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With an album like Tronic under his belt, I’m already anxious to see what Black Milk will come out with next.

Slowly but surely, Detroit is seeing a lot of rappers and producers making moves in an effort to become major players in the hip-hop game. Inspired by producers like the late J. Dilla, Black Milk has been one of the city’s hardest working artists. As both a producer and a rapper, he’s been cutting his teeth in hip-hop since 2002. While heavily influenced by Dilla, he’s clearly working to craft his own unique style. Last year’s Popular Demand was an impressive collection of soul and funk-blended beats, combined with Black showing off his ever-evolving lyrical skills. A year later, he’s returned with Tronic, challenging himself both as a producer and a rapper.

“Long Story Short” brings listeners up to speed as Black Milk rhymes about his beginnings in hip-hop up to present day. Even without a traditional hook, the track is impressive in its ability to be broad, yet surprisingly focused. But it’s “Bounce” that lets us know that Black has a few new tricks up his sleeve, combining a simple drum beat with bouncy synth keys, and creating a decidedly futuristic sound. This new musical direction is even present throughout “Give the Drummer Sum”, with spacey sound effects permeating the hook of the jazzy/soul track. Thankfully, these elements don’t overpower the heavy snares and blaring horns, as Black Milk shows that one of his strengths as a producer is his incredible ability to balance several different musical elements, regardless on their time or genre. The glitchy space-hop antics only continue on “Hold It Down”, with sinister wails layered over a subdued Gary Numan sample. Just when you think Black is ready to slow things down, “Losing Out” calls listeners to attention with its heavy prog rock samples and thunderous kickdrum, almost resembling a rapid heartbeat. The lyrical team-up of Black Milk and fellow Detroit MC Royce Da 5’9” only heightens the urgency, as the two seemingly try to one-up each other to keep up with the beat.

Truly, there’s no shortage of lyrical potency on Tronic, with Black Milk only improving as an MC, doing everything he can to create a signature rhyme style. His flow and wordplay can be refreshingly unorthodox, while preserving elements that are recognizable in a lot of MCs from the Motor City. Furthermore, the album stacks the deck with other guest MCs, like Pharoahe Monch and Sean Price on “The Matrix”. Their inclusion makes it one of Tronic’s grittier offerings, giving the album a much-appreciated element of danger (Monch brazenly rhymes “Four-finger ring rap sling-slang, Pharoahe the flow’s good/You couldn’t hang if you was Ving Rhames in Rosewood.”).

With an album like Tronic under his belt, I’m already anxious to see what Black Milk will come out with next. He’s taken things to another level, both as an emcee and a producer, crafting a near-perfect hip-hop masterpiece. The way he constructs beats feels very familiar, but he manages to give them an edge to make them sound brand new. It’s an amazing talent for a producer to have, and will only benefit him on future projects. 

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