Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2010

Courtesy of V2/Hostess

Once upon a time, there was Run DMC/Aerosmith. Then came Public Enemy/Anthrax and, more recently, the ill-considered Jay-Z/Linkin Park tie-up. But you’ve never heard rap and rock meet with quite the strange effect that is achieved on Blakroc. The brainchild of Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Dame Dash, the Blakroc project brought psychedelic blues duo The Black Keys together with an A-list of rappers to record 11 tracks over 11 days. It’s the usual formula of white rock dudes’ riffs and black street poets’ rhymes, but thanks to The Black Keys’ trippy take on the blues, this sounds like nothing you’ve heard before. The loopy sexual innuendoes of Ludacris and Ol’ Dirty Bastard on the opening track “Coochie” are the exception; elsewhere, the album is dark and dope, informed by the gritty observations of Mos Def, RZA, Q-Tip and the like. It’s all very indie and oozes street cred, which leads one to believe that this one will go down best with the Pitchfork hiperati.