Review: Black Milk, “Album of the Year”

Black Milk, Album of the Year
Fat Beats/Decon

More than an audacious claim, Black Milk’s Album of the Year chronicles a period of tragedy, including his friend and Slum Village member Baatin’s passing in 2009, and adjusting to indie stardom (addressed on “Over Again”). Black Milk’s popularity can be attributed to his outstanding production skills, mixing live instrumentation with classic Detroit sampling techniques for the killer “365,” and vowing to “save the game like a memory card.” While some will quibble that Album of the Year isn’t as good as his 2008 instant classic Tronic, this strong follow-up confirms that the rapper/producer is “not like Stevie, more like Wonder, because I’m all about the bread.”