Black Milk is an artist from Detroit who has been releasing music since the early to mid-2000s, but he really cemented his status with his excellent run of albums starting in 2010 with Album of the Year, then 2013’s No Poison No Paradise, and then 2014’s If There’s a Hell Below. Most recently, we got an EP in 2019 called DIVE, but he’s been relatively quiet since then. Now he’s come back with a little something to remind us that he’s still making music, a beat tape simply titled ……..

There is something refreshingly honest about Black Milk using a bunch of dots as the title to a beat tape that serves as his first solo release in four years, seeming to imply something to the effect of, “Yeah, I know, I’m working on it, but in the meantime, here you go.” And to that extent I really respect the honesty of Black Milk’s titling of the project, and it makes it easy to listen to this release for exactly what it is, just a collection of beats meant to tide us over until the next big project. But here’s the thing – Black Milk is a top tier producer, one of the best to do it over the last ten-plus years, so when we get a beat tape from him, it’s not just the throwaway place holder that other producers might give us. No, we’re getting beats with unexpected sample sources, extremely creative flips, complex and varied rhythms, and just a whole ton of soulful grooves that will be giving you stank face for days. It’s one of those releases that lets you know that it’s not the format that’s the problem, it’s the myriad of artists who aren’t putting in the work to push beyond the mediocre and predictable. Black Milk isn’t necessarily working outside of style or genre, but he’s showing how good different kinds of hip hop beats can sound when someone holds themselves to a higher standard and keeps digging and developing their music until they find those undeniable grooves and melodies that stand out from the pack and stay with you as a listener.

……. didn’t have to be as good as it is, but Black Milk wouldn’t be the artist he is today if he didn’t push himself over the years to make some really special hip hop. These beats are incredibly creative and fun to listen to, and give us all something to look forward to when that next big project finally drops.