Keeping with the theme of production, we should first bring up J. Dilla. Dilla is probably the most appreciated hip-hop artist from Detroit and Black Milk, being one of his students, wears the Detroit sound on his sleeve. While 'Popular Demand' and other Black Milk work certainly seemed to full embrace Dilla's sound, 'Tronic' is Milk attempting to reach out for something different. Heavy on the synthetics, 'Tronic' comes off as almost a sophisticated take on Kanye West. The album kicks off with the epic 'Long Story Short' which features Black Milk recounting his stance from unknown MC to the savior of Detroit hip-hop. After the more sentimental intro though, 'Tronic' becomes a very different album revolving on intensely dense beats that feel like a catchier version of Def Jux material. Tracks like 'Overdose' clearly show an electronica influence, relying on a crescendoing beat to build even more intensity into the producer's rhymes. 'Tronic' succeeds in offering a variety of different hip-hop environments, from the extremely poppy 'Without U' to the Phaorahe Monch, Sean Price, and DJ Premier assisted 'The Matrix.' While Black Milk certainly suffers from the same negatives most producers-turned-MCs do, he is able to keep the listener's attention and certainly give the impression that he can actually hold his own on a track with three of the most inventive artists in the hip-hop field.
black milk's 'tronic'
Perhaps I haven't fully explained the sophistication of 'Tronic.' The album is a cohesive connection between underground and mainstream rap, featuring guests from Royce Da 5'9 to Colin Munroe. Black Milk once again proves he is probably second only to Madlib in terms of producing beats that actually sound like hip-hop should in 2008. All in all, I would be very surprised if any hip-hop album reaches this level of precision this year. Black Milk has simply made a completely unique statement in what is typically a pretty stale genre, and with 'Tronic' he has confirmed his status as one of the best. As ‘Losing Out’ attests, Detroit is hungry, and perhaps the Midwest will finally break out with the success of artists as inventive and interesting as Black Milk.
Black Milk - 'Tronic' (2008)
Black Milk - 'Tronic' (2008)
1 comment:
Hi there! My company does marketing & publicity for Black Milk. Thanks for recently posting about Black Milk on the daily blog portion of your site. I'd like to know what email address I can send press releases, videos and mp3s to for artists that would be a good fit for your site.
We sent these out recently, which include a Black Milk mixtape, press release announcing his upcoming album Tronic, and his latest single "Give the Drummer Sum."
http://audibletreats.com/pr/black_milk_pr4.html
http://audibletreats.com/pr/black_milk_pr5.html
http://audibletreats.com/pr/black_milk_pr6.html
post any of these to your site!
Also, check out our current roster here.
http://audibletreats.com/download/
Thanks again,
Nora Ritchie
Online Marketing Manager
Audible Treats
nora@audibletreats.com
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