First it was Nasty Nas, now watch Evan Nabavian turn an apple into MacIntosh I notice when I hit shuffle that little of the rap music I listen to features rappers who can actually rap. There’s a surfeit of style, bluster, charisma, and swagger, but few dazzling constructions of wordplay. I have no right to […]
| The Grand Old Party: A Review of Danny Brown’s “Old” | October 11, 2013 |
Son Raw makes 2 Live Crew look like some Mormons. Danny Brown ended XXX with a pained howl that would have made a fitting epigraph had drugs, violence or jail snuffed out his promising rap career. Thing is, that didn’t happen. Against all odds, the skinny jeans-wearing backpack-rapper with a blown out haircut and encyclopedic […]
| Shots Fired, Episode 49: “Detroit” featuring guests Black Milk, Quelle Chris & Denmark Vessey | October 7, 2013 |
We probably needed House Shoes and Hex Murda for ultimate last rites authority on all matters pertaining to the D, but the trio of Black Milk, Quelle Chris, and Denmark Vessey are among the best musicians that Detroit has produced over the last half decade. Knowledge was brought in via carrier pigeon and dispersed via […]
| Poisonous Slang: Black Milk’s “Dismal” | September 23, 2013 |
If you had pegged Black Milk as being a permanent Dilla disciple, you should probably reevaluate things. He deserved the comparisons to have been deaded a few years ago, but now they seem especially off-base. The leaked tracks from No Poison No Paradise are like Halloween science-fiction psychedelic theme music. As though they were scripted […]
| Black Milk, Perfected on Puritan Ave. | August 22, 2013 |
Tosten Burks is lusher than you ever expect. It’s as easy to make fun of Black Milk for so much Dilla apery over the years as it is to tease anyone who is so directly a product of his or her influences. Joey Bada$$ isn’t just like a golden age five elements snob, he is […]
| The Rugged Return of Detroit’s Big Tone | February 7, 2013 |
Evan Nabavian is pouring one out for Tone and Poke too. When Detroit saw a salvo of great rap around 2008, the names to know were Black Milk, Waajeed, House Shoes, Elzhi, Guilty Simpson, Royce da 5’9”, and Ta’Raach. But as with any great hip-hop scene, plenty more talent bubbled below the surface. In 2009, […]
| Haiku Reviews: Big Sean – “Detroit” | September 10, 2012 |
Slava P suffers for the world’s sins. Higher Hypnotic drums bears and expected skeltonics break down Sean’s big grind. 24k of Gold ft. J. Cole Whiny luxury. Truly a song that only Big Sean could create. Story by Common Weird uncle Common tells stories of visits to horrible wing spots
