Crate Diggers: Chief Xcel (of Blackalicious)



Much love to everybody who spend a good portion of their student loan money on record shopping they couldn't afford.

Chief Xcel, one half of the Bay Area rap group Blackalicious, owns over 20,000 records in four different storage spaces. Acquiring that much vinyl requires the relentlessness of a detective and the curiosity of an art curator, as well as the ability to criss-cross the globe like James Bond.

Anyone who has made that many purchases and trades is also likely to have an equal amount of amazing stories, and that is true for Chief Xcel, who rattles off a few of his best in this episode of Crate Diggers. He starts by telling an ominous tale about hunting records at a store owned by someone he called "The Nazi," and talks further about adding to his collection in places like Rotterdamn, Brazil, Paris and Oklahoma City.

"Every record has a story," Chief Xcel says, and it's never been truer than in this episode. But Chief Xcel also colors his own history, from his friendship with DJ Shadow to his first ever-record to which punk album is one of his favorites for drums.

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