Black Milk: Tronic

One of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of 2007 came out of Detroit. No, not Eminem. Not even Royce or anything from Slum Village. Instead, it was Black Milk, the producer-first-mc-later artist from the Motor City, with his well received Popular Demand. The joint was complete with neck breaking beats, but its falter landed on the microphone of Black Milk. With a great year already in his back pocket, Black has the chance to break away from the rest of the crowd for numerous “of the year” titles with his latest release, Tronic. A year later, we get more of the same beats and emceeing, but with a slight polish and rise in caliber on both fronts.

The album sets the bar high early with “Long Story Short” and “Give the Drummer Sum.” The drums are pulsating, frequent, and powerful; it is as soulful as drums will get in this era of hip hop, but the biggest eye opener comes from the eerily tight flow and technically sound emceeing of Black Milk. Although he is not great lyrically, the MC is already miles ahead of his past microphone works. The drums are once again lively on “Hell Yeah” and “Overdose” and the producer sounds like a seasoned veteran on the boards as his maturity from a year ago is scary.

The expected gems of the albums are indeed the ones with the biggest names. “Losing Out” delivers an uppercut of a beat with the consistent jab combos of Black Milk followed by the Ali-like footwork and vicious knock out blow from Royce (has he dropped anything weak at all this year?). Black held his own against Royce, but he gets even more cavalry with Sean Price, Pharoahe Monch and DJ Premier on the star studded “The Matrix.” Needless to say, everything falls into place and the track is as good as the names entail.

Nevertheless, the album has a good amount of filler and this prevents it from being a completely satisfying listen. “Bounce” isn’t on the level of production that the aforementioned tracks are on. The same goes for “Reppin’ For You” and “Hold It Down.” “Tronic Summer” is just a little too electronic, while “Without U” is a little too cliché on the production and the lyrical. On the other hand, production saves the abysmal lyrical display by Black on “Try.”

The album’s closer is “Bond 4 Life,” an admirable tribute to Dilla. The influence of the late Dilla has never been more apparent in a producer than it has been in Black Milk. It could be the Detroit sound or it could more likely be the direct link and connection these two had in a teacher-student relationship. The stars are bright for Black if he keeps this up and his idol is living through his every sound. There should be no doubt that he will succeed in this music industry and become one of hip hop’s elite producers in the near future. 

Overall Score: 81/100

Standout Tracks:

“Losing Out”

“Long Story Short”

“The Matrix”

“Give the Drummer Sum”