Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them

by Blu & Exile

Blu and Exile are fantastic collaborators.  Their first album together, Below the Heavens, was an instant underground classic, and neither of them have done as well on their own or with other artists since.  Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them has them working together again, with Exile producing and Blu providing some amazing lyrics.

This album shows that both artists have grown in the years since they first worked together.  Lyrically, Blu is a monster, best shown on tracks like 'A Man' and 'Maybe One Day', where his laid-back, laconic flow serves him particularly well.  Exile, meanwhile, has gotten both richer and a little weirder in his sound.  He often uses cartoonish or childish samples on one track (like 'Good Morning Neighbour', which samples Mister Rogers), and then gives us lush pianos and a Tom Waits sample on another (the sublime 'Seasons').

There are guest appearances by other Exile collaborators like Johaz (of Dag Savage) and Fashawn, as well as Homeboy Sandman and Black Spade.  Many tracks feature flutes by Randal Fisher, which helps add to the general wealth of sound.

I'm not sure if this album is going to capture new listeners the way Below the Heavens did, but it's definitely one to return to time and again.

4trk Mind

by Exile

Exile is one of the best producers working in hip-hop today.  From his start as part of Eamonon, to his album-length collaborations with artists like Blu and Fashawn, he has carved out a name for himself as a producer who makes rapper-friendly beats that are also progressive.  Had he stopped there, he could have been one of the greats, but then he went ahead and released his masterpiece, Radio, an instrumental hip-hop album sampled completely off the radio.  This led to a follow-up album album that had various artists reworking or spitting over those tracks.  The path to independent stardom was assured.

And then, he gave us 4trk Mind.  Sigh.  There needs to be a law about producers wanting to rap.  A law with severe punishments.

It's not that this is a terrible album - the beats are great, and there are some decent tracks - it's just that it would have worked so much better as a beat tape.  An instrumental beat tape.  Exile continues to lay down some jazzy tracks, he just kind of ruins them by spitting over them himself.  Much of the content here is hopelessly juvenile (rapping about having three dicks), mawkishly sentimental (I don't understand the need to sample from so many children's entertainers), or kind of embarrassing (the first three or four tracks).

When Exile gets serious, as he does on 'Younger Days', '4ever (Friend Zone prt. 1)', and 'Momma Song', things are pretty bearable.  On most of those tracks, he kind of apes Blu's delivery, which could be why they were an improvement.  Blu shows up for 'When Nothings Left', and it is predictably the best track on the album.  The worst?  '2039'.

I kind of hope that Exile has rapping out of his system now.  I'd much rather see him do another album with Blu, or find us a new rapper like he did Fashawn.  I just would prefer he stay behind the boards (oh, and never work with the person who designed this cover ever again).

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....

Crate Digging: Popular Demand

by Black Milk

Like other Black Milk releases, this album has some fantastic beats, and some nicely infectious hooks. My usual complaint about his work is still there - his songs are ultimately too vapid for me.

Some high points are 'Sound the Alarm' with Guilty Simpson, 'So Gone', and 'Take It There', which features One Be Low, who has the best verses on the whole album. Other songs, like 'Three+Sum' have excellent beats, but are wasted with less than memorable lyrics.

Other artists that appear on this album include Phat Kat, Ty & Kory, Nametag, Que Diesel, and Fat Ray. Sadly, the song reuniting Baatin with the rest of Slum Village did not live up to expectations at all.

Black does make some attempts to step outside the box though. 'Play the Keys' is a nice track, which would have been a fitting interlude on a J Dilla album like Ruff Draft.

Overall, this is a strong album - I just think it's telling when some of my favourite tracks are the instrumentals on the bonus disk....

Changes of Atmosphere

by Dela

If you close your eyes, and imagine what an album by a producer whose name conjures up both De La Soul and J Dilla, featuring artists like Talib Kweli, J-Live, J. Sands, Elzhi, Large Professor, Blu, Les Nubians, and their like, sounds like, I'm sure you'd come up with the exact sound on display on this disk.

Dela, who hails from France, plays with some very nice jazz loops, and puts out a strong example of underground hiphop that could have been released at any time in the last ten years. It has a timeless quality to it, and wears its Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Dilla influences proudly on its sleeve.

This is a nice chill album to listen to on a rainy Sunday afternoon...

Crate Digging: Absolute Value

by Akrobatik

I know this cd isn't that old, but I hadn't listened to it for a while, and thought I'd give it another play.

Akrobatik really sounds good on this disk. It's a very nicely balanced album, including crowd-pleasers and quieter, more introspective songs. I find that the middle of the album is the best, with songs like 'Rain', 'Be Prepared', and 'Black Hell Breaks Loose'.

'Kindred' is a nice track, comparing the experiences of slaves in the South to those of victims of Hurricane Katrina. I like the hook and the way he worked a parallel structure into the song, but I do find Chuck D.'s part more than a little preachy.

Speaking of preachy, 'Front Steps Pt. II' is Akro "kick[ing] the truth to the young black youth." It works really well to me, and contains messages that are antithetical to most commercial hip-hop today. Finally, 'Back Home to You' rounds out the album, featuring Akro's promise to his wife. This song is a nice contrast to the Atmosphere track of the same name; Akrobatik comes off sounding much less needy than Slug...

The production on this album is top notch. There are individual songs by Dilla, Hezekiah, J-Zone and 9th Wonder, but the bulk of the work is by Illmind and Therapy, who both come very correct. Even with so many producers, this is a very consistent album. Other guest appearances include Talib Kweli, Little Brother, Mr. Lif, and Willie Evans Jr.

The Preface

by Elzhi

The last year has been very good for Black Milk. He produced all but three of the tracks on this album, and in more than a few places, completely upstaged Elzhi, and not by appearing on the mic (which only happens once)

This is a very consistent, very polished album from one-half of Slum Village. Elzhi has been getting more and more buzz based on his mixtapes, and he definitely comes correct on his first official solo album. But like I said, it's not really a solo album. To me, this is an Elzhi/Black Milk collabo, and that's its strength. These two artists were born to work together.

Black's beats are bouncy at the same time that they are driving, and Elzhi shows some strong lyrical talent to match them. His voice rides over these beats like an expert surfer (I know - wrong image for Detroit rap, but it's all I could imagine). In terms of his writing - it's a little variable. There are some truly amazing songs ('Growing Up', 'The Leak'), and some where his subject matter strikes me as a little juvenile ('Brag Swag') or cliched ('Talking in My Sleep').

This album is graced with some excellent guest appearances. 'Fire (rmx)' features a who's who of Detroit: Guilty Simpson, Fat Ray and Black Milk. Fellow Slum Villa T3 shows up on 'Save Ya', a track which he produced. The greatest track on the album though is 'Motown 25', featuring Royce da 5'9". Royce kills the track, with lines like:

Pardon if I sound lazy
I been puffing crazy
and writing Puff's shit
so motherfucker fuck you pay me.

I'm sure I'm not the only person craving a full length Royce/Black Milk album - that would be a classic for sure.

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.