Blakroc - S/T

The Black Keys have always delivered their own distinct blend of two-man blues rock throughout the nine years they've been together and whilst they sound rough and edgy on CD, their influences actually stretch a lot further than just rock 'n' roll.

To strengthen this point, the twosome decided to create this: Blakroc, an exploration into their obsession for rap music and an all round impressive collaborative long-player featuring some of the biggest names in the rap game today (minus Lil Wayne for once thank god). 

It's immediately evident that this isn't going to be your typical 'rap' record from the very first moment intro song Coochie begins. It's a ridiculous title and the subject matter is a little basic and unnecessary (we'll leave it to you to find out what 'coochie' means) but it's the nasty drums and smothered, jangling guitar in the background that stamps The Black Keys all over the verses and chorus. Ludacris does his best to keep up with the alternative melody and we're given two impressively sampled verses from the now deceased Ol' Dirty Bastard to boot. It's a little too long and the rhythm suffers from repetition by about three minutes into it's four minute-plus duration but it's a decent, if a little empty start to a CD that improves the further down the track-listing you go.

Next track On The Vista features Mos Def and is a huge step forward in terms of overall flow and personality. It's obviously less crass than the into-track and Mos Def suits the blurry, experimental backing instrumentals. "Hard lights clear view on the vista, stars so close you could reach out and kiss one" he slurs at the beginning, somehow managing to rhyme 'vista' and 'one' without the slightest of troubles. It's brief, sitting at under three minutes (as are a host of tracks on the thirty-seven minute album) but it's one of the best efforts to be seen across the whole release.

It's a predominately breezy affair in terms of depth and emotion but it never once pretends to possess either of those elements and instead revels in it's sheer 'doing-it-for-the-fuck-of-it' personality. Throwing RZA and Pharoahe Monch together over a simple tinny snare and a psychedelic guitar riff (Dollaz & Sense) doesn't sound like the best of ideas on paper but it works so wonderfully with The Black Keys at the head, steering it away from the ridiculous and more into the enjoyably unconventional. 

As you progress further through the LP, you'll hear more from Mos Def and RZA as well as Q-Tip, Billy Danze and Jim Jones, all spitting bars just as comfortably as if it was their own record and all adding one more strange but pleasant notch onto the Blakroc bed-post. You'll find better rap in other records and you'll most definitely find superior rock releases elsewhere but as for a rap-rock conglomeration, well, you'd be hard pushed to find anything as well-crafted or as diverse as this.

Another definite highlight comes in the form of the wonderfully titled Stay Off The Fuckin' Flowers, featuring the aforementioned Wu-Tang Clan member RZA. It's a slow, burned-out number, conjuring the mood and image of a smokey jazz bar on a quiet evening. There's an aged, authentic edge to the main keyboard melody and the strummed, wobbling bass works wonders in keeping everything earthy and low. Again, it's painfully short (two and a half minutes in fact), forfeiting length so that other, weaker songs can unjustly spread their legs a little further. If there was ever a focal hiccup to the record it would most certainly be the duration of each track.

Blakroc's self-titled début is a jumbled, eleven-track, unique collection of a host of current and ageing rap-artists all willing to put their name behind two alternative-rock musicians to see how things turn out. Its an ode to rap, rock, fun, musical adventure, experimentalism and cleverly entwining genre amalgamations and though it's by no means perfect, it sure hits a spot that no other record of 2009 has found so far.