Detroit has been at the center of many heated debates taking place all over the country, from the CNN newsroom to the watercooler of offices, and even in the hip hop blogosphere. Thanks to the release of Big Sean’s sophomore effort, Hall of Fame, and the highly anticipated release of Danny Brown’s major label debut—Old—many heads have fixed their eyes on the city’s music scene. However, with the news of the city’s continuing financial woes, the most recent coming in the form of the worst bankruptcy this nation has ever seen, and the worsening socioeconomic problems that plague this once great automobile hub, it is becoming harder to maintain an optimistic outlook on Detroit’s future.
The metaphorical dark cloud and literal dark prospects that hover over the city, fuels Black Milk’s upcoming album, No Poison No Paradise. If you have kept a close tab on Detroit’s hip-hop scene from the days of J Dilla, you are probably familiar with Milk’s name. He has been a perennial mainstay in the scene, making a name for himself by producing for acts such as: Slum Village, Guilty Simpson, Danny Brown, as well as others. Additionally, he has released three albums, Album of the Year being the most recent, where he not only flexes his talents behind the boards, but also in front of the mic.
Next month, Black Milk will let loose his fourth album, No Poison No Paradise, his darkest album yet. In this interview, the legendary producer chats about his forthcoming record, his influences, and the direction of his new music. Check out the interview below.
-Jimi (@Nativejimi)
Could you explain for people that don’t know, what is your resume like?
Black Milk: I mean it’s kind of weird. It’s kind of interesting the different artist that I’ve been able to work with over the years, from the underground artist to the big artists. Like the Guilty Simpsons, Sean Prices, and Danny Browns. You know all the way up to the Jack Whites. I actually just got a chance to work with Lauryn Hill at the end of last year. Did a little work for her. So you know, all over the place you know. Trying to keep it consistent and keep it moving, hopefully I can bring something to the table to these other artists’ projects.
So I’ve heard the Puritan Ave single, loved it. Loved the way you switch it up half way. What was the motivation for that switch up?
Black Milk: I mean the song is kind of like, is just about a kid growing up in the neighborhood. And that part of the song, I kind of wanted to do a breakdown that’s kind of chaotic, that represents his life going out of control or whatever. That’s why I get kind of crazy doing some crazy jazz fusion type of things, yeah.
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So can we expect more of that on No Poison No Paradise?
Black Milk: No definitely, definitely. I’m good for that. Like people that know my music they know, umm, doing certain things in production. Breaking stuff down, bring certain elements in and out, and not bringing it back for the rest of the song. So yeah, yeah you can definitely expect more of that.
So you are also known for branching out and doing, like you were saying, doing crazy things. Can we expect like some more crazy samples, like you had on Album of the Year?
Black Milk: Oh yeah man, definitely man, definitely. Like uh, like you know always, like always searching for those obscure, weird samples that most people aren’t messing with. So it’s a lot of that stuff man on the production. It’s a lot of storytelling also with the lyrics and songwriting.
I was actually going to ask you about the lyrics because you are from Detroit. And I was wondering if the current state of Detroit bled into your lyrics.
Black Milk: The state of Detroit is always like influenced or inspired; my music is always inspired by it by some degree. That’s kind of what this album is about, talking probably about a lot my upbringing in Detroit and a lot of people that’s around me, their upbringing in Detroit. That’s kind of where a lot of the songs and the storytelling and the writing came from.
So I saw the tracklist and the feature list, and you’ve have some heavy hitters on there. You have Black Thought and a lot of dudes that I’m just a big, big fan of.
Black Milk: I mean, yo, I just reached out to Thought like to collab on a record. I didn’t really want to a typical rap about rap type record. I wanted to let Thought get his introspective type storytelling on, so that’s the kind of record we have on the album. And it came out real dope; it’s probably the darkest song on the album.
Thought is on there, rapping about being a kid growing up in Detroit; actually, that’s what his verse is about. So it’s kind of crazy, talking about him being on 7th mile and stuff like that so it came out dope.
Is the album still sample heavy or is there more live instrumentation?
Black Milk: There’s a little bit of all of that. Like my first three projects: First album Popular by Demand was like more soul sample based records, Tronic was a little more electronic and prog rock type samples, then Album of the Year was a lot of live instrumentation. So this one is a little bit of all that, all three of those elements, from the soul to the electronic and live instrumentation. Just polished up a little more.
What do you think about the two rising stars in the Detroit hip hop scene: Sean and Brown, you actually did a tape with Brown, Black and Brown.
Black Milk: Like I said its dope. Finally Detroit artists and Detroit as a city, is being recognized as a city that has dope hip hop artists. I mean there’s a lot of people that were already up on that, kind of already knew Detroit had a dope scene. But it’s kind of like getting recognized in the mainstream I guess; it’s getting more attention more press. So it’s breaking in that way, so its dope.
We are really looking out for the album. Besides for Dilla what other producers have you been influenced by?
Black Milk: Right now, probably most recently, I’ve been listening to Kareem Riggins, his instrumental project that came out not that long ago. Alone Again, that instrumental project off of Stone’s Throw. He had some heat on there; he’s one of the cats that, right now, give me that inspiration when I hear his joints.
Of course like Madlib. Of course like Jake One, that’s the homie—whenever he drops something, I’m always checking for it. Nottz, cats like.
No Poison No Paradise is in stores October 15th
