Black Milk

The death of J Dilla continues to leave a gaping hole in the realm of progressive, soulful hip-hop and the Detroit music scene roughly a year after the fact. In recent months, well intentioned yet bewildering chatter of an heir apparent to Dilla has been directed at Detroit producer Black Milk. On the surface, the buzz is understandable: as well as hailing from the same city as the revered producer, Black Milk has contributed a substantial amount of his production expertise to Slum Village after Dilla left the group, including their criminally overlooked 2005 self-titled effort. Additionally, his production style, vocals and adlibs have clearly been influenced by J Dilla. However, there’s enough evidence on entries like the sinister menace of "Pressure” to demonstrate that Black Milk is more than capable of creating his own lane. Black Milk sports a reckless, street-oriented rhyme style throughout with undeniable swagger, while his esoteric yet accessible concoctions often reside firmly beneath suspended synths. As these tracks are apparently being released to create a buzz, which they obviously have, it will be interesting to see if Black Milk seizes the moment with the imminent release of his Popular Demand album.