Hell can take on many forms; that much is evident on “Scum,” the latest single to be shared from Detroit rapper/producer Black Milk’s forthcoming LP.
On the shapeshifting track, the music mutates as verses bounce between Milk and members of Random Axe (Sean Price and Guilty Simpson), as if each man’s personal infernos have come to life in sonic state. It’s another promising taste of If There’s a Hell Below, which sees release October 28 via Milk’s Computer Ugly imprint.
“Scum” establishes a baleful mood right away, opening on a cascade of almost militant percussion and a mysterious vocal sample before Black Milk enters with a lyric that’s equal parts medicine and ball: “Grabbin’ the ball back, while I’m grabbin’ the hard hat / Hard act to follow, we the hard pill to swallow.” But this first act finds a worthy successor in Sean Price, who comes in just as the beat goes from martial to Martian, and the funky accompaniment ideally suits his gruff flow.
Things continue apace as Price recalls images loaded with troubling overtones —“the ape in the window,” “a Budweiser African king poster” — until the backing music cuts out and we briefly hear a man entreating those who want to deal with him “to come right.”
That’s exactly what Guilty Simpson does in the final act of the song, which finds the aural backdrop going even further into the astral plane. The last rapper makes reference to the pharmaceutical (“medicine through the cobra’s bite”), which brings everything full circle.
A remedy can change forms just like Hell can. If so, this venomous slice of hip-hop is a remedy for what ails you.
Listen to “Scum” here.