Black Milk is currently at work on his follow-up studio album, due out later this year, but he decided to treat fans with a new EP. The 7-track extended play features appearances from Guilty Simpson and Fat Ray and is led by the fan-favorite single, “Cold Day.” For the vinyl aficionados out there, Glitches in the Break will be pressed up for Record Store Day on April 19. Until then, you can stream it below and purchase it here.

The post EP Stream: Black Milk – Glitches in the Break appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

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#15: 1017 Thug – Young Thug

For better or worse, 2013 has undeniably been the year for trap music. Saturated with molly references, menacing bells, thudding bass and auto-tune, most of this music has been aggressively forgettable. Even the most passionate trap-enthused DJs haven’t kept most of these songs in rotation. Nevertheless, amidst this atmosphere of ephemeral mediocrity, one particular artist is etched into our minds: Young Thug. The Atlanta artist released 1017 Thug back in February, but it’s still a fresh project. Released a few weeks after Young Thug‘s signing to Gucci Mane‘s 1017 imprint, the mixtape reminds us of the unbridled experimentation that characterized trap’s initial emergence. Before trap music had a readily identifiable aesthetic, it was basically the sound of people trying to make money by any means necessary. Accordingly, no stone was left unturned; no idea was left unconsidered. Young Thug keeps that spirit alive, using trap sounds to create music that doesn’t easily fall into the categories of “street anthem” or “club-ready.” 1017 Thug features him truly exploring what trap can do beyond making people “turn up.” Of course, this mixtape will make you turn up, but that’s not all there is to it. There’s some genuine craftsmanship here.

#14: Summer Knights – Joey Bada$$

Young Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ had a hectic 2012. The release of his mixtape 1999 was insanely successful, very quickly propelling him and his Pro Era crew from internet underdogs to widely acknowledged emcees. Yet despite these gains, the year ended with a tragic los:, the suicide of Joey‘s friend and fellow crew member, Capital STEEZ. Joey and company strongly kept chugging along, working with other artists, touring and just generally trying to capitalize on their hard-earned opportunities, but death is a strange and unpredictable experience, so when Summer Knights was announced, there was some genuine trepidation regarding how good the music could be in the wake of such a tragedy. Fortunately, Joey delivers. Whereas 1999 painted Joey and Pro Era as meticulous nostalgists, Summer Knights shows that the crew’s artistic roots extend far beyond 90’s New York. New York’s particular contributions to hip-hop are still central to how Joey creates, but Summer Knights depicts Joey with leanings toward reggae, dub, poetry and arguably even some punk rock, with flows to match.

#13: Cut 4 Me – Kelela

Kelela has the uncanny ability to establish harmony amidst the most elemental chaos. Featuring graceful melodies atop amorphous tracks from producer hive Fade to Mind, Cut 4 Me is 50 minutes of fearless exploration of voice and affect. Strikingly, most of the songs are remixes, yet Kelela stealthily colonizes them all, owning them for herself. Some of these instrumentals truly are intimidating, yet Kelela faces them like a veteran, variously taming them and absorbing their unbridled energy into her melodies. Cut 4 Me is the musical equivalent of the comic book character Storm controlling, unleashing and becoming one with the weather.

#12: King Remembered in Time – Big K.R.I.T.

The consequence of giving fans consecutively stronger releases is the escalation of their expectations. With the release of Live From the Underground, Big K.R.I.T. found himself fighting against the quality of his former releases, much to his chagrin. After all, he made many sacrifices for Live From the Underground, namely its necessarily small number of samples in comparison to his mixtapes. Dealing with the reception of his debut album, the Mississippi rapper doubled-down on King Remembered in Time, actively competing with and trying to best his previous works. He isn’t as successful as he could have been, but the tenacity and the gumption of the project resonate well. K.R.I.T. both gives fans what they want and gives them a potent “STFU,” all while remaining relatively innovative and open-minded. There are surely some misfires, but when K.R.I.T. is on point, he’s truly unmatched. Read our full review here.

#11: No Poison, No Paradise – Black Milk

Black Milk‘s biggest career mistake may have been titling his 2010 LP, “Album of the Year.” While that project certainly stands firm as a great body of work, it is on No Poison, No Paradise that the Detroit emcee/producer crafts his magnum opus and undoubtedly one of the best albums of 2013. From the Mel-assisted opener, the listener is taken on a morose journey through the childhood of Sonny, a fictionalized character brought to life by Black Milk’s own experiences. Think of this as a more flushed-out and hyper-realized version of The Roots’ Undun. “Deion’s House” tells the story of Sonny’s friend, who is a quasi-bad influence, given the fact that he pulls Sonny towards the street life, while at the same time pushes our hero to pursue his musical aspirations. Herein lies the narrative in a nutshell: dealing with the influences of your surroundings while striving towards a greater goal. While Black Milk’s production sometimes garners more attention than his lyrical skills, as do his collaborations with the likes of Danny Brown and Jack White, this is the album that proves that his pen game is just as lethal.

The post RESPECT. Roundtable: The Best 15 Albums of 2013 appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

With the year coming to an end, many magazines and blogs are compiling their End of The Year lists, seeking to document both the best and the worst albums of the year.  On many of the “best of” lists you should definitely find Ghost at The Finish Line, the latest album from Detroit rapper Quelle Chris.  The album, which was released at the end of October, showed Quelle brewing together outlandish topics and thought-provoking lines into a potent, moving mix. To say the least, “Ghost” proves that there’s a reason why Black Milk said it’s his favorite Detroit album of the year.  Luckily, we recently had the opportunity to speak with Quelle about Detroit’s approval, success, his latest LP , why he should write a book and more. Read it below.

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RESPECT: When I read different things about you on the Internet, or even just have conversations with different people, I always read things that say that you are one of the artists who are helping to keep Detroit on people’s radars, kind of like you are a Golden Child of some sort.  How does that make you feel?

It makes me feel proud.  It feels crazy because the show for the ‘No Poison, No Paradise’ Tour (Black Milk’s Tour) both my mom and dad were at the show.  First of all, I haven’t seen these two together in the same room for more than one second — in a lifetime – so that was crazy in itself, but just to see that pride it’s a good thing. I’m extremely proud of it.  It also means a lot to me too because Detroit is one of those cities where the residents of Detroit – the 24/7 residents of Detroit – can have this mentality if you ever left Detroit, we don’t fuck with you.   It also means a lot to me that even though I’ve been jumping around and I don’t come home enough that they still hold me near and dear to their heart.  It means a shitload to me because the reality of it is what if the place you consider your home and your family don’t accept you, who really gives a shit if everyone else likes you? So I’m happy about that.  I don’t feel like it’s a burden or a heavy weight to carry.  I’ve been doing me for so long that nothing can stop me, really. But it really feels good to get that respect. Not that I haven’t been getting it from Detroit personally, but to see it in writing definitely means a lot

That definitely makes sense.  How was touring with Black Milk?

Every city that we are go to, only the craziest people come up and talk to me.  I always have the craziest stories because I end up attracting interesting people.  Like one time, it was really cool actually because this guy I met early on in the tour in Albuquerque was the shit.  I was backstage, doing my thing, smoking weed, blah, blah, blah and I ended up talking to this older guy with grey hair with the big Cowboy hat and Sammy Sam shirt with the big boots – coolest muthafucker I’ve ever met in the world.  After the show, I ended up going to his ranch with him and talked about a lot.  I always end up finding myself in those types of situations and sometimes it works in my favor and sometimes it’s weird.

It would be cool if you tried to write a book with more  stories like that.

Oh yeah It would be.  I’ve kind of always looked back wishing I kept a journal every day of my life.  The reality of it is I definitely drugged away a lot of my memory.  One of these days – I’m still not there yet – I think I’m one-quarter through my book if I decided to write one – I still have a lot to do.  I haven’t even been to Europe yet.  I’ve still got a lot to do.  After 13 albums, people are finally starting to listen to me somewhat.  With 13 more albums, I may finally be somewhere near ready.

How do you make so many albums ? 

I mean I make a lot of music. I live a lot so in order to not explode you kind of have to let it out somehow.  Maybe a lot of people don’t make so much music because they don’t have a lot to talk about.  I just make music, and I’m always  around musicians so there’s always opportunities, and it’s like my journal I think maybe.  That’s my way of being like, “I was here. During that time period I made this song.” And so forth.

You’ve been making music for a long time and moving around a lot as well.  How do you think moving around has helped your music?

I’ve been apart of a billion different movements.  I’ve seen so many people blow up, some fall off and some become superstars.  I’ve kind of have just been that guy in the background.  I’ve always unfortunately, but fortunately at the same time, I’ve always been your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper.  People are like “Oh, so and so is the dopest,” but they’re like “Man, dawg, that last shit you sent me was the dopest,” so it’s interesting.  That’s kind of my history.  I’m an everywhere guy – St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, out West, East Coast, Brooklyn, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles. I started making music a long time ago and probably will never stop.

But how does that feel to know that you’re everyone’s favorite rapper’s favorite rapper? You said you have seen a lot of people blow up.  I think you have a really big following, but is that discouraging for you to not necessarily got the same respect and notoriety that they do?

I’m extremely humble and I am definitely more of a slow roaster.  I like the fact that it is taking a little bit of time to gain a following. I don’t get discouraged with any assumed lack of success on my part.  Discouragement comes, but if you really want something nothing will stop you from getting it.  Being in the music industry is a pretty strong test of character and perseverance and everything.  It’s a test of everything – morals, you kind of just have to fight through it.

You have people whose goal is to blow up, but mines is just to make great music. Whether I blow up or not, when I look back through my catalogue and everything that I’ve released, I want to be proud that I’ve never faltered or sold out.  My thing was just to make sure that the music came first.

Yeah I would imagine because I remember when I was trying to do music… I wasn’t really trying to do music, but I would think sometimes that there are so many different avenues you could go down as musician that it’d be easy to get jaded.  It’s a battle.

Yeah man it’s tough.  I never want to say it in a way that fans feel disrespected by it, but it’s really tough because you always get requests in different ways, you hear certain things from music fans like, “I want something that doesn’t sound like anything else.” But when you give something that sounds like nothing else people are like, “Man that sounds a little different. I don’t know how I feel about it.”  It’s confusing at times.  But I think the best thing is stay true to yourself and I’ve noticed with so many other partners of crime of mine like Danny Brown I tried to let people hear his music and they would be like, “Man I don’t know how I feel about his music…” and then like a year later they were like, “Have you heard about that guy Danny Brown?!” Sometimes you just stick to your guns and hope that at some point the tides turn in your favor.  It’s always interesting. Sometimes it can be frustrating but at the same time, it’s way more gratifying.

Your new album Ghost at The Finish Line, is out now.  From talking to you, I think I think I kind of get the concept behind the album title but I’m not going to interpret it for you.  So for you, what was the concept behind the album title?

It’s a lot of layers because when I started making the album, it didn’t have a title.  At that point, it’s kind of like two years old from start to finish. Over the course of making the album, it just became a general idea of pursuing something that like I said is the result of a lot of loss and a lot of gain.  The title is kind of saying that by the time that you get to your goal at the end, who will still be there?  Who’s going to be gone, who’s still around in spirit from the things in the past?  And the name was super fitting because you know, you sacrifice a lot to be a musician. If you’re not one of the lucky people who becomes a millionaire off of your first single, you’re very likely to lose relationships, lose love, gain a lot of friendships, gain a lot of love. It’s a hard race and there’s no telling what’s going to be there at the end.

So The Ghost at The Finish Line, is kind of just talking about that — it’s sad.  Now I’m getting sad talking about shit.  It’s just so many people involved in your life and to do this you have to stay so true to it that you end up losing things, but by the time you get to where you’re supposed to be…even at a smaller scale, by the time I got to the end of making this album my life was a totally different life.  The Ghost, cheers to the Ghost.  But in the end, I’m always happy.  I’m great right now.

Stream Ghost At The Finish Line below and/or buy it here or here.

The post Interview: 13 Albums Deep Into the Game, Quelle Chris Gives Cheers to The Ghost appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

After the show, Milk sat down with RESPECT. to talk about his new album, the future of hip-hop in Detroit, and how he’s matured artistically.

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What tracks did you play tonight from No Poison No Paradise?

We did “Dismal” tonight. That’s probably my favorite record on the album, just because it doesn’t sound like anything I’ve done in the past on previous albums. We did “Perfected on Puritan Ave.,” which is a storytelling type of record. I did a little bit of this other song I have with Black Thought called “Codes and Cab Fare.” I did that towards the end of the show. We mixed it up. Some new stuff, some old stuff.

What songs typically get the strongest response from the crowd?

“Deadly Medley.” That always gets a big reaction. That’s a fan favorite. “Losing Out” is a fan favorite. “So Gone” is a fan favorite. I always do those records. Those records are always going to be a part of my set.

What’s different about “Dismal”?

Just the beat, the production is different than what I’ve done in the past. It’s kind of eerie, really dark. That’s the thing about this album, it’s a little darker than my previous albums.

Would you call No Poison No Paradise a concept album?

It’s got its conceptual moments. This time around I wanted to do something different than my previous projects. The production pushed me into a storytelling vibe. The first few songs I did, when I listened back to them, I noticed they were already telling a story by themselves, without me putting lyrics on them. I built off those three or four songs for the rest of the album.

I created this character where I’m telling my own personal stories, stuff I saw when I was younger, stuff I’ve been through as an adult, as well as other people’s stories, people I grew up with.

So who’s this character?

Sonny. He’s in a dream state. He’s seeing these different things from his younger years and his adult life. He’s seeing all these moments in his dream state. That’s why the art design for the project feels dreamy and psychedelic. That’s the state of mind he was in.

I end the album with this song called “Poison,” where Sonny’s awakened out of the dream, trying to figure out what it all meant, like, “What did all those visions and dreams mean?”

I didn’t want to make the album too literal–so conceptual that it was too literal. I wanted it so that if you weren’t paying attention you could still enjoy the album. And if you were paying attention, and figured out that all the songs are connected, then the album means that much more to you.

What inspired “Sunday’s Best/Monday’s Worst”?

Those were the first two records I recorded for the album. For “Sunday’s Best,” the beat has this gospel sample in it, so I felt it was only right to talk about growing up with religious parents, because that was a big part of my upbringing.

On “Monday’s Worst” I flipped it–the good kid gone bad. Some of this stuff I’ve been through growing up in the Detroit streets, other stuff I drew from stories my friends told me growing up. I built the rest of the album off of those two records.

It sounds like you’re exploring new territory.

I think me getting older, you naturally grow and think different, just do things different when you get older, as an adult. I see it affecting my music, to a point where this album, I feel like I have more control, more poise. Even my tone of voice is different when I deliver my rhymes over certain beats. I don’t know if it has something to do with me getting older, or all the experiences I’ve been through doing music. Now I’m at a point where I don’t have nothing to prove. I’m at a point where I’m mastering what I do, and what I’ve done in the past.

You can see it with your live show, the orchestration.

Definitely, man. That comes from being on stage a lot, being on the road, building the chemistry with the band over the years. I’ve been rocking with the band for four years now. It’s just time, a lot of practice.

Do you think the band’s showing off?

I mean, they might be a little bit at times [laughs]. They definitely might show off at times. I feel like we have one of the best hip-hop shows. We try to mix it up, with rock elements, punk rock elements, electronic elements, R&B and soul elements, and of course hip-hop. We try to mix it up and still make it cohesive. Have a nice flow to the show.

What’s your favorite Detroit record of the year?

It hasn’t even come out yet. The guy that opened for me tonight, Quelle Chris, he has a new album coming out on the 29th called Ghost At The Finish Line.

Did you take in the Danny Brown project, Old?

Definitely, I mess with Danny’s project. My favorite record on the album is this one Oh No produced called “Torture.”

Other picks?

Juicy J, Chance the Rapper. The Stay Trippy album–that album bananas.

What’s the future of Detroit hip-hop, in your opinion?

I think the future is going to be pretty bright. Who do you have, man? You have cats like Clear Soul Forces, this young group of guys from Detroit. They’re like early twenties. They have the traditional hip-hop elements with a young energy, so it sounds fresh. I mess with those guys heavy.

We’re in Toronto right now, on College Street. What do you think of Toronto?

This is my 5th, 6th time in Toronto. I’ve been coming to Toronto since my first album, which dropped in like 2007. I’ve been coming here a lot. This is definitely one of my biggest markets when it comes to live performances.

Do you ever get out of the hotel and away from the venue?

Sometimes I get to kick it, every now and again. Unfortunately we didn’t get to this time. I try to record shop when I get out here, because there’s some dope vinyl spots I like to hit, especially Cosmos. If I have time in TDot, I dig for records.

Purchase Black Milk’s No Poison No Paradise via iTunes.

Photographs (other than featured) by Toni Morgan.

The post Interview: Black Milk talks No Poison No Paradise & the Future of Hip-Hop in Detroit appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Black Milk is one of Detroit’s most talented and prolific artists, but he keeps a pretty tight lid on his works. The self-produced “Dismal” is the latest song to slip out from the vault. Rapping over an eerie, sparse instrumental that sounds like it samples the ambient noises of a space swamp, Black Milk both harshly chastises himself for falling from grace and argues for his inevitable rise to power, using the instrumental to crawl through the muck that he has created.

It’s unclear how “Dismal” reflects the soundscape of Black Milk’s upcoming album No Poison No Paradise, but the album’s artwork (pictured above) suggests that it might be a reliable harbinger of the album as whole. Only time will tell. Until then all we can do is anticipate and press repeat.

No Poison No Paradise will be released on October 15. View the tracklist here.

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