By shelz.

Making rock rap fusion work isn’t easy.  Normally there is a dominant genre in the project smothering the spirit of the other or the sounds are so disparate the pairing butts heads and ends up sounding like a mismatched battle of the bands.  However, considering the success of this sub-genres earliest and best offerings, people still keep trying.  Enter the Blakroc project.

Maybe it’s the rounded edges of the Black Keys sound.  The Ohio duo is a calm, bluesy alternative to normal rock convention. Or maybe it’s the grouping of emcees selected.  The crew which includes Pharoahe Monch, Raekwon, Q-Tip, Mos Def and Ludacris are well known enough to bring an automatic credibility to the project as well as talented enough to bend to the sometimes unconventional tracks they have to work with. Maybe it’s both, but either way the album comes off as a free flowing organic experience.  It’s probably not for mass consumption and plenty of Hip Hop and rock traditionalists will scoff at the album as the gabillionth time someone has attempted to sell a rock hop hybrid as something new and fresh.  Like the idea or not though, Blakroc is a pretty good album.

The first thing evident on the LP is how Hip-Hop friendly The Black Keys are.  “Coochie,” yes “Coochie,” the intro single features Luda and Big Baby Jesus trading bars about… Yeah, that. The mid tempo bass heavy track lends itself well to both Luda and ODB’s diverse flows.  It’s honestly not a huge jump from what we normally get from either emcee but Ole Dirty is hella amusing as he manages to talk a young woman out of her panties while explaining why she shouldn’t mind his phone stalking ways since he’s fresh out the pen.   You have to miss that dude.

“On the Vista” finds The Black Keys stepping up the rock sensibilities with a simple bassline, some piano tinkering and whiney guitar that splits Mos Def’s verses. Mos manages his cryptic poetry wonderfully and will definitely give his fans something to debate as they pull out their lyrical magnifying glasses to discern exactly what he’s talking about here.  Honestly, I have no clue. But it sounds really cool despite its puzzling nature.

Pharoahe Monch and RZA team up for “Dollaz and Sense” and you can’t help but wonder if RZA had a hand in tweaking this track because it does have a Wu tinge to it.  The pair goes back and forth with some hard Hip Hop vanity.  It’s not the best verse of either emcees career but the delivery is on point and overall the song is really dope.

There is a brief Hip Hop respite about halfway through with Nicole Wray’s “Why Can’t I Forget Him?”  The Black Keys back off a bit with a more atmospheric sound to compliment the songstress’s soft delivery.  However, they immediately return to the rap path with Raekwon’s contribution “Stay Off the Fucking Flowers.” It’s a bluesy track with an odd construction that will keep your ears on their toes in an attempt to keep up even though the track doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Rae’s stoic delivery puts the cherry on top of the hazy, lazy track that amounts almost to blues free form.  And as odd as it sounds, it may just be the best cut on the album despite its lack of destination.

The album continues with “Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)” and even though Jim Jones does his best to up his emcee game, the star of the show is Mos Def and his crooning on the hook. It’s shame too. Jones really does have an interesting voice.  If only he could use those pipes for good. Sigh.. “Hope You’re Happy” is definitely the most traditionally rock sounding track on the album and proves that even being Billy Danze’s girlfriend can be a scary experience. Nicole Wray’s work on the hook and adlibs are great and she and Billy outshine Mr. Q-Tip.

Unfortunately, there are some bumps in the Blak Roc road.  Since Jim Jones had a hand in putting this project together, he had to bring a friend along, NOE.  His two features aren’t bad but don’t really keep your attention. His words fight for dominance since he’s featured on two of the more verdant tracks. (“Hard Times” and “Done Did It”) It also doesn’t help that as usual he sort of sounds like Jay Z when Jay Z isn’t sounding like Young Chris. I know he can’t do anything about that, but it’s still a bit annoying. In addition, “Telling Me Things,” RZA’s second contribution to the album is well… kind of strange.  It’s not bad necessarily, just strange.

The Black Keys said that there are no samples on this album.  They really didn’t need any considering the type of music they make is the stuff that Hip Hop samples are made of. You’re simply getting it live instead of memorexed.  The obviously laid back, un-stressed setting the album was recorded in led to an outpouring of awesomely care free rhyme schemes from the featured rappers.  What this album represents is far from new and fresh, but the vibe is a cool group consciousness that manages to merge a conglomerate of sounds without the phonic confusion that many like minded projects encounter.

 3.75 out of 5

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