ACCLAIM: You produced one of Danny Brown’s new tracks ‘Really Doe’, how was working with such a talented crew?

BLACK MILK: Oh man, that was amazing, you know what I’m saying. I had those guys on my list of artists that I wanted to work with and it was kinda crazy to get ’em all on one track. That was dope, that was real dope. I love how the song came up.

Any other dream collaborations for you?

I mean, at this point in my career I don’t really have any one person that I wanna work with. It’s more-so about me hopefully being able to collaborate with a lot of the newer artists, just tryna get a different kind of energy from this new wave of music and hip-hop and rap that’s going on. So I’m kind of open to working with any artists that are doing their thing, that have some talent.

With ‘Really Doe’, there were so many different voices and clearly a lot going on, it almost feels like you’re listening to several songs at once. How do you manage to work with so many sounds and make it sound like a song, rather than a mess.

I think that’s just the producer side of my artistry. It’s kinda hard to explain. It’s just a thing that comes natural to me. Just hearing a particular artist’s voice or hearing the way they flow or the kind of energy they have, I automatically, kind of naturally know where to go musically for what they do.

As someone who identifies more so as a producer than a rapper, what do you get out of rapping that producing doesn’t give you?

Expressing myself in words and being able to tell stories. Some music fans are able to just listen to instrumental type music and understand the story. Other fans they actually need the words to paint the picture for them, so I enjoy painting the picture with actual lyrics also just as well as producing. Production is definitely my passion but when it’s time for me to go in and record a solo album, you know, it’s always interesting and it’s just a different side of my brain that I have to tap into, in terms of where I’m gonna go lyrically and how I’m going to paint these stories for people. And more so, I love to perform live—it’s dope to see people in the audience that are there to hear certain songs and sing along to certain songs and get hyped to certain songs, all the lyrics that you wrote. So that’s another great part about being a MC.

Australia is lucky enough to have you here in November. What can we expect for your live show?

Little bit of both, man. Majority of my set is gonna be production. This is one of the sets that I actually love to do, instead of doing my rap thing that I do most of the time when it comes to live performances. This time around it’s just gonna be me on the instrumental side and also being able to play music that people haven’t heard before. That’s the kind of music fan I am, so it’s cool when I’m able to get in front of a crowd and you know, just play whatever I want and see their reaction to it or seeing them not react at all depending on the audience. But I’ll still perform some rap songs from my albums, but majority of it will be instrumental based.

Speaking of which, you’re always doing interesting stuff, like the instrumental album Synth or Soul, always working with different sounds. Is there anything musically you’re hoping to conquer next?

Oh man, it’s funny because lately I’ve been just more so still on an engineer mixing tip, you know what I’m saying. That’s kinda been my thing lately, just mixing records and just getting a better understanding of frequency and vibrations and how sound travels and how people respond to certain things when they hear it come out of speakers. So I’ve really been on the engineer/mixing side of things lately, trying to better myself, really get good at controlling the sonics of a record and the sonics of music period.

You’re considered somewhat more underground in the music scene, as is often the way with producers. Are you happy being a sort of underground icon?

I think I’m happy to do what I wanna do and be creative. For one, to be able to make a living out of it, make a good living out of it; and two, be able to travel; and for three, to be able to have fans all over the world. I think a peace of mind is the most important to me, I think for most real creatives, real artists, having that peace of mind and feeling like you have a certain level of freedom, creatively, artistically is the most important thing. So whether I ever get to a point where I cross over to more mainstream or whether I stay more on the independent level, I think long as I have a peace of mind and I’m staying inspired in the music I’m making, I feel like I’m progressing with the music I’m making, and I’m influencing other artists, and just fans in general, that’s the most important thing to me. I never really wake up day today and have those thoughts like “Man I’ve gotta be a big pop star.” But it’s great to have fans and people that support you and root for you and try to push you into that stratosphere and spread your music around. That’s dope, I appreciate that.

Obviously J Dilla was a massive influence and friend of yours, can you pinpoint a particular way in which he influenced you?

I think one of the main things is just staying true to what you want to do as an artist. That was kinda his thing—he just let the music guide him and take him wherever his music wanted to take him. Instead of forcing the music or making something just because of the moment or making something because that’s what music sounds like at that time.

Another thing I took away from J Dilla is always try to be aggressive, never stagnate; you take a risk as an artist, whether you fail at it or not. He was one of those dudes that was always creatively like five to 10 years ahead of everyone. That’s what I took from him as a producer, as an artist, and are things that I apply to myself.

So you’ve recently been in Japan and you’ll be in Sydney soon enough, do you have a favourite destination?

Oh man, Australia is definitely one of my favourite places ever to go. I’ve been able to tour out there a couple different times and every time has been an amazing experience. I just feel like Australia is one of the few places outside of the US that I might not mind moving to, you know. And going to Japan for the first time, that kinda was a crazy experience as well. Those are my two top favourite places and I’m not just saying that ’cause I’m talking to you, like that’s a real thing. You can ask any of my friends, they know that Australia is one of my favourite places to go. And now I’m saying Japan because of the crazy records and just because of the crazy everything.

So what do you get up to before your shows, do you keep it super professional or do you have a few drinks, loosen up a bit?

Yeah I might have a few drinks, I might hang out. Depending on the type of show, I might even kick it with some fans before the show. I try to keep it kinda chill, laid-back. I’ve been touring for so long I’m always at ease before I walk on stage. With this particular show I try to concentrate a little harder because this is some of the first performances people are seeing me more in the producer aspect than in the rap aspect.

What about after the shows? You going to party when you’re in Australia? 

Yeah, man! Definitely. I haven’t been to Australia in a little while now, been a few years, so I’m definitely going to soak it all up and enjoy myself. I’m almost looking at this like a vacation man because every time I come to Australia it’s just like good time, it never feels like work.

Have you got a tour memory that sticks in your mind when you think of past tours?

Man, it’s crazy you asked me that. Oh wow wow wow, I did a show in Paris one time, might have been my first time performing in Paris, like 2009 or 2010 maybe. There was this part of the show, it was an insane show, the crowd was just crazier than it had ever been and I was hyped up. At one particular time in the show I just went ahead a stage dived into the crowd, it was pretty wild. But that wasn’t the crazy part, after the show I got off stage and noticed that my wallet and all my money was gone and it was really nerve-wracking because I had to go back out and sift through the crowd and they thought I was trying to come out there and give them autographs but I was just trying to find my wallet! I never found it. That was possibly the craziest show I’ve ever had in my life and it cost me my wallet.

So do you ever actually stop working?

Always working, always working. Creating and touring and meeting people, performing for people—I wouldn’t wanna be doing anything else. Technically it’s not work, it’s just something I do that I enjoy and love, so it’s not work.

So what can the fans expect—some music on the way next year by the sounds of it?

Yeah, planning on putting out hopefully a few projects next year. I wanna put out a volume two to this project I put out last year called Glitches in the Break. Top off next year with a lot of different features, I’m getting that together now. And hopefully another solo album next year as well. I really want to take some time to make shit right, you know, just more music, more performing, that’s what I do. Don’t stop.

Black Milk will be playing at Ferdydurke in Melbourne, Thursday November 17 an Plan B Small Club in Sydney, Saturday November 19.
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