Customer Reviews

Tronic

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The comparison between Tronic to Black Milk's previous album "Popular Demand" is kind of hard as the sounds of the albums are really different from each other. To be honest Popular Demand is a better album in terms of sound and quality. However, if this is your first time hearing Black Milk you'll definitely become a fan after listening to this release. The overall sound of the album can best described as organs over electronic jazz breaks. TRONIC indeed describes the sound. Airy, atmospheric electronic organs sounds and electronic drums.

'Long Story Short' a great song to start off the album! The third best track off this release. Some people may recognize the drum snares from Dilated Peoples classic song "Work The Angles".

'Bounce' is nice,funky and well...bouncy. Check the rhyme from Bounce:

"It ain't just us with the pain struck /Even old school artists feel like the game is f*cked"....so true Black so true.

'Hold It Down' is the second best track off this album and 'The Matrix' featuring DJ Premier,Sean Price & Pharoah Monch being the best of all the tracks.

'Hold It Down'is a club banger type joint. It has lots of energy.

'Losing Out' featuring Royce Da 5' 9".Royce & Black Milk do I really need to even speak about this track..it's Royce Da 5' 9"..you better know. It's the fourth best track.

'Try' is similar in sound to 'Losing Out'. It's great track as well. It contains ,I believe , a Gladys Knight sample.

'Overdose' and 'Bond For Life' featuring Melanie Rutherford I really enjoyed. I would say 'Bond For Life' is the fifth best track on TRONIC.

'Summer' is a fun little instrumental track. Those who liked A Tribe Called Quest's song "Find A Way" will probably like this song.

'Reppin For U'> featuring Ab is something I know underground heads will feel.

The two songs I wasn't feelin were 'Without U' and 'Give The Drummer Sum'. I'm not saying they're bad just I wasn't really into them.

'Hell Yeah' featuring Fat Ray is the WORST track on TRONIC. It should have been left off this album or reworked. The drums on the song are good but the organ sounds are down right annoying.

Well 14 songs total and only one filler joint. I would say that's a good strong album. So far El Da Sensei & The Returners "Global Takeover" is the best Hip Hop album released this year but Black's album is indeed in my top five best albums of 2008.

Go grab that it's definitely worth your support and money.

BUY THE ALBUM

When I first heard "Tronic" was going to drop, I wasn't too thrilled at the idea. I had accepted the fact that 2008, like the years that preceded it, was going to be a year up to its neck in bad hip hop, with no relief in sight. My first listen through of Tronic, I found myself consciously unable to give Black Milk a chance. Frankly, I didn't like his earlier solo efforts. I knew he was capable of putting out pure heat from a production standpoint (i.e. "Action" with Slum Village and basically Elzhi's entire Europass limited release album), but Black's lack of a presence spitting over the year made it hard to fully sign on. I'm glad to say, with Tronic, Black Milk completely reverses that trend and carves out a sizable chunk in hip hop hall a fame with his dynamic addition. Simply put, Tronic works, and it works at so many levels, so many decibels, that I can't offer a just critique without it devolving into a "oh my God" rant.

I was trying to think of a time when an artist so gracefully and meticulously put together an entire album without substantial outside influence. Listening to Tronic is to be first hand as a person transcends from a performer to an artist. Rather than pick apart all the nuances of the release, as better reviews have done--namely cokemachineglow--I'll just say Black Milk's release is about the most cohesive and focused album I've ever heard, and I've been an avid music fan for years now.. At the risk of sounding overly hyped, Tronic is a masterpiece, from beginning to end. He didn't do Dilla, Premier or Pete Rock with this; he did Black Milk (and those aforementioned artists are guilty of crossing over and/or falling into redundancy loops at times). This is a release that comes at a crucial point; it's a life boat for those of us out there looking to jump ship, to get away from the tattered fray that hip hop is. The only fear is expectations for his next release will be astronomical. But for now, this Detroit star is shining brightly. Utterly cop-worthy.

This cd is a must have, defenitely one of the best cd's of the year. Popular Demand was a nice cd, but the sound on tronic is cleaner. The beats are crazy and the flows are nice. Like Larry said before, if you like the dilla, atcq, madlib style beats you better pick up this one cuz this kid is the future o f hip hop!

Black is droppin' so heat once again!! If you love real hip hop just get this album. This is what today's hip hop can sound like, if every mainstream radio rapper would stop doing what the other guys doing. No copycat trends(no autotune)here, just straight originality, live instrumentation, and Beats. Black's a beast with the beats, and he stepped up his lyric game. If Black Milk name is on it, cop it, guaranteed to bring da heat!! Hate on him if you want, no other rapper/producer coming out this consistent in a while. A must buy for Dilla, Madlib, ATCQ, Slum Village fans. More of that Detroit sound, like Berry Gordy came back... don't lose out!

Dope album for sure... I slept on this dude for a while and what a shame. A very good listen with high replay value. Play all the way through for the seamless transitioning of tracks. Good stuff all around.

I will agree black milk flow isn't always on point but the beat do knock, some songs will have to grow on you and while the others catches your attension in an instant. Had the cd since it came out, favorite songs are; losing out, overdose, the matrix, try (because of the course), bond 4 life, and give the drummer some. Detroit has been putting out hot artists, I wouldn't be surprise if their reign on the radio comes along to steal the show.

Black Milk returns with his 3rd solo album (I think), and it is a very good effort. This being only the 2nd album of his I've heard, ("Popular Demand" I'd give 4 stars; and I haven't heard "Sound of the City" or "Caltroit" or his album he did with Fat Ray), it's clear that not only can he produce tight records, he has skill as a rapper as well. I will be checking out some of his other albums from the past that he has put out. This one has 12 songs, 2 are classics, 9 are good or real good, the other song is ok, no bad ones on here. Guests are on half of the songs, rapping on 3 and doing the hook on the other 3. Production is mostly handled by Black Milk; he does every song except one, which is handled by Colin Munroe. A must have album from someone I'm looking forward to hearing more of in the future.

#1 - 10 (CLASSIC - tight beat)

#2 - 9 (nice beat)

#3 - 8 (beat not really that great on here)

#4 - 8 (f/ Colin Munroe)

#5 - 8 (upbeat track)

#6 - 9 (f/ Royce da 5'9" --- nice beat, also on Royce's "The Album")

#7 - 8 (f/ Fat Ray)

#8 - 9 (tight beat)

#9 - 9 (f/ AB - tight beat)

#10 - 10 (CLASSIC - f/ Pharaohe Monch & Sean Price - tight beat & nice scratches by DJ Premier)

#11 - 7.5

#13 - 8.5 (f/ Melanie Rutherford)

Curtis Cross -- b. 8/14/83 -- Detroit, MI

Check all my reviews

Rapper/producer Black Milk returns with "Tronic", the follow-up to 2007's "Popular Demand". His new album, while it is a hip hop album at its core, has more in common sonically with progressive rock and krautrock. There are influences and sounds all over this album that scream Yes, Kansas, Kraftwerk, and Electric Light Orchestra. Some artist/producers usually fare better at the latter as opposed to the former, but Black Milk succeeds in both areas, even on songs with guests that you knew he was going to be upstaged (see: Pharoahe Monch, Royce Da 5' 9", and Sean Price). The songs "Losing Out" and "Bond 4 Life" alone are worth the price of purchasing this album.

He came with a switched up style, but this album still knocks as much as the last two, if not more. Pure fire on this album.

I recieved the product in a speedy time frame and it was in the exact described condition.