Blakroc
Blakroc

Written by Dominick. Published: Sunday, December 6, 2009.

Meshing together Hip-Hop emceeing with the music of blues-rock duo The Black Keys, former Roca-A-Fella co-founder Dame Dash just might of tapped into yet another bankable rap sub genre with the release of ‘Blakroc‘…

Short, but surprisingly sweet, this eleven track collaborative effort wastes little time smacking you in the face with sweeping, hypnotic grooves and penetrating, laid back guitar rhythms. Akron, Ohio natives Dan Auerbach and John Carney yet again prove their ambidexterity as the overall instrumentation on ‘Blakroc‘ emanates beautifully, and at times even subtly quells some of it’s lackluster performers. The superlative translation of Hip-Hop production in a bluesy, Rock N’ Roll manner and some of Auerbach’s noted singing chops all appealed mightily, but there were drawbacks…

The album’s musical backing soars to epic heights and does a good job keeping you reeled in, unfortunately however, some of it’s personnel under performs and pushes you away. I struggled with that duality the entire time I listened.

No doubt some of the artist’s that appear are logical choices-Mos Def, Q-Tip, Raekwon, M.O.P., Pharoahe Monch etc.,-for their dabbling in other genre’s in the past, but perhaps the haste that this LP was made in (a reported 11 day marathon) did yield some other shotty picks in the vocal talent arena that radiated as clear mis-steps. First, there’s the obvious cherry picking of ex-Roc-A-Fella acts Jim Jones’ and Nicole Wray. Their inclusion should of been trimmed down significantly and in Jones’ case probably totally…The same could be said for Byrd Gang member and second rate Jay-Z impressionist NOE who stumbled through, unable to match the depth of the Black Keys’ dulcet harmonies and funky, fuzzed out backbeats with his utterly shallow bars.

The album’s signature performance comes from The Rza who commands the neck snapping and open hat powered “Telling Me Things” with his spastic flow about suspicions of a former lover. This was a moment when the future of Hip-Hop might have been encapsulated. Everything made sense, it was a compressed 2 minute glimpse into what this entire project could have been as well. Another high point is the chemistry that was discovered between the Keys and Raekwon on “Stay Off The F_%$#n Flowers”, a track that also gets my nod for song title of the year. Rae kicks a complex crime caper over Dan Auerbach’s amending and moody string riffs, making us all clamor for more than just two minutes and thirty seconds of music to enjoy.

While the album itself only checks in at about thirty six minutes long and a good deal of the rappers featured are ill equiped to rhyme over such rich sound beds, there is still an undeniable air of cutting edge fashionability and forward thinking fusion withheld in ‘Blakroc‘. I’m afraid I’d caution anyone contemplating about purchasing it maybe to hold off, especially if they’re more inclined toward lyrically composed emcee’s, but on the other hand I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t anticipating what Dame and the Black Keys might be able to produce the next go round’, if there is to be one.

-Dominick “BIG D O” Ledezma

Category: Reviews