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Album Review: Super Chron Flight Brothers – Cape VerdeAlbum Review: Blakroc – Blakroc (2009)
Album Review: Blakroc – Blakroc (2009)
Rating: 3 out of 5 Potholes
Buy Now! Blakroc – Blakroc
Blakroc takes a bunch of great, era-spanning MCs and a popular hard rockin’ blues duo from Ohio and lets them record a bunch of live hip hop tracks. At face value, it seems like a good idea. Apparently, though, just because the recipe was there, it doesn’t mean all the food was cooked right.
One issue with this record rears its head immediately on “Coochie”, which isn’t featured on digital versions of Blakroc. This track features Ol’ Dirty Bastard co-starring with Ludacris on a vulgar, world beat re-imagining that is reminiscent of classic Run DMC. But Luda doesn’t exert himself – he rhymes ‘grind’ and ‘mind’, which is the single most cliché pairing imaginable these days. Also, where did they find another ODB verse? Are folks gluing these together from studio outtakes? Is there a secret archive of material left over from the Bulworth era?
Similarly, while it’s crazy to hear RZA and Pharaohe Monch on a track together (“Dollaz & Sense”), neither really excels. RZA spits with the same methodical steez he carried across the last Bobby Digital record (for better or worse) and Monch doesn’t rip the best verse he’s ever laid down either. Though, to be fair, his worst is better than most rappers’ best.
That’s one of the inherent problems with massive cameo records like this – these projects where every track has a bunch of dope emcees you’d never usually hear together. Everyone is just laying down a part or two – probably at separate times from the rest of the cast – and it ends up having little to do with the record or even their track as a whole. There’s very little chemistry at times, and even if there’s a cohesive concept extended across multiple verses, the tracks lack the energy that comes from being written and formed in shared creative space. It imparts the performances, and subsequently the tracks with some dryness. This remains problematic for the album as a whole.
Blakroc is an interesting intersection between blues and hip hop, but there are times when it needs to decide more concisely which one it’s trying to be at any given moment. When it fails to make a choice, the aesthetic gets muddled. For example, the more rock-driven “Hope You’re Happy” with Q-Tip, Billy Danze and Nikki Wray fails to fully materialize. “What You Do To Me” is hot and similar to “Hope You’re Happy”. But “What You To Do Me” succeeds in all the places where the predecessor fails. The only problem is that Jim Jones adopts that now universal Weezy flow with two-line constructs of disjointed punchlines. I don’t know who Nikki Wray is, but she needs to stay on everything because she can wail. In particular, check out “Why Can’t I Forget Him”, which is made for driving around medium-sized, former industrial-boom cities late at night.
For those aforementioned reasons, maybe that’s why the solo tracks are hotter, generally-speaking. Case in point: Raekwon’s “Stay Off the Fuckin’ Flowers”, which is a whole crate of bananas. How did Rae come back so hard lately? From the cameo on Jay Stay Paid to the whole Cuban Links 2 joint – he’s going like he’s still ’93 hungry. Chef, you’re killing it. Likewise, Mos Def’s appearance on “On the Vista” is fresh. There is great texture on the production and Mos sounds awake after he sounded like he slept through a couple tracks on The Ecstatic. Unfortunately there are moments where the vocals get a little washed out at times, but it’s probably harder to stack vocals using analog recording equipment. Or was that effect done on purpose?
In crafting “Hard Times”, it’s clear the Black Keys heard the NASA album and got all juiced off that track with RZA and John Frusciante. That’s what “Hard Times”, which features NOE, feels like – and it helps set the tone for the remainder of the record. Wafting female vocals float behind the verses and then they are wrapped in bent guitar riffs. I don’t know who NOE is, besides that he’s spitting on “Hard Times”, but I assume he’s from the Midwest because he’s got a little Eminem in his enunciation and cadence.
There is certainly no shortage of talent. Everyone on Blakroc (except Wray and NOE) is assured some measure of legendary status in hip hop, but none of them achieve at that level on this project. As a side note, I also wonder whether the Black Keys, while running these sessions, would have the ability or the wherewithal to try and step to any of these guys and ask for drastic changes to made. That could be indulging in too much speculation though. Also, the Black Keys aren’t completely safe from fault. The blues-rockers do an admirable job mixing up sounds in the beats, taking full advantage of the fact that they’re not sample-dependent. But they fail to expand on the sound of the drums, which stay consistently stomping. A little more experimentation with the rhythms would have helped break up the monotony.
As a whole, the album just gets a shrug. Because when it’s hot, it gets moving and hits hard. With 11 tracks at a total of 37 minutes, though, the mediocre-to-weak spots on Blakroc consume more space than they should. As a result, listeners will be better off buying a couple joints off this, such as those aforementioned highlights, instead of copping the entire record.
Uhm. NOE is black and from Maryland – down with Byrdgang.
NOE stinks. Dude is a total Jay-Z rip-off.
and you’ve really never heard of nicole wray…must be a 90s baby…she had a couple big songs with a little producer named Timbaland
yea maybe u should do a lil more research before u act like u know what you talkin about on an album review. dope album
While I agree about the research aspect, I also agree with Pat’s score. It’s a good project weighed down by some clunkers.
dope album.
i wish more hip hop sounded like this.
except for the ludacris and odb track. that was terrible. but over all i good release in a year when hip hop has released some of the worst music ive heard in my life in all genres.
lil wayne, jay-z, jadakiss, fabolous, fat joe, 50 cent, rakim etc. terrible terrible terrible music.
lets hope next year its better.
i doubt it.
peace
@Andrew Martin QFT!!! His tracks take away from what is a great/refreshing album.
The Black Keys laid down some killer ish! The two tracks that Mos are on are top notch. I love Dollarz and Sense. I can even stomach Jim Jones (not a fan) on this album, his tracks are dope. The Black Keys went in on Stay Off the Fuckin Flowers. Just sick! Even though I’m not a big fan of the Luda/ODB track, however I can see heads feelin it. The RZA track is infectious, love it, and What You Do To Me is amazing.
Individually most of the tracks can stand on their own…. but as an album, I can’t get pass the two track with the Noe. He is completely jackin Jay….. and that just kills the vibe of the album as a whole. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but listening to those tracks makes you think this can’t be anything but done on purpose….
I’m probably hatin on a little too much on Noe, but Dame should of known that the Noe ish sounds sounds WAY too much like Jay; unless he was trying to prove some kind of point or something…
With all that said, I will buy a legit store copy (apparently the Luda/ODB track is only available on the physical copy).
I’m going to leave the same suggestion for this reviewer that I have for other reviewers who seem to have completely missed the boat with this album: listen to it several times through continuously, not just track by track. I realize many reviewers of current music may be unfamiliar with the concept of and “album” that hangs together both musically and lyrically, but the more I listen the more I realize how well-placed all the elements on this record (it’s even available on- gasp- vinyl!) are. And none of the reviews I’ve seen so far have seemed to recognize that Nicole Wray is not only on this album because she can sing, but as a balance to all the testosterone present on both this album and in rap in general.
Nicole Wray’s features are some of my favorite on here. She sounds SO good every time she graces a track. I’d love a whole album of her and the Black Keys or maybe even just Dan Auerbach.
I never thought I’d see the day Jim Jones would damn near outshine everyone on a project that had Mos Def, Raekwon, Ludacris, RZA, Q-Tip and more. Not that he was spectacular, but the whole vibe of Blakroc fit him better. The other dudes are better MCs, but Jim had the best chemistry of them. karcer’s comments are dead-on in this respect. ^^^
I do feel like some of the MCs on this album weren’t meant to do this kind of thing. They just didn’t fit. This is hip-hop growing up, and it’s great to incorporate some older guys to do it, but this seemed like it should have been trail-blazing territory for someone new.
“On The Vista” has *got* to be one of my top tracks for 2009. I cannot stop listening to it.
In my defense, Nicole Wray had a hit with Timbaland over 10 years ago, and she was just Nicole back then. When I saw Nikki Wray listed I mistakenly assumed she was someone new because where the hell has Nicole Wray been hiding all these years. Someone needs to let her put out a whole album.
So far as NOE jackin’ Jay – half the east coast has jacked Jay at some point – and now most have moved on to jackin’ Wayne because it’s what the kids like. Did you hate on Skyzoo for jackin’ Jay?
@karcer – surprisingly, I am familiar with the concept of an album as a whole, and even by that standard, I don’t think this album makes the grade because a couple of songs don’t hold water, if we’re talking about listening front to back. The Black Keys can place things as well as they want, but if a couple emcees sleep walk through verses then that track starts to fail, and on repeat listens of the album as a whole, those tracks end up getting skipped. Go back and listen to Organized Konfusion or even Soundbombing II and tell me that Pharaoh put any heart into that appearance on “Dollaz”. Ludacris’ appearance was also an utter disappointment. Q-Tip, after killing it on the Rennaissance, had a sub-par appearance compared to the rest of what he’s done recently.
Raekwon, Wray and Mos all do their thing on here, and it shows, but their joints are way better than the rest of the album.
NOE goes past the typical Jay-jackin’, though. I mean, most of his damn adlibs are straight rip-offs.
this review is severley lacking. many have already addressed the short comings and it’s unfortunate because this is a good record. the 3 out of 5 doesn’t even seem justified because of the perfuse amounts of criticisms. i agree that some of the chemistries are off, but overall it works. the album was recorded over a span of 3-4 days and anyone who knows the Keys work understands that Pat Carney keeps the beats strident and forthright because it’s about the blues, underneath the rock ethos. their is no need for Thomas Pridgen drumming pyro-technics. As for Jim Jones he outshines EVERYONE: his voice fits like a ball in glove within the sound and his lyrics are heartfelt, introspective, and stay on topic more than every other rapper. As for “Hard Times” we all wish NOE would have never existed, BUT that’s Dan Auerbach’s voice holmes! They put a minor filter on it after he alters his pitch on his own. do some damn research, lastly, Ms. Wray definately need more work with the Keys, “Satay off the fuckin flowers” is CRAZY! and i can’t wait for part two to come to fruition. at the very least this album is a 3.5
Frank, is the fact that they recorded this in 3-4 days a defense of some of the albums shortfalls? These guys have bread, and their own studio, maybe next time they should take a whole week to work on a major release to iron out some of the creases. That’s careless, not cool.
As for Carney, I’m not expecting Thomas Pridgen or Neil Pert or Gene Krupa – but he could have picked up some brushes once, or used a different fill once in a while. There were plenty of blues records that did more than pound on drums – in fact most of them didn’t – even after the blues went electric. I think the criticism is perfectly valid that they, particularly Carney, could have done more to take advantage of the fact that the backing tracks are live, since that’s at least the half the reason for this record in the first place.
The album was recorded in 11 days over the summer/fall (not 11 straight days)…
I’m diggin’ this Blakroc project a lot.
I’m even more amped for the Ski Beats album. That “Taxi’ track with Mos Def is on repeat!
Let’s totally step away from the debate as to the merits of the album that’s being talked about in this post.
This review is TERRIBLE. Sloppily written, poorly composed, just an awful mess. It reads as though it comes from the notebook of a high school junior who has yet to learn the fundamentals when it comes to writing a review (let alone coming across as an authoritative music critic).
I’ve been a longtime reader and supporter of this blog and what it stands for, but the fact of the matter is that there seems to be no real standard when it comes to what gets published in this section of the site. And until something is done to remedy this problem (be it new writers, an editorial position, etc.), it will be a glaring embarrassment in the way that this site is viewed by those who actually know better.
@Let’s Be REAL We appreciate your comment and we are going to try our best to fix things. I definitely understand a lot of your frustration…
If you’re going to criticize how something is written, you should do a better job writing.
The third sentence should read “…who has yet to learn the fundamentals of writing a review.” It’s more concise and grammatically correct.
The last sentence shouldn’t start with ‘And’ – that’s completely unnecessary, and stylistically questionable considering it already follows a compound sentence.
Also, the independent clause in the last sentence contains an incorrect preposition. It should an embarrassment ‘to’ not ‘in’.
Do you write or just act like hot shit behind the anonymity of the internet? Feel free to provide me with some samples of your writing if you’d like some further assistance. Or, if you want to have a constructive discussion about what makes a good album review, then let’s do that, but don’t step up like you’re Bill fucking Shakespeare just to do some name calling. That’s whack. Should every review be structured the same? Should it have been presented using an inverted pyramid structure where I began with generalizations then illustrated them with specifics? See you in junior college with that petty shit.
Does this review contain some errors, both in style and grammar – yes. Straight up, it’s not my best work. Sorry to offend your delicate sensibilities. It probably should have gone through an editing process, but that’s an entirely different discussion – one hinted at by Let’s Be Real, and a completely valid point.
Fact of the matter, I slept on two pieces of information – the geographical origin of NOE and the fact that Nikki Wray, under her original artist name Nicole, had two singles with Timbaland in the late 90s.
The rest of this review is completely valid criticism that y’all fucking reactionaries have gotten all fired up about because I happened not to like this album as much as the rest of this tiny sliver of the hip hop community. Sorry your standards are lower than mine, and that you disagree with my opinion, but that’s why albums get reviewed. I never said anything about Jim Jones’ voice not working on the track – I said I didn’t care for his flow. NOE might be biting Jay, but you know what “Hard Times” is still a pretty solid track – and definitely better than the 1/3 of this album that is worth passing over.
There are some hot tracks, and some that don’t work so well. Sorry we disagree, but let’s not start calling names on some stupid internet hater shit. If your word game is so tight, then start writing reviews and then I can stop volunteering time from my busy schedule to keep y’all chattering. Are y’all this worked up about solving social problems in your communities? Because that would be a better use of your energy and far more ‘hip hop’ than bitching about little shit on the internet. You want to have a constructive discussion about where hip hop is going, or what this music means, or the merits of certain artistic choices on a record, let’s do that. But while we get that started, let’s cut the bullshit.
Alright, I’ve been biting my tongue for a while. I actually haven’t yet heard this album, so I’m not making a single remark on this review.
However – and this goes for all commenters – from here on out let’s please keep the comments strictly related to the music, and what people did or didn’t enjoy about it. If your opinion differs from that of others, that’s fine; understand that it’s just an opinion. There is no sense in making this into a personal battle.
Thanks for reading, and for your thoughts and concerns.
[...] is pretty solid, though a little awkward at first. Really lookin’ forward to that second Blakroc record, which I’ve heard is in the [...]
I’m enjoying the album. I first fantasized of The Black Keys’ doing beats upon listening to the intro to “Same Old Thing” off of their 2008 lp Attack and Release. The flute, the random bits of percussion, Auerbach’s blues-rock guitar dirge, would have loved to see that as a rap song. I’m really glad they’ve capitalized on that aesthetic, even if they may not have reached their full potential in hp-hop. To look at other live bands in hip-hop, do you think The Roots got everything right on Organix? Maybe the Keys’ first forray into hip-hop wasn’t perfect, especially with names like Raekwon and Mos Def on the bill, they show a lot of promise here and I’m looking forward to the next Blakroc album. (which supposedly they’re already working on)