US producer/ rapper Black Milk (aka Curtis Cross) touches down in Australia this November for a national tour, which sees him put his versatile production skills in the spotlight.
Born and raised in Detroit, Curtis is now based out of Los Angeles and says he is feeling good about the upcoming tour. “It feels good because I haven’t been to Australia in a while now,” he says.
“I think the last time I was out there was probably 2010, so yeah it’s been a little while and I’m excited to get back out there, play some music, perform a few songs and have some fun. Australia is one of my favourite places to travel to and perform, so this will be I think my third tour in Australia.
“With this particular tour, I’m going to be coming out there by myself this time,” he explains. “I’ll be performing two different kinds of sets in one. I’m going to be playing a lot of unheard music and production and beats, then towards the end I perform some actual songs off my projects and albums.”
Although his previous album, ‘If There’s A Hell Below’, was released in 2014, Curtis has been busy producing tracks for artists such as Danny Brown, and touring with his own band Nat Turner. “This tour and performance is a little different than my usual tour I do with my band Nat Turner,” he says.
“This is the other set; I say this set is based more in production and beats. I haven’t gotten the chance to do as many of those type of performance as I wanted to, because most of the time I tour with the band.
“I’ve done this set a few times in the past, a few tours in different cities but most people know me for travelling with the band, but I’m definitely trying to get more into my production side and performance side of things. I actually love that, it’s a different kind of energy and feeling for me when I’m up there playing beats versus when I’m up there performing songs and rhyming with the band.”
Splitting the shows into two, distinct sets allows Curtis to offer two different listening experiences for fans who are intimately familiar with his rhymes and recorded tracks, as well as those who want to hear brand new material not available in any recorded form. “I love both performances just as much but with the beat performance, it’s cool to be able to get a chance to play a lot of music people haven’t heard and being able to play a lot of music that’s not on any release that’s out there.
“I’ll play stuff I made in the studio at home and give them a chance to hear it through some big speakers. It’s cool to try and get in front of an audience that can appreciate that type of performance, and appreciate hearing and experiencing music they’ve never heard before.”
Black Milk Shows
Thu 17 Nov - Section 8 (Melbourne)Fri 18 Nov - The Zoo (Brisbane)
Sat 19 Nov - Hudson Ballroom (Sydney)
Sun 20 Nov - Strawberry Fields Festival (Tocumwal)
Thu 24 Nov - Transit Bar (Canberra)
