, and incorporate elements not often seen from hip-hop lyricists. He also draws on the spoken word talents of Nikki Giovanni on "Ego Trip" (if you want to read this piece, check out the Poetry section). Lateef also comes lovely on "Smithzonian Institute of Rhyme."

Pay particular attention to joints like "Deception," "A to G" a literary workout, "Cliff Hanger" a demonstration of Gab's superior storyteling abilities, "You Didn't Know That Though," "Trouble (Eve of Destruction)" and "Smithzonian Institute of Rhyme." Remember though, there aren't any songs you'll be forced to skip here.

A superior album, this will do well in rotation next to much of the top quality independent material released recently. A colourful and well conceived combination of old and new elements, Nia is another example of hip-hop at its best -- without limitation.