9. Black Milk
underground rap/soul/left-field hip hop http://youtu.be/OBNpwFPVo1Y Just a city boy, born and raised in south (maybe) Detroit he took a career path calling himself Black Milk. Wow, that was terrible. Even for me. Regardless though, Black Milk is the alter ego of Detroit producer and rapper Curtis Cross, who released his fifth album under the pseudonym last year in the shape of No Poison No Paradise. On the strength of that album alone Black Milk is something you need to check out, but aside from his earlier albums there's a substantial hunk of funk in a back catalogue that boasts collaborative albums, singles a plenty, an EP, and numerous guest spots. Dealing in an addictive strain of hip hop that boasts its soul influences as stylishly as it plays in the murky depths of hazy synths and piercing sequences, all underpinned with lazy jazz beats and the subtlest hints of a significantly stoned funk. Cross freely cites influences like J Dilla, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul, among others so you can see where he's coming from, and you can spot current contemporaries in the likes of Danny Brown, Pharoahe Monch and Chance the Rapper.