Black Milk
Black Milk has had the kind of luck that many hip-hop heads would kill for. The Detroit-bred MC, producer and DJ has not only released a string of top-notch music, but also got the chance to work directly into J Dilla's old shoes and produce music for Slum Village following the GOAT's departure.
It's an experience that he describes, in a new interview with Daily Public, as an intimidation draped in opportunity. "We’re talking about one of the best if not the best producer of all time leaving a group and you have to step in and fill that void," he remembers, to which he later told himself, "I just gotta do what I do but do it to the best of my ability and try to push the envelope. Being in that kind of environment made me a better producer because I was around some guys that were talented and progressive in the way they created."
The interview, which comes just ahead of Black Milk's upcoming performance in Buffalo, New York, also touches on what makes a great collaboration in his eyes. It's revealed that, in fact, BM has no dream hip-hop collaboration, but rather hopes to connect with a few low-profile names. "[I]t’s funny because the artists I want to collaborate with are usually artists who are unknown—an artist who is like non-existent to the music industry," Milk said.
He did, however, come right out and state his admiration for Dilla:
I feel like certain artists get stuck in a particular time or era where it’s hard for them to move forward or even think about music in a different kind of way. That’s why Dilla is my favorite of all time. He was the most progressive thinking hip hop producer we’ve ever had. The things he was doing on that drum machine, he was always five or 10 years ahead. It took everyone else a little bit of time to catch up. That’s the best thing I had about being around those guys, just adopting this progressive mentality.
Elsewhere in the interview, Milk describes his record-digging process ("I go through the whole store, there’s never just one genre I stick to") and expounds on the energy he gets from the crowd whilst DJing. It's a fantastic interview—one that no fan of the Detroit native son's sound will want to miss.
