On “Take Control,” Fat Ray & Black Milk do what they do best: create catchy, well-written hip-hop that is cerebral and yet still rattles your trunk. Fat and Black take one turn each to lay down verses that illustrate the essence of their being; they’re committed to taking control of every facet of their music, from the business to the creative. First Black Milk spits, “From the rhymes to the styles and cadence to the noun and phrases / the way I amaze is major” and then Fat Ray follows up with, “Might as well face the facts we spit the crack / even Jay-Z had to Fade To Black…Milk that is/ till we filthy rich, better make room like 50’s crib.” Guest artist AB provides a soothing contrast on the hook that contrasts nicely with the rhymes of Fat Ray and Black Milk. Black Milk’s intricately composed beat contains layers of synthesizers that periodically build in intensity and then retreat to a more subdued state, making for a musical accompaniment that appropriately complements the emcees’ elaborate rhyme schemes.
The Background:
Deemed Artist of the Year in 2007 by Detroit’s alternative weekly, Real Detroit Weekly, Black Milk follows up his recent Caltroit and Popular Demand releases with an all new collaborative LP with dirty district emcee, Fat Ray. All 11 tracks of the The Set Up are produced by Black Milk, and include guest spots from Guilty Simpson, Elzhi of Slum Village, Nametag, Scorpion, and Phat Kat. The Set Up is the inaugural release for Black Milk’s own label, Music House. Also due this year are a new Black Milk solo album and a collaborative project with Sean Price and Guilty Simpson. Fat Ray and Black Milk are two-thirds of the Detroit trio BR Gunna, whose album Dirty District, Vol. 2 (2004 Barak Records) was critically acclaimed and sold over 20,000 units.
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“Take Control” featuring AB
