Black Milk has been lyrically silent for some time, with his last raps being on 2014's If There's a Hell Below. The hip-hop artist's 2016 release, The Rebellion Sessions, was a collaboration with the band Nat Turner that only had a tangential relation to hip-hop. With its tight rhythms, The Rebellion Sessions is not completely divorced from Milk's hip-hop roots, however the fact that it was a jazz record which featured improvisation made it stand out as a notable left turn in Milk's discography. On FEVER, Black Milk is rapping again, and it sounds like a lot of the production ideas that go into making the record such a success can be traced back to what the Detroit native was experimenting with in his years without the mic.
FEVER, like The Rebellion Sessions is an organic production, with Milk blending live instrumentation and samples to create extremely impressive beats. There are tinges of jazz, soul and at times even a light funk pulsing through the veins of this album. Although Milk, having produced and written all the record, is obviously the star here, he has surrounded himself with a talented band: Chris "Daddy" Dave (drums, percussion), Malik Hunter (bass), Sasha Kashperko (guitar, bass), Ian Fink (keys) and Kris Johnson (trumpet). The album also has guest appearances by vocalists Dwele, Ab and Sudie, whose misty vocals provide the chorus to album opener "unVEil."
"unVEil" is a quality introduction to the record, letting the listener know with its haze of keys, guitars and vocals that FEVER can be gorgeous. Milk approaches the mic with purpose, hitting the listener with short and intricate verses. Though he has always been a good rapper, in FEVER it's clear that Milk has taken his rapping - lyrics and rhyme schemes - to the next level. A great example of this is the gritty "Laugh Now Cry Later", a song with a fantastic bass line and compelling rapping.
"Laugh Now Cry Later" presents a wide range of social commentary, leaving enough space between each line to invite the listener to ruminate on the meaning before moving on to the next subject. The topics include the question of social media ("on the timeline, should I hide in the disguise, from strangers, watching my highs or my demise"), socio-political thought ("some niggas fake woke like they don’t have any flaws, some niggas too turnt don’t represent any cause, life’s a balance we livin' ours”) and police brutality ("from raps and movies, to black is beauty, cop didn't feel the same felt he had to shoot me"). Police brutality is addressed in even more detail on the poignant second verse of "Drown", where Milk succinctly sums up why black people cannot trust the police ("officer officer what have you done, how many apples can spoil a bunch, you just need one/ so If you can't stand up when fellow officer shoot a kid with they hands up, I don't know who we can trust"). The song impresses instrumentally as much as it does lyrically. After the second verse, "Drown" closes with a beautiful beat change, the rattling percussive instruments of the first portion making way for a much more mellow and melodic atmosphere.
Even though some of the finest moments of FEVER are explicitly socio-political, the emcee/producer still shines in tracks like "Foe Friend", a song that puts on display the storytelling skill found on albums like No Poison No Paradise. Over a soulful beat, Milk paints a vivid picture of how money destroyed two childhood friendships. He skillfully moves from the innocent beginnings to the jealousy and betrayal, with the hook characterizing the cause - greed - as "human nature."
Although FEVER is only 41 minutes, there is a lot to dig into and Milk is better than ever. Besides of the autotune chorus of "You Like To Risk It All / Things Will Never Be", which feels out of place, there is nothing that is close to being a miss here. Tracks like "True Lies", where Milk digs into education, religion and his environment growing up in Detroit, showcase a notable improvement lyrically. Even for those who many not be inclined to dig into the lyrics at first, the production and the band's performance - especially the bass lines - are excellent. The groove of tracks like "Will Remain" alone is enough to warrant repeat listens. FEVER is high quality thought provoking hip-hop - one of the genre's first great records of 2018.
