True confession: I only became a Black Keys fan with the release and eventual success of last year’s Brothers. I was so much a fan of the Akron, Ohio’s breakthrough release that I went back and bought everything they’d released previously, collectively and individually.
Of course, Brothers was not the album with which I became aware of The Black Keys. It wasn’t even the first album I’d purchased that featured their involvement. That would be the Blakroc project–an album that featured them laying down bluesy funk/rock riffs for an army of rappers ranging from Ludacris to ODB to some cat that sounded exactly like Jay-Z but wasn’t actually Jay-Z. You’d have to imagine that Dame Dash, who was one of the brains behind the BlakRoc project, was behind that.
I’ll admit to not being the album’s biggest fan initially, although parts of it have managed to grow on me over the years. So I’m actually semi-excited for BlakRoc 2, which is due out later this year and is being promoted initially by way of the trailer you see below. There promise to be some pretty interesting collaborations (Talib Kweli, The Cool Kids) as well as some that promise to be kinda shitty (Jim Jones? Really?)
In more personally exciting news, there’s also allegedly a new Black Keys album (a proper one) arriving later this year. While I’m sure I’ll enjoy that particular album more, I think a new BlakRoc is worth a chance as well. At the very least-considering the amount of pot that was smoked (based on the trailer alone), I would’ve liked to have been a fly on that studio wall.
2 comments
Greg says:
Sep 5, 2011
This is a way better MC lineup than the first album. Talib Kweli? Jay Electronica? Sean Price? Curren$y? Hell to the yeah. Also, am I the only who feels a little high just from watching that video?
Gonzo says:
Sep 5, 2011
Thickfreakness is incredible. I like most of their other stuff, but feel like they aren’t progressing much. Love Blakroc though – psyched for this.