Album Review: Blackroc by The Black Keys (and friends)
February 19th, 2010 • Album Review
When Pharoahe Monch belts, “Rock ‘n’ roll I lose control/ f*ck the white ones, the Black Keys got so much soul”, he pretty much touches the heart of Blakroc.
Ever since Elvis began shaking his hips, rock ‘n’ roll has been primarily for white production and white consumption. The Black Keys naturally want to question that. The blues-rock duo the Back Keys, consisting of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, have spent the better part of the last decade thriving in a white dominated rock world.
Their latest project, Blakroc is a compilation. The duo does rock instrumentals for eleven tracks featuring thirteen rappers and r&b singers. The artists play with the line of hip-hop and rock throughout the album. They aren’t the first band to do put live instrumentals behind some rap lyrics. The Roots have been doing it as long as anyone can remember, driven by the airtight drumming of ?uestlove. Galactic released From the Corner to the Block a couple years ago giving hip-hop and funk edge. Despite those recent efforts, this album is truly something new. While wailing raw guitar noise leading the way, its much more reminiscent of Saul Williams. When the Black Keys dare to stray from the backbeat the album explodes and enthralls. Aurbach’s guitars pervade the entire disc and create with spacey solos grip the listener, when he chooses to let loose.Unfortunately, the albums fall short in the same way many compilation albums do. The musical content holds together, but lyrically the album is hodgepodge. Clearly, the Black Keys aimed for different content than the normal rock listener consumes. Still, the repeated tales of hustling and boasts about thug prowess get trite. When NOE claims in ‘Hard Times’ at the beginning of the album, “Listen it ain’t fiction when you really broke/ when you face an eviction letter note/ you can really choke,” he taps into deep pains from his past and it feels fresh and relevant. Still, by the last track, ‘Done Did It’ when NOE has returned and is boasting about the money he’s made, we’ve heard that story four times already.
Certain lyricists do shine through. Mos Def completely owns ‘On the Vista’ a track whose abstract lyrics complement Auerbach abstract guitar licks. The album also takes a positive turn the few times it turns from hustling to longing. Nichole Wray shines on the two slower tracks on the album, ‘Why Can’t I Forget Him’ and ‘Hope Your Happy’. It doesn’t hurt that Q-Tip throws his hat into the ring on the latter. In the end, when you surround yourself with the type of talent that the Black Keys rind for Blakroc your bound to kick out a top-notch album, but they never achieved the continuity necessary for a classic.
-Daniel Engelberg
Daniel Engelberg is the co-host of The Octopus Blues, Monday’s 10 PM-12 AM Eastern Time on WRBC.
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