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Black Milk
Broken Wax EP
Fat Beats, 2007
7.5/10, Solid [scale]

Broken Wax EP

ATTENTION! That’s what Black Milk commands at the first sound from his vinyl-specific project, Broken Wax. An extended player featuring 7 songs and an instrumental exit track, Broken Wax features two songs (”Danger” featuring T3 and Phat Kat and “Sound of the City” featuring Fat Ray and Elzhi) from Black’s Sound of the City project.

As with Sound of the City, Broken Wax touts not only Black Milk’s ever-improving production chops and lyrical dexterity, but also guest appearances from the finest eMCees out of Detroit - old and new. This release is his first on Fat Beats Records as a precursor to his follow-up full-length - Popular Demand. This makes him the second artist from Michigan along with One Be Lo on the label.

If there was a simple term in describing Black Milk’s sound, then it might be futuristic Detroit. Black definitely has a Detroit swagger to his beats and his rhymes. From the Slum Village-esque scats in his flow to the usage of spacey rock and classical samples, you can tell that Black is a student of the highest Detroit hip hop music pedigree (i.e., J Dilla) and has found his own way along the road to individuality in the cluttered trails of the rap world. In short, Black Milk equals double threat when it comes to beats and rhymes.

On the rhymes, Black is an eMCee that regular rap listeners will come to love and backpackers can come to appreciate. He does not spend a lot of time with creative metaphors and similes. He does not fill his verses with conscious phrasing, nor does he try to paint descriptive pictures about the world around him. He could be considered old school or just straight up boom-bap rap as his topics tend to range from pure braggadocio to hollering at the ladies. Black also tends to focus more on style like you would come to expect from a Pharoahe Monch or… T3 from Slum Village. Do not get it confused though, Black has a lot of wit in his flow. On the title track “Broken Wax,” Black says “they don’t like Black, because I’m George Bush with the flow.” One could take that statement in many directions, but it is best appropriate when considering how confident the 24 year old wunderkind is. On “Pressure,” he says, “Dude, I didn’t choose to be this ill, nigga/ It chose me like a NBA draft pick-up,” so the confidence is very strong which adds a lot to Black Milk’s appeal. At the same time, one would be remised to not speak on how well Black sounds on his own tracks. If you listen closely to Black, you’ll notice he likes to syncopate his rhymes to his unique drum patterns as evidenced on “Tell ‘Em” and “Danger.” He easily becomes one with the track to the point where you might forget that he is saying anything significant at all.

If you are a stranger to Black Milk on production, then this project is a wonderful display of what he is capable of. From the stylishly rugged drum patterns to the creative sample selection, there is something very new to Black’s sound. Especially considering he’s part of an art form that tends to feel stale when considering that there are many that do the same thing. Do not expect the usual kick-clap-bass style that has been attributed to the Detroit hip hop/neo-soul sound. Black is pretty eclectic with his approaches to each beat. Considering these elements, one cannot help the comparisons to the late great Jay Dee aka J Dilla when listening to his productions.

As the focus has been on Black’s beats and rhymes, it would be disservice not to mention the excellent guest appearances. Starting with reputable mainstream Detroit producer-eMCee Mr. Porter (formerly Kon Artis of D-12), who basically anoints Black as “the next nigga,” giving his blessing and approval of Black’s work on the song “Keep It Live.” Fellow up-and-coming Detroit eMCees Nametag and BR Gunna member Fat Ray give solid contributions to their respective songs. Elzhi is murderous on “Sound of the City.” But it’s classic Detroit on the posse cut “Danger” with T3 and Phat Kat, as each eMCee leaves very memorable performances over the feverish beat supplied by Black Milk.

Black Milk has deeply etched his name to the list of talented producer-eMCee types to come out of the city of Detroit. With the loss of J Dilla, Black lends us the promise of continuing the job of providing good, quality creative hip hop music. The Broken Wax EP shows that Black is a force to be reckoned with. Make sure you pick this up for your crate or your iPod.

by Hubert Sawyers III