I like the Black Keys. With previous projects featuring co-production by Danger Mouse, they had already flirted with the hip hop world before. Their current project titled BlakRoc was spearheaded and helped organized by Dame Dash. This album gets a huge cosign from me. The music is great, the cast of emcees are a good and sometimes an unexpected mesh, to include: Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, Jim Jones, Raekwon, Q-Tip, RZA, Ludacris, O.D.B., Billy Danze (M.O.P.), singer Nikki Wray, and a newcomer MC by the name of NOE (who sounds exactly like Jay-Z :-/ ). The heavy bluesy vibe mixes well with smokey rhymes to create one of the best CD’s I’ve heard in a while. They have put up webisodes of each studio session for each track at www.blakroc.com. After watching them I was all the more attatched to the music.

Here is the webisode for Hoochie Coo with Mos Def and Jim Jones (Jones definitely surprised me on this project).

-AR.change.L = Art+Rhymes+Change+Life

“Long is the way and hard that out of hell leads up to light.-Milton”

I am highly pleased to have seen these dudes taking it back to the essence, with Primo on the decks too! Watch and enjoy.

and here is the MP3 of the session for your listening pleasure…

Mos Def x Black Thought x Eminem

-AR.change.L = Art+Rhymes+Change+Life

“Long is the way and hard that out of hell leads up to light.-Milton”