If you’ve been following underground hip-hop at all these past couple of years, chances are you’ve heard of Black Milk, the Detroit producer/MC who’s been releasing impressively and consistently good material since 2005, when his solo debut, Sound of the City, came out. And if you haven’t been following underground hip-hop, Black is a good reason to get started.

His connection with Slum Village (he’s been producing tracks for them since 2002) and his Motor City roots make him an easy comparison to the late James Yancey, and while there are certainly similarities in their styles, Black Milk is much more than just a Dilla protégé. He’s a smart artist with an ear for melody, as likely to invoke Just Blaze as he is the left coast, which makes him well-suited to work with a number of MCs, the variety in his beats able to match the variety in the others’ flows. His preference is Detroit rappers, and his records are full of collaborations with Phat Kat, SV members, and Guilty Simpson (with whom he’s planning a full-length, alongside Sean Price), but as his recent — and very excellent — mixtape with Bishop Lamont, Caltroit, showed, he’s got the skills to produce for (and spit with) MCs around the country.

His latest project, The Set Up, which came out in March, pairs him with fellow Detroiter Fat Ray (with whom he worked in the group B.R. Gunna) and shows how far he’s developed even since Popular Demand, one of 2007’s best releases. Black Milk easily holds his own on the mic, but it’s what he does on the boards that’s most impressive. “Lookout,” with its emphasis on percussion, bounces against Fat Ray’s fluid delivery, making melody out of rhythm, while “Nothing to Hide” mixes what could easily be disparate elements (soul samples, spacey Madlib-esque keys, and triumphant horns) into something completely seamless. The beats can be complex and strange at times, but Black’s insistence on well-constructed, interesting, tuneful production makes them both approachable and memorable, and makes the album an early contender for year-end best-of lists.

• “Lookout” (From The Set Up)
• “Take Control” (From The Set Up)
• “Sound the Alarm” (From Popular Demand)
• “Run” (From Guilty Simpson’s Ode to the Ghetto)
• “Survival Kit” (From Phat Kat’s Carte Blanche)