Music
Black Milk
born 1983 · rapper, record producer
Detroit rapper-producer who carried the J Dilla and Slum Village tradition into the 2000s with dense, live-sounding beats and albums such as Tronic and Album of the Year.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 43- Birth name
- Curtis Eugene Cross
- Detroit years
- 1983–present
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Curtis Cross was born in Detroit and attended Cooley High School on the northwest side. As a teenager he absorbed the production style of J Dilla and began working with Slum Village's circle, contributing beats to the 2001 Detroit compilation Dirty District. In 2004 he formed the trio B.R. Gunna with Young RJ and Fat Ray, and his solo debut Sound of the City, Vol. 1 followed in 2005. Signing with Fat Beats, he released Popular Demand (2007), Tronic (2008) and Album of the Year (2010), and produced most of Elzhi's The Preface. He formed Random Axe with fellow Detroiter Guilty Simpson and New York's Sean Price, and in 2011 recorded the single “Brain” with Jack White. Increasingly working with a live band and jazz musicians, he released No Poison No Paradise (2013) and If There's a Hell Below (2014). He has collaborated with Danny Brown, Royce da 5'9″, Black Thought and Robert Glasper.
Highlights
- Produced most of Elzhi's The Preface (2008).
- Albums include Tronic (2008) and Album of the Year (2010).
- Member of Random Axe with Guilty Simpson and Sean Price.
- Recorded the single “Brain” (2011) with Jack White.
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · late 1990s
Cooley High School
Demolished · 1928–2010
His 1928 Mediterranean Revival high school; it closed in 2010, burned in 2017 and was demolished in August 2026 for a community complex.