It’s been said before (and it’ll do doubt be said again many, many times) but doesn’t hip-hop suck these days? Sure the genre has a come a long way from its roots but it’s those very roots that have been forgotten along the way. The chance of anything as mind blowing as the first Public Enemy or NWA records appearing from the world of overpaid, uninspired, creatively bankrupt artists that make up today’s rap elite is staggeringly unlikely. Even the movement’s current elder statesmen are past their prime by some distance.
Redemption in 2010 then was unlikely, and even more unlikely to come from a small, tatty studio in New York. It’s here, though, that the Blakroc project was born. It was here that blues rock duo The Black Keys came together with a succession of rappers over the course of eleven days. The result is one of the most astonishing hip-hop records to see the light of day in a while.
It’s not what you’d expect, given the Black Keys past dabbling in loud garage rock. The backing here is certainly guitar orientated but fused with a soulful sound and, as befits a band who worked with producer Danger Mouse, not short on the funk. Crucially though, it is a million miles away from manufactured beats that have come to dominate urban music in the US.
Not that this a small time project on the hip-hop side. Not all the vocalists may be household names but with Roc-A-Fella Records’ Damon Dash on board, the guest list is heavy on credibility – RZA, Ol’Dirty Bastard and Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, Q Tip, Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch and Ludacris to name a few. If the accompanying videos are to be believed, all turned up on spec and wrote their tracks in the studio. The inspiration on the record is clear. If the lyrics offer little beyond a lot of ‘oh yeahs’ and shout outs to various people, the performances are of a higher standard.
Quite simply, this works. Rock and rap has had an uneasy relationship over the years (and yes, we’re looking at you Limp Bizkit) but Blakroc finds the two forms prepared to throw away the rule book and give something new a try. The hope that this might lead to a sea change is probably a forlorn one, yet for now this is the glimpse of what be.
