CD Review: BlakRoc

Let’s be honest: When the Black Keys echo through a big set of
speakers, hip-hop is the furthest thing from your mind. Their soulful
rock helped define modern blues. The Keys’ Patrick Carney and Dan
Auerbach capitalize on the framework of rock ‘n’ roll. Their fierce
rhythms and rip-roaring guitars are timeless. That’s because the Keys
stick with what works, whether it’s straight whiskey or a solid blues
chord. BlakRoc, the new collaboration between the Akron duo and 11
hip-hop and R&B artists, may come as a surprise to listeners.

Yet Carney and Auerbach have been huge hip-hop fans since they
started making music. For 11 days, the two shared a studio with some of
their heroes — RZA, Mos Def, Q-Tip, Ludacris, Nicole Wray and
Raekwon, among others. Instead of taking the driver’s seat, they let
the MCs front the show. The eerie reverb of the Keys’ blues creeps
through the spaces between Wray’s lamenting howls and Raekwon’s smart
prose. It’s fun to hear Ludacris and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard rap
about what they know best on “Coochie,” especially when fuzzy guitar
and exploding horns resonate behind them. This is the rap-rock record
Lil Wayne has been promising us for a year, but it sounds like this
crew are having a lot more fun. — Danielle
Sills

This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2009.