Black Milk is a master of beats and rhymes, renowned for his top-flight production, insightful lyrics and thrilling live shows. Far from your typical rap act, he has steadily added new sounds and styles to his repertoire while working with a diverse group of collaborators – from Jack White and Robert Glasper to his own band Nat Turner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a producer, Black has held down his hometown of Detroit for over a decade, working with the city\u2019s top talent including Danny Brown and the legendary Slum Village, who gave him his start on their album “The Trinity”. On his own, he\u2019s created a catalogue of solid solo rap albums while also teaming up with Guilty Simpson and the late Sean Price to form the supergroup Random Axe. Grindin’ caught up with the Detroit producer\/MC while he was in the middle of his Australia and New Zealand tour.<\/p>\n

What are your earliest memories of music?<\/strong>
\nEarliest memories of music is probably growing up hearing a lot of gospel music as a kid. Parents were heavy in the church. <\/p>\n

Who were your influences coming up?<\/strong>
\nWell for Hip Hop artists it was Tribe, Slum Village, Busta Rhymes, Wu-Tang, The Roots, Jay Z, Nas and as producers go, J Dilla, Preemo, Pete Rock and Timbaland.<\/p>\n

What was your first big break as an artist and\/or producer?<\/strong>
\nAs a solo artist, I would have to say my first solo album “Popular Demand”, that was my introduction to the world as an artist. My introduction and break through as a producer was probably when I first start working with Slum Village. <\/p>\n

What are some of your most memorable moments from when you were making a name for yourself in the Detroit Hip Hop scene? <\/strong>
\nI mean, just meeting all the local heroes and fellow artists around the city that already had a name for themselves. I just wanted to be a part of the music scene in some way, because I looked up to most of those artists, people like Royce, Slum, Dilla, Em… that’s the most memorable. <\/p>\n

When did you realise you could make music as a career?<\/strong>
\nWhen I started producing, I saw that producers played a huge part of the song\/album process and also was more financially better then the actual rappers, plus I just had a passion for production, that’s all I wanted to do all day and night. <\/p>\n