Between Jay Electronica, Freddie Gibbs, and now Black Milk, Decon is stealthily snapping up the premier blog-rap prospects who lack mass appeal (read: not Southern or sensitive singers).* Beyond superficial differences, there’s little different in the approach between Black Milk and say, Big K.R.I.T. Both rapper/producers bump up against the boundaries of well-established regional styles, share self-aggrandizing lyrical tendencies, and are most notable for their sample-driven production prowess. But Krit gets Def Jam money while Milk scavenges the few remaining Okayplayers willing to part with an Alexander Hamilton.
Whether you prefer one to the other depends largely on whether you prefer the South to the North, Slaughterhouse to G-Side, ride music or mechanical funk, donuts to dumplings. Even their acolytes agree that neither artist will replace Dilla or Pimp C, but both provide an adequate substitute and thus, inspire overheated rhetoric. In the typically tedious marketing materials supplied to stoke the hype machine, Milk has been touting his move towards sample-free production–a move that mirrors Dilla’s work in the wake of 48 Hours. And like most message board messiahs to emerge in the last few years, Curtis Cross seems eager to expand on the legacy of James Yancey.
With lurching uppercut drums that could fit in at the Low End Theory, Milk understands how to fill the frozen tundras of his beats. Like Dilla, his style is unmistakably Detroit–full of ghostly synths that whistle like wind through abandoned buildings and early techno rhythms. His flow’s greatest asset is that it devours empty spaces–filling it with battle rhymes and tough talk. The album is called Album of the Year and it has guest spots from Elzhi, Royce, and Danny Brown. It probably won’t supplant Big Boi’s opus, but judging from the excised cuts and early leaks (see below), it will at least have a good shot at being September’s album of the month. At the very least, it will warrant as much attention as K.R.I.T. Wuz Here. Comfort food for the malcontents. The good thing about rap in 2010 is that even if the stakes are munchkin-sized, there is a room for all flavors.
* Electronica is obviously from New Orleans, but other than a desire to call out the RZA for interview comments made a decade-ago, his style is closer to MF Doom than anyone sub-Mason-Dixon.
Download:
MP3: Black Milk-”Don Cornelius“
MP3: Black Milk-”How Dare You”
MP3: Black Milk-”Keep Going”
MP3: Black Milk-”Welcome (Gotta Go)”
ZIP: Big K.R.I.T.-K.R.I.T. Wuz Here (Left-Click)
16 comments
hl says:
July 14, 2010 at 6:26 pm (UTC -7)
Does Big Krit produce his own songs? I’m a little confused by the comparison.
Passion of the Weiss says:
July 14, 2010 at 6:53 pm (UTC -7)
Yeah, he produced the whole mixtape. I probably could have spelled this out better, but the post was rushed. Both are better at production than rapping. Both make outlandish claims (Krit is the “King,” Milk calls his album, “Album of the Year.”) Both make music emblematic of their respective region, very much in the vein of their deceased idols (Dilla/UGK). Both haven’t quite broken free from those shadows and engender overly enthusiastic praise from fans looking for the next Dilla/Pimp C. Both have fanbases that live primarily on the Internet.
Both are pretty good.
hl says:
July 14, 2010 at 9:21 pm (UTC -7)
Thanks. I wasn’t trying to be an asshole, but I knew I must have missed something. It makes sense now.
I think it’s cool so many of these newer artists dabble or even excel in production.
dee-kaye says:
July 15, 2010 at 3:59 am (UTC -7)
You write as if “outlandish claims” of being the best are somehow foreign to rap music, as if every single rapper doesn’t make them, explicitly or implicitly, and thus as if they are in themselves a basis for evaluation and criticism.
In any event, Krit is actually a solid rapper. Not as much on Krit Wuz Here, but on his older mixtapes. Those who haven’t gotten over hating the Dirty South, or who would anyway believe Krit is similarly limited in regional appeal, should peep ‘Baby Gangsta’, where he freaks a Premier beat.
Passion of the Weiss says:
July 15, 2010 at 9:00 am (UTC -7)
Really. I had no idea that rappers often have a healthy sense of confidence. How shocking.
dee-kaye says:
July 15, 2010 at 12:44 pm (UTC -7)
Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, guy. Keep your head up. And keep pounding the keyboard. Something decent will come of it eventually.
Passion of the Weiss says:
July 15, 2010 at 1:21 pm (UTC -7)
I checked out your site. My feelings are fine. Hope that “two year obsession with Southern hip-hop” works out well for you, big dawg. Stay trill.
dee-kaye says:
July 15, 2010 at 1:46 pm (UTC -7)
Don’t know what scare quotation marks do for you there.
Anyways, if you can put your sensitivity aside for a moment, my point was that there’s nothing noteworthy about claims to being the best rapper; that such claims provide no reason to discount Krit, Black Milk, or anyone; and that they are barely worth mentioning on your blog or others.
Rather than a sarcastic response, exposing yourself as a precious little girl, you could have said, yeah you’re right, or no you’re wrong, followed by something insightful.
PeaBody says:
July 15, 2010 at 2:01 pm (UTC -7)
Two jew boys, breaking down the state of hip hop. Novel.
4d3d3d3 says:
July 15, 2010 at 2:18 pm (UTC -7)
…yeah but Weiss never said it was foreign to hip-hop, so there’s nothing really to agree or disagree with.
4d3d3d3 says:
July 15, 2010 at 2:26 pm (UTC -7)
These guys still deserve a post. I never would have heard of big krit otherwise.
Passion of the Weiss says:
July 15, 2010 at 2:34 pm (UTC -7)
Because I’d prefer to spend valuable time writing things that pay me money rather than bicker with kids a year out of college who don’t know the difference between scare quotes and a direct quotation.
Your point was invalid and not worth refuting because I wasn’t using their boasts to denigrate their skills or work. It was one in a string of comparisons. Perhaps a slightly overreaching contrast, but one worth noting, considering the amounts of attention lavished on Krit’s mixtape–particularly in corners of the Internet that listen to a half-dozen rap records a year. People who probably are not checking for the new Black Milk, Danny Brown, Elzhi, etc.
Your definition of rap is laughably narrow. The majority of rappers do not proclaim themselves the King or claim to have made the album of the year.
Particularly when calling oneself “King”–as Krit did on his last mixape–demonstrates a clear lack of originality. Last time I checked, that was T.I.’s crown. Plus, Krit’s flow is clearly lifted from both Tip and Pimp C–depending on the song.
Rappers have been bombastic since Kurtis Blow — probably sooner. But some of them articulate concerns (insecurities, politics, abstractions) beyond their own navel-gazing narcissism. Not like that stopped me from enjoying either record, as I say above. Obviously, your rigid definition of what rap is and your inability to read carefully blinds you from seeing otherwise.
I’d appreciate if you didn’t comment here anymore. I don’t have time to waste on basement dwellers who offer half-baked opinions that they would never say to anyone’s face in real life. At least, you would not say it to mine for long.
Now I just squandered 15 minutes and am late on a deadline. This is why I would rather say: get the fuck out of here.
dee-kaye says:
July 15, 2010 at 2:51 pm (UTC -7)
Dude. All you do is spend time arguing with college kids. That is what you do. You’re a professional blogger. Own it. Meanwhile, my site is the Internet equivalent of playing with my balls – effortless, occasional, and not my day job.
I seem to have struck a nerve. I would love to respond to your response, which was somewhat worthwhile, but will honor your request not to post here anymore. Strange. I never would have expected you to be such a pussy. Do you always run away from conflict?
Passion of the Weiss says:
July 15, 2010 at 2:54 pm (UTC -7)
Will you go to the prom with me, Dee-Kaye?
I’ll buy you a corsage.
studentee says:
July 17, 2010 at 11:52 am (UTC -7)
respect yo elders
JPop says:
July 18, 2010 at 1:54 pm (UTC -7)
That was the most clear and concise curbstomping I have ever seen.