In 2013, almost two years before Kendrick Lamar released To Pimp a Butterfly, rapper/producer Black Milk trekked a similar path on No Poison No Paradise, a jazz/hip-hop hybrid partially about his upbringing in Detroit. Amid an otherwise dark soundtrack, songs like “Sonny Jr. (Dreams),” featuring keyboardist and Lamar collaborator Robert Glasper, and “Perfected on Puritan Ave.” best exemplified that fusion, the latter giving way to a raucous breakdown mid-song. The musical integration wasn’t as pronounced as Lamar’s, but it showcased Milk’s ability to merge genres without losing his signature sound. Across several recordings from the last decade, this artist has become known for his mix of hard drums and gripping samples as well as his masterful engineering, which makes everything refreshingly clear and crisp. In some cases, Milk’s instrumentals—steeped in funk, 1970s soul, and electronic dance—can outstrip his rhymes, which range from humble bragging to civic despair, leading some to debate his lyrical ability.
For The Rebellion Sessions, Milk links with Nat Turner, a largely D.C.-based band that has backed him up live. The project came together on a whim and was recorded in one week as something of a creative challenge. The results are mostly stripped down in a way that separates them from Milk’s usually heavy compositions. The genesis of Milk’s live sound dates back to 2010’s Album of the Year, a conceptually expansive project on which the rapper assessed personal strife over thick percussion. Only three instruments show up on Rebellion: drums by Zebulun Horton; bass by Malik Hunter; and keys by frequent Milk collaborator Aaron “Ab” Abernathy.
Milk plays conductor on this album, orchestrating the vibe of the tracks, setting Rebellion’s introspective mood. The record plays like four guys in a room, one riffing off the next in a relaxed environment. The music is decidedly modern, shaded by the influence of Miles Davis, J Dilla, and D’Angelo, floating by in quick sketches. On “The Ancient Rebellion,” for instance, the band mimics the volcanic opener of Davis’ “Bitches Brew,” its guitar and cymbals milling in the background, crashing in sporadic heaps. “Electric Spanking” deeply resembles Voodoo: Over a stomping funk jam a la “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” the vocal tone seems borrowed from D’Angelo himself. Songs like “Burn,” “Take 2,” and “The Knock” float by too quickly, leaving me to wonder what could’ve been if they played on a little while longer. Rebellion is somewhat transitional in that regard, yet it’s still anchored enough to last well beyond first listen.
There’s a strong rap strain throughout Rebellion that brings to mind A Tribe Called Quest and Guru’s Jazzmatazz recordings. It has a serene aura that continues the work Milk established on 2014’s If There’s a Hell Below, following the atmospheric “Hell Below” and “Story and Her,” especially. While those tracks were more structured, Rebellion is raw and unhindered, as if the quartet sculpted it in one take. It’s nuanced black music without borders, an extension of Milk’s vast sonic arc.
