October 15, 2013 • Fat Beats
I don't follow too many hip hop artists closely, but Black Milk has been on of them for some time. Tronic was an instant hit for me with its catchy, heavy, and unique sound, and even though Album of the Year didn't quite live up to its title I still enjoyed it. No Poison No Paradise isn't quite as fantastic either, but that doesn't mean it's not a good album.
One of the things that still draws me to Black Milk is that there really aren't many (if any) producers quite like him. As always, he doesn't hold back with his experimentation in his production. No Poison No Paradise is still about as melodic as you can get for hip hop. There's even more soul and jazz in this album than I remember being in his older material, especially soul—which is really fine by me. I like hardcore stuff as much as the next guy, but Black Milk's silky smooth beats are perfect in their own relaxing way and raucous when they want to be (check out that free jazz section on "Perfected on Puritan Ave.", great stuff). There's not quite as much of the harsh synths and electronics of Tronic (if you couldn't guess), but I think the shift is really working for him. (It varies from track to track, of course; the aesthetics going from the vintage styles of "Deion's House" to the sawtoothed and cold "Codes and Cab Fare", for example, is a bit jarring.)
The rapping isn't much home to write about on most tracks; while Black Milk's rapping has always been perfectly fine, he has never really stood out to me as a great emcee and I don't see him improving much here. The guest spots don't wow me, either. On the other hand, I don't listen to him for the rapping; I'll take his instrumentals with the same enthusiasm any day. There are a few good moments, though, like the aggressive spitting and satisfying lyrics on "Sunday's Best".
It'll probably take a few more listens to tell for sure how it stacks up against his earlier albums, but I can tell after just a couple that No Poison No Paradise is definitely worth revisiting. I don't think it's album of the year material (heh)... but sleeper hit of the year? Definitely.
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