BLAKROC is the new blues rock meets hip-hop project spearheaded by Damon Dash fusing The Black Keys with a varying assembly of big names in hip-hop such as Mos Def, Rza, ODB, Raekwon, Q-Tip, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch, and even a few more. The 11-track album was recorded in 11 days with 11 guests and comes out on 11/27/09 (I guess 11/11 wasn’t a viable release date?).
In a lead up to the album, the official BLAKROC website is hosting weekly webisodes chronicling the behind-the-scenes creative processes that came together to result in what is now to be known as BLAKROC (for future webisodes be sure to check back at the official site).
The week 1 webisode was more of an intro video showing Damon Dash’s excitement and aspirations for the BLAKROC project; however, week 2 finds Mos Def into the studio laying down a few vocal tracks and vibing along with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach (see video below).
Based on all the big names involved and the underrated abilities of The Black Keys, this should be a pretty solid release but only time will tell. For now, check out the first released song, “Hoochi Coo” ft. Jim Jones and Mos Def (with the vocal chorus Mos is shown recording in the week 2 webisode) as a free download below (courtesy of donewaiting.com). Also, the week 2 BLAKROC webisode is posted below.
BLAKROC – Hoochie Coo ft. Jim Jones & Mos Def
