Music has a long tradition in Detroit and its booming rap scene with artists like Eminem, Royce Da 5’9′, Guilty Simpson and, not forgetting, J Dilla , has †ºmotor city†¹ a key player in the Hip Hop world. And now then: Black Milk. For some, the 1983 born Curtis Cross is already well known; he will have caught insiders’ attention by producing the Slum Village song What Is This on their 2002 album, Trinity (Past, Present an Future). Since then, Black Milk has worked slowly but surely, always evolving to fill the shoes of producing legend Jamey Yancey, known as J Dilla, who passed away in 2006. It can hardly be missed that, like J Dilla, Black Milk produced all his tracks with the MPC only, and by doing so created a distinctive, powerful, sample-based sound. Besides his passion for producing, Black Milk reaches for the microphone quite often as well.
Under the wings of the grand old master, his skills as a poet and producer rapidly grew. Together with Young RJ he founded the B.R. Gunna in 2004 and released the album Dirty District Vol.2. At the same time, he had been busy co-producing the fourth Slum Village record, Detroit Deli and in 2005 had released his own debut, Sound Of The City. The name Black Milk was becoming well-known way beyond the borders of Michigan.

Following through with the proclamation
His break-trough came with his second album, Popular Demand, in 2007. Drifty arrangements, rapid tempos and smashing drums mixed with sharp jazzy samples, showed impressively what the then only 23 year-old producer was capable of. He was also accomplished on the mic, highlighting his work as a producer that way. 2008 saw his third release, Tronic. For the first time Black Milk went beyond the MPC and recorded some of the instruments live. The record showed, once more, great development and made clear: There’s no end in sight at all. And now the Album of the Year: Modesty sounds different. Black Milk describes his new record as »the most honest work« he has done so far. The statement and the first tracks that appeared prior to the release sound promising. And looking back at his career, another development seems likely; without losing any of his independence, he manages to range between underground and commercialism, so that the pronouncement within the album title might just turn out to be true.