Black Milk is an artist from Detroit who has been releasing music for over fifteen years, but he really started to separate himself from the rest of the pack in 2010, when he released his solo album, Album of the Year. Since that time, Black Milk has been releasing complex and rewarding projects that have established him as one of the top rapper/producers doing it today. We most recently heard from him back in February of this year, when he dropped a beat tape simply titled ……. Now he’s back with a brand new album, Everybody Good?

Black Milk has taken his music in a lot of different directions over the years, from gospel to electro and everything in between. For Everybody Good? Black Milk is leaning in the direction of smooth jazz and fusion, with a little early ‘80s R&B for good measure. The result is one of Black Milk’s smoothest projects to date, one that you can really chill out and vibe to. For the majority of the album, this means the music is mostly relying on vintage keyboards and drum machines to shape the sound, along with a lot of sung vocal harmonies for some extra sweetness. Of course, Black Milk does find some room to mix things up and introduce some interesting elements that push the boundaries of the album, such as the addition of a Hendrix-esque guitar line to “Ain’t Nobody Coming To Save You,” which will take you to church for a couple of minutes. We also get some great guests along for the ride, including Brandon Myster, Mick Jenkins, and Raphael Saadiq. Quelle Chris really ups the level of the project when he starts rhyming on “The Black Surf (Everybody Good?),” and Karriem Riggins collaborates with Black Milk on “Fews & Trues” to deliver an instrumental track so good that it almost outshines the rest of the album. That would have been the case, but then Phonte comes in on “No Wish” to deliver the most emotionally devastating lyricism on the album that will catch you off guard if you’re not ready for it. It’s an incredibly well-balanced album, and Black Milk uses everyone to the best of the abilities and lets those contributions raise up the entire album as a whole.

Everybody Good? is exactly the type of album you want out of a veteran artist like Black Milk. He pushes himself outside of his comfort zone just a little, while also delivering what you like about him as an artist at the same time. He also brings in a bunch of his talented friends who all do there thing and elevate the project piece by piece, ultimately giving you a complex and entertaining album that you can listen to over and over again.