If There’s a Hell Below is the name of Detroit rapper-producer Black Milk’s soon-to-be-released sixth studio album, and if the title indicates where the MC is headed, at least he’s in good company. Guests on the record include kindred spirits such as Ab-Soul, Blu, Random Axe, Gene Obey, and Pete Rock. But on the LP’s latest advance single — “Gold Piece” — it’s an unexpected appearance by the Trill OG of UGK, Bun B, that truly stokes the flames of this hip-hop inferno.
The track opens in media res, as if the pitched-up soul sample were shaken awake by the accompanying sirens; however, once the stupor of sleep has worn off and the drums kick in, a dreamlike quality shares space with harsh realism. Black Milk’s effortless flow contrasts unfinished homework and broken homes with street smarts and wild crews. The music slows down and Milk asks: “In the belly of the beast / Are we in these streets / Just to stand here with a Jesus piece?”
Here’s where Bun B come in, responding with verses that are as aggressive as they are sweet, mixing muscles with molasses. He’s hungry, but whether it’s for a fight or for a feast doesn’t matter, as he equates the two. In the background, a flute erupts in a flurry of notes that recalls Muhammad Ali’s “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” mantra. This gripping track ends with a coda that drifts back into the slumber from which it first awoke. It’s all of a piece, and it’s all pure gold.
If There’s a Hell Below comes out on October 28 via Computer Ugly. Listen to “Gold Piece” below: