Tronic

by Black Milk

Post-Dilla hip-hop is in good hands. We've seen a number of artists rush in not to take Dilla's place, but to take his legacy and run with it. One of the leaders of the pack has to be Black Milk.

With Tronic, Black puts out an impressive album. He's improved immensely as an MC, and the beats on this album are banging.

The disc starts off with a minimalist piano loop, before moving into an amazing drum beat for "Long Story Short", Black's autobiography of making beats and songs. "Bounce" does just that. "Give the Drummer Sum" has gotten a lot of praise, but the Chipmunk hook kind of annoys me.

My favourite track on the album is "Losing Out", featuring Royce da 5'9". The sample (what is that from?) matches perfectly with the lyrics, and Royce kills his parts. After this comes "Hell Yeah" with Fat Ray, containing my favourite lines of the album:

"The only thing you never see is cleaner streets and bigger homes;
The only thing I ever see is church church liquor store."

This is not a perfect album - there are a couple of songs that are unnecessary or forgettable - but it is a very good album, and perfect to bump in the car.