Album of the Year

by Black Milk

As much as I like Black Milk's brand of post-Dilla production, I find I get a little tired of listening to him rap.  He's improving all the time - the lyrics on this album are better than they were on Tronic, his release of two years ago, but I would still prefer to see him stay behind the boards a little more.

Album of the Year has twelve tracks, and features a nice mix of Detroit hip-hop royalty, with appearances by Royce da 5'9, Elzhi, and Mr. Porter, but most of the tracks are Black Milk solo efforts (or feature someone singing the hooks), and the project becomes a little monotonous towards the end.

Don't get me wrong - I like this album, but I would have liked it a lot more had there been some more variety or substance.  It starts out very promisingly with '365', an accounting of the last year of Black's life, with reference to the friends that have passed (Baatin) or had some serious problems (Hex Murda).  Beyond the first few tracks, everything kind of blends for me, and none of the songs really stand out.

This is a great album for beats though....