Headphone Highlights

Black Milk

Fat Beats, Detroit

They don't come much more 'motor' than Black Milk. Just growing up in Detroit is a lesson in beat making itself, but young Curtis took to producing like kids to a cookie jar, laying down tracks for Elzhi and the mighty S Villa at the tender age of 18. Since then, he's constantly developed as an artist. He's replaced his childhood hero, the late J Dilla, as the main production force in Slum Village on two of their strongest albums (as part of B.R. Gunna). He's delivered ferocious-yet-soulful tracks to artists as varied as Pharoahe Monch, GZA/Genius, KRS-One, Buckshot, Skyzoo, Dwele, and just about every relevant MC to emerge from the D throughout the past five years. He's formed a group called Random Axe with fellow fan favourites Sean Price and Guilty Simpson, which carries the hopes of a whole generation of true-schoolers, despite only having leaked a couple of unfinished track to the web to date. And he has, of course, released several solo album that have seen him go from promising underground beat cat to full-fledged artist, seriously competing for the Diamond D Appreciation Society's honorary title of best producer on the mic. The Milkman cometh, and the wackness goeth!