Black Milk

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Black Milk, real name Curtis Cross, is rooted in the city’s hip‑hop tradition while injecting a more electronic and soulful sensibility. First noticed as a producer in the early 2000s, notably around Slum Village, he was also part of the B.R. Gunna collective with Young RJ and Fat Ray before developing a solo trajectory in which rapping and production hold equal weight. Black Milk released Sound of the City in 2005, Popular Demand in 2007 and Tronic in 2008 — three records that established a precise aesthetic of crisp drums, taut loops, thick bass and often off‑kilter rhythmic constructions. With Album of the Year (2010), No Poison No Paradise (2013), If There’s a Hell Below (2014), Fever (2018) and Everybody Good? (2023), he tightened his writing and moved toward a denser, sometimes introspective sound where boom‑bap, electronic pads and funk accents intersect. Over his career he has also produced for Elzhi and collaborated with Danny Brown, Guilty Simpson, Sean Price and Black Thought, while presenting on stage a format that blends rap and group dynamics, notably in projects with Nat Turner.