Reader Review: The Black Keys with Various Artists - BlakRoc (November 27, 2009)

(For today's Reader Review, frequent contributor A.R. Marks tackles the Damon Dash media comeback known as BlakRoc, the collaborative album between The Black Keys and various rappers , most of whom had never had any previous dealings with Dame Dash. Life is strange that way.  Suffice it to say, Jay-Z fails to appear on BlakRoc, although his spirit is surely felt.  Be sure to leave your comments below.)


Ever since Dame Dash and his former BFF-slash-business partner Jay-Z split up back in 2005, the media has greeted every Whack-A-Mole-esque glimpse of the one-time Roc-A-Fella CEO's scalp like an opportunity to pander ever more blatantly to media darling Shawn Carter by shitting on the man's name, not unlike petty girls trying to get the high school quarterback to take them to the prom by dressing down his previous longtime girlfriend after a bitter public breakup. (I am, actually, surprised at how easily the music industry can be bent to a metaphor for implied-homosexual jealous prom queenery).


The hip hop media (which sadly now includes the “Blogosphere”) would have us believe that Damon Dash is and always has been nothing but a money grubbing, bipolar, tyrannical asshole with no ear for music whatsoever. I can believe elements of this argument: after all, his endless endorsement of DipSet rappers basically forced me to block out his entire existence for the roughly four years between the Roc's dissolution and the BlakRoc project, a collaborative effort between blues-rock band The Black Keys with various rappers, on which Dame acts as both the creator and the executive producer. Which is why word of this album's even existence seems to have shocked many media outlets (except the bloggers on the XXL website, many of whom worked with Dash at Def Jam and apparently still haven't recovered from Stockholm Syndrome) into a meandering mass of confused bovine creatures, unable to doff their preconceived notions for longer than it takes to marvel at the inconsistencies: Dame Dash somehow trapping Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach in a studio with a string of (mostly) anti-pop hip-hop artists for long enough to record a full LP.


Let's see how it all fits together.


1. COOCHIE (FEAT LUDACRIS & OL' DIRTY BASTARD)
Making use of a song Luda and ODB recorded before the latter's death (one which was originally intended for the never-released Ason Unique), the Keys bless the track with an extremely bass-heavy backdrop, punctuated by a shrill guitar line that fits perfectly. Chris and Dirty flow all over the song as well-placed guitar licks and distorted chords alternate suddenly, and perfectly, with the bass and what even sounds like a didgeridoo. As one can expect from the main performers, it's more of a fun song than a deep one, although for some unfathomable reason Ludacris claimed not to like it, causing it to be removed from the iTunes version of the album. (My understanding is that it had more to do with a “payment for services rendered” issue between Luda and Dame.)


2. ON THE VISTA (FEAT MOS DEF)
Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach provides The Mighty Mos with a rolling, shifting guitar line that suits the rapper's ever-evolving, continuous flow/wordplay in a way that shows you exactly what heights Mos Def was trying (and failed) to achieve with his own rock group, Black Jack Johnson. The bridge comes off a bit strained, but it bleeds into Mos Def singing an appealing refrain of “total control” over the original lead-in, and by the time his vocals fade out you're more than ready to bounce to the BlakRoc project's first single, which also features Mos Def...


3. HARD TIMES (FEAT NOE)
...which is a shame, because the next song in sequence features NOE, a one-time DipSet affiliate whose attempts to ape Jay-Z are so utterly obvious and flawed that you're almost convinced that, somewhere, Dame has a framed picture of Jay-Z and Beyoncé, except with his own face pasted over hers. Why does this poor, pathetic soundalike deserve a spot on this record?  He doesn't!  What he really does is ruin an otherwise-nice sonic backdrop. Sigh.


4. DOLLAZ & SENSE (FEAT RZA & PHAROAHE MONCH)
Now here's a collaboration I've been waiting for since news of this album hit the Internet. With seeming effortlessness, the Black Keys conjure a trippy soundscape of winding guitars, half-submerged effects, and busy drums that exists perfectly between the styles of RZA, Pharoahe and themselves. Auerbach, who is also the singer of the duo, makes his first real vocal appearance on the album, which is suitable, if a bit simple. Meanwhile, the two emcees compliment each other perfectly, both spitting tweaked-out tales of gritty metaphysics.


5. WHY I CAN'T FORGET HIM (FEAT NICOLE WRAY)
This song is the collective's desperate bid to add some sort of cohesion and depth to the album: surprisingly, it actually works. A slower tempo allows the Keys to move away from the upbeat, high-note sounds of the previous few tracks, opting instead for a laid-back soundscape that sounds more like something from their Danger Mouse-produced album Attack & Release. Nicole Wray, a longtime Dame Dash's singer protegé, usually has a propensity for overly-dramatic vocal theatrics, but here she tones it down to reveal influences of R&B, jazz and blues singing that meshes well with Auerbach's noodling.


6. STAY OFF THE FUCKIN' FLOWERS (FEAT RAEKWON)
I read a review where the author claimed that this song is possibly better than all of Rae's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II, a sentiment that makes me yell, “Are you fucking kidding!?” However, this is the centerpiece of the album (literally, as it appears in the center of the tracklisting) and it does live up: Rae sounds convincing, menacing and, most importantly, right at home flowing over the marching beat. The dark sound of the song actually plays very well with the musical image that Rae has crafted for himself lately, and had this cut had ended up on Cuban Linx II instead, I would have counted it a worthy addition.


7. AIN'T NOTHING LIKE YOU (HOOCHIE COO) (FEAT JIM JONES & MOS DEF)
The BlakRoc project's single, this blues-tinged, hard-hitting jam brings the momentum of the album back on track right on cue; you've already heard this song and you know how you feel about it, but I'll take a minute to marvel at Mos Def's ability to harmonize with Auerbach, as well as the unprecedented lyrical picture-painting of Jim Jones.


8. HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY (FEAT Q-TIP, BILLY DANZE, & NICOLE WRAY)
A groove-heavy blues jam gives way to Q-Tip trying to pull off a syncopated delivery, which comes off as somewhat contrived in one of the few curious missteps on this project. I can see where the notion to put Tip and Billy Danze from M.O.P. on a song comes from, but this wasn't the one to do that with. Aside from the first verse, though, the song pulls its weight, and Danze proves himself fit for that M.O.P. rock-n-roll album that never came out. (I wonder if he's referring to the Mash Out Posse album that did, actually, come out.)


9. TELLING ME THINGS (FEAT RZA)
RZA's refrain brings in a suitably spaced-out, layered guitar treatment that doesn't yield to as much as color the Abbott's distorted vocals, which is good because his lyrics on this song aren't exactly the par of his previous appearance. Still, a worthy track.


10. WHAT YOU DO TO ME (FEAT JIM JONES, BILLY DANZE, & NICOLE WRAY)
This track is somewhat boring, if only because of the stop-and-go structure of the chorus. It's too bad, because it's one of the only tracks that really has Dan Auerbach singing rather than just providing background vocals. The sparse percussion beat of the verses also takes away from its momentum, putting it so far into the territory of monotony that not even Billy Danze can jump-start the song.


11. DONE DIT IT (FEAT NOE & NICOLE WRAY)
Once again, NOE is allowed to fuck up a promising Black Keys soundscape. Wray's singing by this time has revealed itself to be one-note, and from time to time the wrong note at that. I would have been happier with any of the other rappers from this project appearing on this song (except maybe Q-Tip), rather than this knockoff.


FINAL THOUGHTS: I've believed The Black Keys were destined to record a rap/rock album ever since the Danger Mouse-produced Attack & Release came out. To be honest, when I heard Dash was executive producing BlakRoc and read the lineup, I could only have hoped that it would come out as cohesive as this. Sure, the album drags near the end, the backdrops can become somewhat similar (which is fine, because this is blues as much as it is rock or hip hop), and a couple of rappers are allowed to fuck up a little on their parts. But for what it is, BlakRoc turns out surprisingly successful, boasting a collection of pitch-perfect guest stars over an assortment of finely-tuned hybrid beats. (On a side note, the impostor NOE oddly elected to appear on a Sticky Fingaz song dissing Dame Dash for “stealing their Black Rock idea” by recording this album, and the irony of using two white guys for it (which is true but still stings). The clincher? He actually played Jay-Z on the song like a character, which is akin to Tha Realest playing 2Pac on a song dissing Suge Knight.)


BUY OR BURN?: Go ahead and buy it. It won't reveal new depths of music per sé, but it comes closest to the secret of seamlessly combining rap and rock: via their common ancestor, the blues.


BEST SONGS: “Coochie”; “On the Vista”; “Dollaz & Sense”; “Stay Off the Fuckin' Flowers”; “Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)”


-A.R. Marks


(Questions? Comments? Concerns? Be sure to leave them all below.)



(Side note: if you happen to use the link (please?  HHID appreciates your help!) to buy BlakRoc, you won't get “Coochie”, nor will you on iTunes. You may have to track it down using Interweb resources.  There also appears to be a second version of BlakRoc that contains a second disc of Auerbach and Carney's instrumentals used for the project, which may be worth tracking down, as well.)