Dilla is the greatest producer I’ve ever heard.

Slum Village, Dilla, Royce Da 5’9, Eminem, Dwele, and so on. Both the underground and overground of hip-hop have been dominated it seems by one Midwestern city. Detriot, often ridiculed and maligned, has had a longstanding musical history, and the torch has been passed in recent generations to artists like MC/Producer Black Milk.

Gaining recognition in his native city earlier this decade Milk made waves by dropping the critically acclaimed 2008 album Tronic. Coming off of Dilla’s death the album (produced almost entirely by the MC) provided comfort and hope that the producer’s legacy was in good hands.

And with that there is much anticipation for the the follow up, Album of The Year, which drops on September 14th. Already highlighted with stage shows (showcasing the unmistakable Daru Jones) the project will hopefully get Milk’s name mentioned even more than in the past.

How you doin’ man?
I’m good man, I’m good. I’m just in NYC to rock this show.

Word. It’s been a minute since Tronic dropped, and I know we’re hotly anticipating Album of The Year. What can we look forward to when the album drops in September?

We have a few features on there. We got Royce Da 5’9, Elizi from Slum Village….

Man, I got to stop you right there, and we should’ve started on this question. What is it about Detroit that produces so much great hip-hop?

I don’t know man. I its not a city like New York or LA where there are a lot of things to distract you. All you can do in Detroit is work on your craft, be in the crib, be in the basement, and be in the studio working on what you love.

And we can’t talk about Detroit without talking about Dilla. How has he inspired you do do what you do?

Dilla is the greatest producer I’ve ever heard. If it wasn’t for Dilla man, I probably wouldn’t be doing music, and if I were doing beats, it probably wouldn’t be sounding like it does now. So his influence was real big.

But it’s also about taking his influence and and incorporating what I’m doing with my own style, you know?  Dilla, Pete Rock, and DJ Premier are my three greatest influences of all time.

Black Milk will be performing TOMORROW in DC at the Gibson Guitar Lounge. Information and flyer at the end of the interview.

Last Thursday, Black Milk rolled through DC, courtesy of the peoples at UNDER.CULT. Milk, fronted by a live band (big up to the amazing Daru Jones on drums), rocked a spot in a back alley in Capitol HIll. The Detroit rapper went in, blessing the crowd with jams from his classic album Tronic to his newest release Album of the Year.

I’ve been diggin’ Colin Munroe for a hot minute now, and I’m glad the dude is not only getting major promotion, but now has some heavy hitters behind him. “Piano Lessons,” is off of Colin’s Unsung Hero mixtape which dropped last month.

This year, instead of just having me yap on about my Best of lists, I reached out to several of our readers to give their Top 5 of the best releases of the year. I’ll be profiling a new reader each day until the end of the 2008. Today’s reader is Stephen, who works for an indie label in Brooklyn, NY, and a top reader of the site.

Name: Stephen
Location: Brooklyn

Albums
Portishead- Third
Black Milk- Tronic
Bon Iver- For Emma
No Age- Nouns
Dodos- Visiter

Songs
MGMT- “Time To Pretend”
Kid Cudi- “Day N Night” (honorable mentions to “The Prayer” too)
Big Boi- “Royal Flush”
Busta Rhymes- “Don’t Touch Me”
Lil Wayne- “A Mili” (and its myriad remixes)
Estelle f/ Kanye West- “American Boy”
Terminology f/ Bun B.- “This Is How We Rock”
Jay-Z- “Jocking Jay-Z”
Mr. Oizo- Stunt (Flying Lotus Mix)

Mixtapes
Gaslamp Killer- I Spit On Your Grave
Santogold- Uptown Top Ranking
Zion I- The Search and the Seizure
Beyond The Wizards Sleeve- Ark 1
Kid Cudi- A Kid Name Cudi
Eli Escobar- We Make It Good (Homeless Mix)
Stats & Black- 48 Hours in Transit
J.Rocc- Cooking Ingredients
Cosmo Baker- Live At The Do-Over
88 Keys- Adam’s Case Files

Colin Munroe is the Unsung Hero Mixtape (zip file)

The long awaited mixtape from Toronto artist Colin Munroe is finally here. Colin Munroe is the Unsung Hero features collaborations with Wale, Mickey Factz, Joell Ortiz, Blaqstarr and Drake, with production from Black Milk & Dallas Austin behind the boards. Munroe is going to be a dude to watch in 2009, and this mixtape is one of the few projects that incorporate hip-hop, pop, and indie rock successfully. What do y’all think?

Colin is currently on tour with Proton, check the tour dates:

Dec 2 – The Boat – Toronto
Dec 3 – Viper Room -Los Angeles
Dec 4 – Studio @ Webster Hall w/ Proton, Izza Kizza & DJ Blaqstarr – New York
Dec 6 – Lenny’s w/ Proton & Spree Wilson – Atlanta
Dec 9 2008 – Highline Ballrooom w/ Wale, KiD CuDi & Mark Ronson (dj set) – New York