Black Milk

Black Milk – American rapper, songwriter, producer

Black Milk’s real name is Curtis Eugene Cross. He was born on 14 August 1983 in Detroit, Michigan. Not much is known about the rapper’s childhood. He graduated from Cooley High School but decided not to get a higher education

In 2004, Curtis began his music career. He created a band called B.R. Gunna. Besides Cross, the lineup included Young RJ and Fat Ray. The musicians recorded an album, Dirty District Vol. 2, which was a continuation of another group’s LP. The album didn’t become successful.

After working with the band, Curtis decided to pursue a solo career. He left B.R. Gunna in 2005 and recorded his first album, Sound of the City. The album didn’t appear on the charts and wasn’t commercially successful. However, the artist gained recording experience, which he used on his road to fame. The album featured the flowing songs, which became popular on the local level, "Danger", "Sound of the City", "This That", "Nigga What", "Pimp Cup".

In 2006, the musician released an EP, Broken Wax. Eight songs from the EP were later recorded on a bonus disc for the next LP, Popular Demand, which came out in 2007. The LP featured such popular songs as "Popular Demand", "Space Intro", "You've Been My Inspiration", "Insane". They were recorded with the assistance of such guest singers as Guilty Simpson, Phat Kat, AHK, Ty & Kory, and others.

In 2008, the rapper released his third LP, Tronic. It was the first LP recorded by the artist, which managed to make it into the charts. The album climbed to the 76th spot of Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and came in 12th on Heatseekers Albums Chart. The successful singles were "Give the Drummer Sum"/"The Matrix", "Losing Out", "Bounce", and “Hell Yeah.” At that time, many clubs tried to book Black Milk for their events.

The same year, Black Milk worked with other artists. He collaborated with Bishop Lamont to record his LP, Caltroit, worked with Fat Ray on The Set Up and helped Elzhi with The Preface. Curtis showed an impressive talent as a producer.

After a two-year break, the musician recorded the next studio album, Album of the Year. Finally, Curtis’ album appeared on the most popular chart, Billboard 200. Even though it only reached the 136th place, the achievement was still formidable. The album also climbed to the 3rd spot of Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums Chart.

In 2011, Curtis devoted most of his time to producing albums. He worked with Sean Price and Guilty Simpson to create Random Axe and with Danny Brown on Black & Brown!. Random Axe came in 83rd on Billboard 200, which was highly important to Curtis’ career as a producer.

Black Milk spent the next two years working as a producer and writing songs for new albums. In 2013, he released Synth or Soul and No Poison No Paradise. The latter was recorded with Mel, Dwele, Quelle Chris, Tone Trezure, Ab, Black Thought, and Robert Glasper. It featured such songs as "Codes & Cab Fare", "Interpret Sabotage", "Sunday’s Best", "Monday’s Worst”. Neither of the albums made it into the charts. The same year, Curtis and Mel worked on the album Burning Stones.

In 2014, the artist recorded an EP, Glitches in the Break. Right after the release, he presented an LP, If There's a Hell Below. The album climbed to the 13th spot of Billboard’s Heatseekers Album Chart and featured successful songs, "Everyday Was", "Leave The Bones Behind", "Story and Her", and "What It's Worth".

In 2016, Curtis and Nat Turner worked on albums, The Rebellion Sessions and Sunday Outtakes.

In 2018, Black Milk presented his next LP, Fever. So far, it hasn’t appeared in the charts.

The artist records new songs, works as a producer, and performs live.