Black Milk and Detroit's Legacy

Detroit seems largely like a city that survives on a day to day basis, bolstered mostly by its past glories. There’s the proto-punk thing that included the likes of the MC5 and the Stooges as well as the entire Motown stable. Of course, the whole car industry being in shambles should only result in Detroit denizens fondly recalling the past.

But more recent developments in hip hop have made the city a wealth of talent. No, Eminem has nothing to do with this. But the Slum Village axis of musicians as well as the Binary Star dudes have, within the last decade and change, again made Detroit the focus of some attention.

Having been affiliated with top tier groups for the better part of the last decade somehow hasn’t wound up making Black Milk a house hold name, though. It kinda doesn’t make any sense – of course, living in the shadow of J-Dilla probably makes it all a bit more difficult than necessary. And while his first few independent releases garnered some decent press, it wasn’t enough to make him a star even his work as producer for Slum Village resulted in simple comparisons to the aforementioned Dilla.

The comparisons aren’t specious, but there’re probably better ones – beyond that, none are really even needed. Black Milk is a man unto himself crafting discs on his own with only slight support from local folks as a few Detroit natives (Phat Kat and Baatin) get on the mic for a few tracks on Popular Demand.

Released in 2007, a year after Dilla’s passing, via Fat Beats, Black Milk’s first proper long player was preceded by a slew of relatively low run discs and singles that attracted the New Yawk imprint’s attention in the first place.

Pretty immediately on Popular Demand, Black Milk addresses the grievances that some might have. Dilla was dogged by folks who figured his prowess behind the boards superseded his skills on the mic. Maybe they were right, maybe not. But Black Milk cuts all of that off before it starts with the lead off title track. The emcee and producer is more than aware of the fact that he can do whatever it is he attempts – and Black Milk lets his audience know in less than boastful terms, although he comes off as something more than self assured.

One of the most notable production moments represented on the album comes at the end of “So Gone” and ostensibly functions as an interlude until the following track begins. Subsequent to the funky bounce that the track uses as its beat with Black Milk just talkin’ about having a good time, the final thirty seconds of the song are stripped down. In some deft maneuver it sounds as if the beat’s inverted and then phased between speaker channels. It’s only brief moment on a pretty deep album. But in that moment, the producer’s talent and vision can be figured.

The remainder of the disc rolls on with other highlights peppered in there. And while the entirety of Popular Demand is an above boards effort, there will hopefully be some more urgent tracks that Black Milk works out in the future.