Black Milk

Detroit's Black Milk has a lot on his shoulders for a 25-year-old. The Motor City has been one of the epicenters in the evolution of hip-hop, both in the mainstream and the underground. But its jets have cooled. Eminem isn't on top of the world anymore, and the death of legendary underground beatmaker J Dilla in 2006 (at age 32) left a big void among the city's hip-hop alumni.

Among those most poised and primed to lead the next generation of Motown hip-hoppers is Curtis Cross, better known by the curious name Black Milk. A skilled producer who found success as part of the duo BR Gunna, he's also been proving himself in recent years as a commanding MC. He collaborated briefly with Dilla, one of his major influences, and now looks to carry the torch. Tronic, his fine third record, doesn't offer quite the crazy kaleidoscope of ideas that graced Dilla albums like Donuts, but there's still much to admire.

Tronic starts from the very beginning, with Black Milk tracing his evolution as an artist and tipping a hat to influences like Pete Rock on "Long Story Short." Musically, it's one of the least interesting tracks on the record, but it provides (true to its title) a concisely comprehensive biography, giving the listener a better idea of where Black is coming from. Tronic kicks into full gear with "Give The Drummer Sum," its third track, with its smooth flow and swinging old-school horns. That sets up the album's best stretch, including the laidback synthesizer soul of the kiss-off track "Without U" and the dramatic, propulsive "Losing Out." The spotlight never gets cluttered; there is a slight peppering of guest appearances, including verses by Pharoahe Monch and Royce Da 5'9", but Black Milk is the lone producer and the dominant voice throughout. If he can sustain that momentum throughout an entire album, he'll add his own classic to the stacks.

—Adam McKibbin
11.03.08

Since he made his debut on Slum Village's 2002 album Trinity, Detroit producer/MC Black Milk has benefited from an avalanche of music press and message board praise, all with good reason. His 2008 full-length maintains the same quality control, the same sense of adventure, and the same charismatic plus cocksure attitude found on previous releases, but he's never sounded sharper, in every sense of the word. As cyber-funk as its title suggests, Tronic -- and the pre-release mixtape was called Elec -- is ripe with brittle beats, tight hooks, tighter samples, and those great pro-Detroit, street-swaggering lyrics that so often get overlooked in favor of the man's productions. Add hypnotic melodies and a Kanye-style flow and things are smoother than expected, and while Tronic often sounds like the underground alternative to West's Graduation, Black Milk prefers a more back to the future approach. Instead of Daft Punk, "Hold It Down" gets its riff from Gary Numan's "Bombers," while "Losing Out" with home boy Royce da 5'9" borrows from a much more prog rock spaceman, Alan Parsons. "Hell Yeah" rattles with a vintage tech-step bassline that will have jungle fans crying "Grooverider" and then a cold vocoder brings the robot soul to the short, sweet, and very J Dilla "Tronie Summer." Hip-hop fans looking for more than exquisitely crafted, smart productions will find Pharoahe Monch's guest appearance on "The Matrix" a lyrical knockout ("You couldn't hang if you were Ving Rhames in Rosewood") and the opening "Long Story Short" a career high when it comes to composition. No filler and a logical running order makes Tronic an instantly satisfying effort, an album to return to, and maybe the best entry point to a discography already filled with vital material. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide