Black Milk

23 Jahre alt – und schon richtig dick im Geschäft. Man könnte meinen, Black Milk hat es geschafft. Innerhalb kürzester Zeit hat sich die bessere Hälfte von BR Gunna in die Herzen so namhafter Artists wie Slum Village, Pharoahe Monch und Sean Price produziert. Im Interview mit ugrap.de spricht er über sein aktuelles Album “Popular Demand”, den Verbleib von BR Gunna und darüber, was er dieses Jahr noch alles vorhat – eine ganze Menge, so viel steht fest!

How does your life look a few days before the release of your second solo album “Popular Demand” – is it very hectic?

Oh yeah, I’m way more busy then I was when I put out my last project “Sound Of The City”. That was all me when I put that out. Now I got press and interviews and all type of other stuff. So it’s way more busy and hectic than last time.

Of course the sound of the city was strongly influenced by Eminem and D-12 within the last years. Now tell me about the new Detroit Sound that you try to bring to the table…

D-12, they’re my guys. But my sound is different from what they do musically. My sound has more soul and heart. On the new album a majority of the sound is soul. But I got a few tracks on there that’s jazz and rock influenced. So it’s different, man. I try to bring a fresh new sound, new name, new face to Detroit HipHop.

So let’s get a bit deeper into your new album: how did the deal with Fat Beats come together?

They got at me ’cause I had a nice buzz going on in the underground from that project I put in the summer of ’05, “Sound Of The City”. And once I put that out, people was feeling it and it made a good impact in the underground. So Fatbeats hollered at me – with a couple of other labels. But Fatbeats was pursuing the hardest. They were already fans of the music I did for Slum Village and some other people. And they was like ‘Come over here! We’re fans of the music, we want to push the music as hard as you would if you were putting it out” – and so I went with it…

How long have you been working on the project all in all?

It took about three or four months at the max to put it together. You know, just got in there, knocked it out and made it happen.

Could you just share some more personal thoughts on the record?

I’m often considered as a so called producer-rapper. You know, I’ve been rhyming ever since I’ve been doing beats. So I want to showcase them both: my rhyming ability and my producer ability. Just showing people that I can do both. Hopefully my beats don’t overshine my rhymes too much. That’s what I want people to understand with this record.

Will “Popular Demand” be your commercial breakthrough?

Oh man, I want the album to do well. I think it’ll catch alot of people’s ears. You know, even though I’m considered an underground artist I have some major artists on the album. So I got a couple of acts on there that’s known in the mainstream. Hopefully it catches the ears of them both – underground and mainstream. It should do pretty good in the underground, but I’m trying to appeal them both. I want both sides to enjoy the music.

Like you said, you’ve already worked with Slum Village, but also with Lloyd Banks and Canibus – just to name two. What can we expect for the future?

Man, I’m just trying to work with everybody right now. I got a couple of the tracks on Pharoahe Monch’s new album coming out in April. One song called “Bartap”, another one “Let’s Go”. I’m producing for Bishop Lamonte of Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Records. We’re doing a project together called “Caltroit” featuring Cali artists and Detroit artists mixed up on one project. It’ll probably gon’ be a nine or ten song EP, we’re putting that together now. Then I’m working with Sean Price from the Boot Camp Click. He’s putting together a duo album with Guilty Simpson from Stonesthrow on which I do the majority of the production. That’s about it right now. Hopefully we’ll get all this stuff out this year.

Are you surprised by your own success?

It’s a blessing, but I’m not really the type to get excited about nothing that happens. I’m kind of laid back with it, I’m chilling. Like I said, it’s cool, it’s good. It’s always good to see people enjoying the product you put out and getting good feedback for your music. I always enjoy that. That gives me the drive to work even harder.

What’s going on with BR Gunna – is the group still in effect?

Not really, man. *laughs* We haven’t done any BR Gunna collabs in a while, like in the last two years. I had to step out that situation and do my own solo thing. The label we was putting music out through at that time wasn’t all the way right with the business. I got my man Fat Ray on the album, he was like basically the MC of BR Gunna. Oh man, I do work with him and try to get him in the situation now. But I don’t know, hopefully we can finish up what we started some day in the future. But right now, I’m doing my solo thing.

Last not least, could you name why people shouldn’t miss “Popular Demand” at any cost?

It’s good Hip Hop music. It’s not like alot of HipHop that’s out right now. It’s a fresh new sound. New energy. I got some features on there people should enjoy. Like I said: Slum Village, Guilty Simpson, my man One Be Lo that’s also on Fat Beats…it’s a good line-up! It’s good hiphop music with soul to it.