Black Milk: "Give the Drummer Sum"

Whoa. Black Milk’s known for shit that sounds smooth and effortless and like Dilla but now this is something different: from the live horns to the forceful drum stutter (an unbalanced, almost awkward string of kick and snare hits) that’s so determined to sound hard right down to the strain in Milk’s raps and the way he takes a needed gasp at the words “get a breath in” or has his beat enunciate its own breath when the drums drop out for a millisecond so as to let the “organ get a stab at it.” The instrumental passages are bold and—how daring is this for a rap album—comprise what is basically the hook for the first single. With expertly multi-tracked horns blowing gold the organ transitions from one blurt to two longer chords in a subtle flourish that effectively elongates the measure marker and shortens the measure, giving this song’s big wordless moments a bunsen intensity that, to paraphrase a line herein, is the flame with which Milk ignites the rest. Near the end he even turns the heat down to simmer for a chill lil’ keys and horn jam. Oh, and the deftness of the bass is only properly explained by the insanity of the drums. A Quasimoto deadringer ponders: “It don’t make no sense / How we still be making no cents…” Well, it does and it doesn’t. And now people will have to adjust to something that yearns to be great. People ain’t really used to that.

The next song leaked from Tronic is called “The Matrix” and has scratches from Primo, a verse from Monch, and a loop that sounds like it was chopped from some long lost Morricone theme for Stargate. Ambition fits Black Milk quite nicely.