Blakroc was my #3 album for the year but it is slowly moving up on the list. It is such a solid album. Blakroc is a team up of The Black Keys, Raekwon, Mos Def, Q-Tip, OBD, RZA, Jim Jones, Nicole Wray, Noe, Pharoahe Monch and Billy Danze. They spent 11 days in the studio and walked out with this 11 track album. The mix of the jazzy blusey sound of The Black Keys mixed with the all star hip-hop line up creates a sound I haven’t heard before. I’d have to say RZA really holds his own on the album.

Be sure to check out On The Vista (Feat. Mos Def) and Tellin’ Me Things (Feat. RZA)

www.blakroc.com

Ski Beatz featuring Nicole Wray, Stalley, Ros Kass, Tabi Bonney. Recorded at 24 Hour Karate School. Dope!!! Really good look for Stalley and, again, props to Dame Dash for putting this whole situation together.

Legendary producer Ski Beats continues his work behind the boards with another classic cut featuring Nicole Wray, Stalley, Ras Kass and Tabi Bonney. Stay Tuned for more!

http://www.creativecontrol.tv/www/#/shows/ski-beatz/i-got-mine/

What do the Black Keys, Mos Def, RZA, Q-Tip, Billy Danze, Nicole Wray, and Jim Jones have in common? Talent. That and the fact that they’ve come together to form a new supergroup called BlakRoc. With a lil help from our favourite super mogul of the 2000s – Dame Dash

The album is actually out already and is pushing decent numbers but it’s really all about the music. They hit the studio on some eleven artists, eleven days, one studio tip. And even had the courtesy to record it all for our viewing pleasure. There are, you guessed it, eleven webisodes and I’ll be uploading them time to time. Enjoy.

I haven’t had a good music post in a while, so I am happy I finally found something both new and good. I also was sad to hear about the breakup of the Diplomats os it was great to see Jim Jones getting it in. I was a little bit affraid when I saw the name “Blakroc”, I thought, “this can go really badly with a good bad name to match, but judging by this clip, it is hard body/ good/ great/ cool/ awesome, and finally dandy… I am calling stuff that now, I just decided.

The album features the Black Keys and some of the most respected names in hip-hop. The album, Blakroc, was released Nov. 27 2009 which is also “Black Friday”,  the official holiday shopping season  kick off  and day after Thanksgiving. It has slightly annoyed me in the past when people have tried to do “black rock” or “hip hop rock” but this just simply sounds like “good music”. It was also nice to see Dame still doing the ‘Damon Dash dance’.

watch the full trailer here.

Album includes contributions from Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, Raekwon, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch, NOE, Nicole Wray, Billy Danze and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

The track Dallaz & Sense off the album could be the other BlackRock’s (investment firm) motto… “If it don’t make dollaz, it don’t make sense…” Can you imagine if this song were playing when you went to their website (below)… It would really make you feel like you entered the ‘new era in investing’. That was actually Thrasher. Oh well.

]]> http://theearwax.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/blakroc-the-collaboration-of-2009/ Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:56:53 +0000 theearwax http://theearwax.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/blakroc-the-collaboration-of-2009/

Ohio based blues rockers The Black Keys are back from the studio with their seventh release “Blakroc”. The riffs are still here but this time the twist is that they have collaborated with a bevy of hip-hop and R&B artists including RZA, Raekwon, the late great Ol’Dirty Bastard, Q-Tip, the soulful Nicole Wray, Mos Def and Ludacris to name a few.

The venture was overseen by co-founder of Roc-a-Fella Records Mr Damon Dash whom has hailed The Black Keys as his favorite band in the world. After meeting the musicians in person he sought their services for the sum of eleven days with the assistance of Jim Jones, of Diplomats fame and his fellow partner in the newly formed Splash records.

The first single off the album “Hoochie Coo” sees a duet with Auerbach and Mos Def with Jim Jones supplying the backing slow grinding rap verses. What is delivered is a hot serving of smoking southern fuelled blues and hip-hop hybrid. For a progressive mix the roots of the blues is prominent as the Virginia sweat on the brow of the founding fathers of African-American music.

Click Here to Watch "Aint Nothing Like You" Music Video

Raekwon has the jazz in “Stay off the Fucking Flowers” and a beat nix delivery suits the modern styled electro mashed rhythms ideally. The keyboard is used throughout “Blakroc” with significant slight and intentional impact for each impact and the undertones on this track make it flow. “On the Vista” shows that Mos Def is the people’s poet of Gen Y and while only included after he butted in on the studio it seems fate played a winning hand to production staff.

RZA pulls the dirty flow on “Tellin’ Me Things” and a sterling job on backing could see this be a late night club favorite for years to come. A shout out goes to Pharoahe Monch for raising the bar on “Dollarz & Sense” to match motors with partner RZA.

The choices for partners seemed inspired with Nicole Wray, who unbelievably has only one album to her credit back in 1997. Her work on “Hope Your Happy” sets the track as a standout with her dynamic delivery among Q-Tip and Billy Danze’s tight flow. The best characteristics of each genre are on display with blues, rap and soul meeting in a 70’s inspired melting pot. She returns triumphantly on “What You Do to Me” feat Billy Danze and hard hitting Jim Jones for the pool hall themed, blues heavy track.

If any fears exist due to previous nuptials between rap and rock they are dulled by purposeful production alongside the emotion and talent delivered by each performer. At the completion of the album I was inspired that many others will now see what is possible with genre crossovers. “Blakroc” is 11 tracks in 11 days of passionate music made with no bottom line outstanding in the minds of the production crew and artists. If you are not feeling it straight away I recommend that you give this album some time and a late night session for maximum value. For the M.V.P it is a tie between Wray and Jones but everyone pulls more their own weight for a sterling Christmas present idea.



Blakroc's self-titled debut.

As if The Black Keys prolific release schedule wasn’t enough, they decided to enlist the aid of Damon Dash of Rocafella Records to record one of the most comprehensive rap/rock collaborations which was released late last month for those who might have missed it.

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have created probably one of the only rap/rock albums that doesn’t dive head first into the rap metal laden apocalypse that predates their efforts. With eleven different rap artists, including the late ‘Ol Dirty Bastard, Blakroc uses everything from the weed-laced lyrics of Jim Jones and the RZA to the soulful singing of Nicole Wray. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’ve liked any of the Black Keys stuff in the past and are a fan of east coast rappers like the RZA and Mos Def. You can download it from amazon.com for $7.99. Also, check out their performances on David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon below for a taste.

We were really looking forward to Blakroc’s highly anticipated self-titled album, a rock/hip hop collabo of the Black Keys and high calibre rappers like Mos, QTip, Jim Jones and a host of other rhyme makers.  With some of my favourite rappers on the album, my expectations were sky high.  High expectations are hard to meet, but Blakroc delivers, successfully fusing bluesy rhythms with soulful vocals from Nicole Wray and hard hitting rhymes from the likes of Billy Danze and the RZA.  My fav is Dollaz & Sense featuring Pharoahe Monch and the RZA, but then again, I’m a sucka for anything the RZA rhymes on.  Watch out for Billy Danze of M.O.P.’s verse on What You Do To Me. Kills.It.

Blakroc – Dollas & Sense (feat. RZA and Pharoahe Monch)

Blakroc – Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) (feat. Jim Jones and Mos Def)

Blakroc – What You Do to Me (Feat. Billy Danze, Jim Jones and Nicole Wray)

If you go to UrbanDictionary.com and look up the word “coochie,” you’ll be met with a message explaining that, if you don’t know what it is, you’ve probably never seen one. I might add that you’re also probably not on the same wavelength as Blakroc; it’s the title of the album’s first song, for one thing, and a later song is titled after a thematically related term, “Hoochie Coo.” But speaking more generally, the presence of the word at album’s beginning is indicative of the overall attitude– and lack of decorum– present herein.

This music is vulgar, in the sense of being very base, primal, and rough; and it’s tasteless, in the sense that it plays things loud, loose, and ragged. That’s all befitting an album that was cut spontaneously in just a few days; that splits the difference between hip-hop and blues; and that focuses its lyrical attention on cheating women, hard times, money, and drugs– common subjects dating back to the genesis of the blues and all the way to the cutting edge of rap circa 2009.

But while it may be visceral and brawny, it’s not dumb: Actually, it’s a surprisingly well-conceived concoction that completely redefines what “rap/rock” might mean in the 21st century, sounding quite unlike anything made by, say, Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit. And of course it does: To be a bit of a reductionist about it, the blue are brought hot and hard by the Black Keys, while the rapping comes via a roster of MCs that includes Mos Def, Ludacris, and half the Wu Tang Clan, including hip-hop’s reigning king Raekwon and the deceased Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

But that makes this sound like some kind of lame black-meets-white experiment, where actually it’s a perfectly symbiotic and sympathetic affair. The Keys know how important sound and recording techniques are to the blues, and they carry the same sensibility over to these slightly more beat-oriented numbers, emphasizing the low end but keeping things unvarnished and wonderfully rough. And the MCs present lock into the spirit of the blues; the focus is less on verbal finesse than on gritty storytelling.

The camaraderie present in these sessions shines through on the record, with house band and spotlighted MCs always seeming to meet each other halfway: The Keys aren’t afraid to let their featured vocalists’ individual personalities shine through, as when Mos Def goes off into typically philosophical territory, but he returns the favor by keeping it dialed into a low, bluesy rumble. Newcomer NOE sounds like a dead-ringer for Jay-Z, but his “Hard Times” performance could almost scan as an old blues song. The Keys, meanwhile, bring a hook bold enough that it could almost make its way to a ringtone, were it not so hard-hitting and from-the-gut.

Raekwon, meanwhile, is still on a coke-rap kick– his “Stay Off the Fuckin’ Flowers” is thematically of a piece with his own latest album, but he performs it over a brooding, minor-key clatter by the Keys; in this context, the blue hues of his story are illuminated, and the distance between old-timey hard-luck stories and more modern tales of the dealer’s downfall seems that much shorter. The rest of the record is in much the same spirit: The songs are ugly and sexy and mean, but they aren’t without dimension. And speaking of which, how nice that there’s some space here for R&B diva Nicole Wray to bring a much-needed feminine perspective to the torchy kiss-off “Why Can’t I Forget Him.”

That this project exists in the first place is something of a surprise, but it’s not totally out of the blue; the Black Keys collaborated with producer Danger Mouse on their last LP as a band, which hinted at their interest in this kind of music, but Blakroc is actually a much more convincing fusion of rap and blues. The Danger Mouse production touches on Attack & Release brought some hazy psychadelia and spooky atmospherics to the proceedings that sometimes shifted the focus to mood instead of hard-hitting songs, and if the Keys have maintained some of that ominous darkness here, they’ve also made it subservient to their grooves and their snarling riffs, making Blakroc an album that’s deeply felt– and deeply satisfying– purely on a gut level, smart music that you don’t have to think about to fall in love with.

Who?

Dame Dash loves The Black Keys. Loves ‘em. Like a rap kid loves breaks. So he decided “Fuck it, let’s see if they’ll make a hip-hop album.” The Back Keys were open to the idea, so Blakroc was formed. Next, Dame needed rappers.

So Dame went and got Ludacris, Billay Danze (of M.O.P. fame), Jim Jones, NOE, Mos Def, Nicole Wray, Ol’ Dirty Bastard (Well, kind of, because, you know, he’s dead and shit), Pharoahe Monch, Q-Tip, RZA, and Raekwon to help him make it.

Blakroc

Judging from the guest list, it’s pretty easy to see that this is a quintessential New York hip-hop album, and the sound from The Black Keys really extrapolates that idea. I can hear this thing being huge with New Yorkers, and I don’t know shit about New Yorkers.

As far as the music itself, three of the rappers really separated themselves from the rest of the guests: NOE, Mos Def and Jim Jones. All three are present on multiple tracks, and it’s pretty obvious why, because their songs are definitely the best of the bunch.

NOE sounds like a carbon copy of Jay-Z sonically, like someone Xerox’d Jigga’s voice. It’s a gift and a curse I suppose, but it’s really eerie how similar they sound. Irony, Dame? Mos Def showcases his flexibility as a rapper and a singer (and has thrust himself to the top of the list of “The best singing rappers”), but Jim Jones really showed something that I was blown away by.

In “Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)”, he raps abotu some real shit, and his delivery complements his words and the music perfectly. Literally perfectly. Take this little nugget: “And when you get the cash that only shows you how to sin / Like when you gettin’ fast money and you blow it in the wind”. It’s shows a refreshing, introspective side to someone that most people only know as “that guy that hangs out with Juelz Santana”.

“Love, I bruised one of her rose petals / She was from the concrete and came up out the cold ghetto”. I dig it. The idea of hurting a girl you loved by saying you bruised her petals? That’s good rapping right there.

“Being humble’s a hard quality to achieve / when you’re ego’s crazy with no modesty”. Some people might say that’s a standard rap line, one where the emcees is simply stating he can’t be humble. But when Jim Jones did it, he made it sound like he wished he was humble. Again, refreshing. I’ve never been a Jim Jones fan, but he did work on this one.

So What Now?

Blakroc proved that hip-hop and rock can not only coexist together, they can thrive together. Sure it’s not the first time we’ve seen this type of success — Jay-Z and Linkin Park pulled it off, KiD CuDi claims his next album will be with Ratatat — but this might be the most genuine example. This wasn’t a mash-up, this was a collaboration in every sense of the word.

Let’s hope when rock and rap do decide to integrate, it sounds more like this and less like Weezer and Lil Wayne.

Blakroc – Blakroc

1. Coochie (feat. Ludacris & Ol’ Dirty Bastard) – ★★★
2. On the Vista (feat. Mos Def) – ★★★
3. Hard Times (feat. NOE) – ★★★
4. Dollaz and Sense (feat. Pharoahe Monch & RZA) – ★★★
5. Why Can’t I Forget Him? (feat. Nicole Wray) – ★★★
6. Stay off the Fuckin’ Flowers (feat. Raekwon) – ★★★
7. Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) (feat. Mos Def & Jim Jones) – ★★★★
8. Hope Your Happy (feat. Billy Danze, Nicole Wray & Q-Tip) – ★★★
9. Telling Me Things (feat. RZA) -
10. What You Do to Me (feat. Billy Danze, Jim Jones & Nicole Wray) – ★★★
11. Done Did it – (feat. NOE & Nicole Wray) – ★★★

Blakroc Total ★: 31
Blakroc ★ Ratio: 2.81

It looks like Dame Dash has something to be cocky about, AGAIN!  After his colossal success in founding Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay-Z and Kareem “Biggs” Burke eventually faltered, he has come out of the woodworks to release, BlakRoc, a collaborative album between Akron, Ohio-based blues/rock duo, The Black Keys, and various hip-hop artists, such as, RZA, Raekwon, the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Q-Tip, Mos Def, Nicole Wray, Jim Jones, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch, NOE and Billy Danze.  Guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach, and drummer, Patrick Carney, who make up The Black Keys, are simply hot to def.  I saw them live in 2008 at Lollapalooza in Chicago and their set was probably the most memorable performance from that show, besides Radiohead, of course.  This duo keeps modern rock/blues alive and kicking with their hardcore drumming, vivacious vocals and guitar riffs.  P.S. the drummer, Patrick Carney, plays practically the whole show with his eyes closed.  Much respect.

You can purchase the album on iTunes or exclusive independent record stores (awesome that they chose to distribute the album via INDEPENDENT record stores–Go support your local record store!!!!)  Listen to some hot tracks HERE on BlakRoc radio.  Today, Black Friday, being the first day of the album’s release, it has already achieved #1 on iTunes Hip-Hop Album Charts and #10 on the iTunes Top Album Charts.  I can’t wait to hear more from this project.

So Damon Dash decides to link with the Black Keys and put together an album in 11 days.

Here is the Mighty Mos, Jim Jones, and the Black Keys making magic:

Geeked doesn’t even begin to explain how I feel about this album.

I will be copping this at midnight. Peep the rest of the videos and read the story behind the album here.

————

Na hip hopie nie znam się wcale, ale czy to oznacza, że nie powinnam się wypowiadac na ten temat? Nie (w końcu od czego jest Internet, jeśli nie od wyrażania swoich opinii na tematy, na które nie ma się zielonego pojęcia).
Poza tym stwierdzenie “nie znam się wcale” jest trochę przesadzone. W końcu, swojego czasu recytowałam z pamięci płytę Tedego S.P.O.R.T (dawno temu, kiedy jeszcze na Stadionie nie sprzedawali złotych łańcuchów). A, razem z moim bratem ciotecznym, zachwyceni Molestą, układaliśmy własne rymy o ciężkim życiu polskich raperów za kratkami i ich potyczkach z policją. Więc jakieś doświadczenie mam. Można nawet powiedzieć, że znam scenę hip hopową od kuchni.
Kiedy znudziło mi się życie rapera, na horyzoncie pojawił się Guru ze swoimi zaangażowanymi tekstami, jazzowymi samplami i Jamiroquaiem w tle.
Dlatego, kiedy usłyszałam piosenkę zapowiadającą Blakroc – Ain’t nothing like you (Hoochie Coo) od razu nasunęły mi się porównania do Guru. Zderzenie muzycznych światów, bluesowego Black Keys oraz gwiazd hip hopu, zapowiadało coś świeżego, odstającego od sztywnych podziałów. Pomyłka.
Pierwszy utwór – Coochie (Ludacris, Ol’ Dirty Bastrad), miałam ochotę przerzucić po 15 sekundach. Ile można słuchać o gorących laskach, jeszcze z zaśpiewem w stylu Eminema (swoją drogą, nie wiem skąd to podobieństwo). Teksty to najsłabsza strona płyty. Myślałam, że muzycy, w tych, pełnych przemian czasach, będa mieli coś więcej do powiedzenia niż “If you don’t make dollars then it don’t make sense” (w wolnym tłumaczeniu: “Jeśli nie masz pieniędzy, to nic nie ma sensu”).
Wygląda to trochę tak, jakby raperzy wchodzili do studia ‘na pełnym spontanie’, a potem dopiero zaczęli się zastanawiać, co z tego spontanu ukręcić.
A teraz, polskim zwyczajem, skoro już ponarzekałam, mogę przejśc do pozytywów. Przyznam że nagrania są zrobione na najwyższym poziomie i ta płyta nie zmieni mojego najlepszego zdania o Black Keys (bo o reszcie nie mam zdania). Utwory tętnią żywą muzyką oraz surowymi riffami i ubarwiają je wokalistki z pięknymi głosami  (Nicole i Nikki Wray). Podkłady są wielowymiarowe i mocne. Mimo to, czegoś mi brakuje. Nawet kiedy kawałek trwa 2,5 minuty, mam wrażenie, że słucham go cały dzień. Utwory zlewają się w całość, nie ma w nich lekkości, ani zaskoczenia. Oprócz wspomnianego wyżej Ain’t nothing like you (Hoochie Coo), na całym tle wyróżnia się Stay Off The Fuckin’ Flowers (Raekwon) ze świetnym basem.
Założę się, że od jutra posypią się świetne recenzje tej płyty i  fani hip hopu będą zadowoleni. Ja trochę mniej, ale w końcu fakną hip hopu nie jestem.

tutaj można przesłuchać płytę w całości, za darmo:

http://blakroc.com/news/new-listening-session/

Teledysk do Ain’t nothing like you (Hoochie Coo)

Wspominki

BlakRoc is The Black Keys & a stable of hip-hop vets and rookies alike, all brought together by Damon Dash.  The album was made in 11 days, contains 11 tracks and features 11 guest artists including Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Jim Jones, RZA, Mos Def, Ludacris, NOE, Pharoahe Monch, Nicole Wray, Raekwon, Q-Tip and Billy Danze.  Album drops Friday, 11/27, pick it up here.  ODB’s verse and Nicole Wray’s soul vocals are high points.  Check out two tracks below.

BlakRoc – Done Did It (feat. Nicole Wray & NOE) (removed by request)

BlakRoc – Coochie (feat. Ludacris & Ol’ Dirty Bastard) (removed by request)

Apparently they have their own line of Camaro??  I think it’s safe to say this won’t be a touring act.

Blakroc is set to drop from V2 Records on November 27th.

PREVIEW: VISIT Blakroc’s Website
WE GIVE IT: 17/20 Watts

Regardless of any preconceived notions you may have regarding rap-rock, it’s hard to ignore a group with a lineup as stacked as Blakroc.

With the bluesmen of the Black Keys laying the foundation for tracks featuring the likes of Mos Def, Raekwon, Q-Tip, ODB (from the grave, obviously), RZA, Jim Jones and others, the collaboration, headed by hip-hop mogul Damon Dash, was set to turn heads, if nothing else. With the release of the group’s self-titled debut though, Blakroc is sure to shatter any of your dispositions against the genre.

Taking on a clearly Delta Blues inspired sound, the guys from the Black Keys refuse to assume  a “backing band” roll throughout the record, and for good reason. Behind each of the notorious vocalists, the duo groove with a heaviness that would make their Delta predecessors proud.

Black Keys, who Dash has said are his favorite band, position themselves around the vocalists on the tracks, rather than behind, giving each track a noticeably more cohesive sound. Never is hesitation heard in the backing tracks on the record, leaving the remarkable vocal roster to perform at their best.

While the collaboration may seem at first to be nothing more than your run-of-the-mill rap-rock novelty, the lineup of vocalists from track to track is hard discount. While not every track is single-worthy, each is still a success in its own right. Nicole Wray’s vocals are some of the smokiest sounding on the record (see “Why Can’t I Forget Him”), featuring a relaxed longing that complements the Black Keys’ blues backing remarkably.

NOE, who has often been cited as sounding like Jay-Z (we believe it now), achieves a flow on “Hard Times” that would make Hova himself blush. Perhaps the most notable of the vocalists on the record, though, is Mos Def. His comfort with a live band is obviously attributable to his past work, but important nonetheless.

In the end, Blakroc takes the novelty associated with the rap-rock genre and shatters it. With a refreshing and groove-heavy sound, the 11 artists of Blakroc have effectively resurrected a dead concept, or at least reminded us that it could still be done well. At this point, I guess all we can do is sit back and wait for the sophomore release from rap-rock’s talented new entrepreneurs.

– John Luposello

Pharoahe Monch blesses the new Black Keys project with a verse he wrote at the last minute.

With the album officially dropping next week, this could possibly be the last Blackroc webisode ever. Awwww. To mark this sad occasion we are showing the 10th webisode of the series. This video features Nicole Wray.

Blakroc in stores on Black Friday!