Milk. - Never Dated

Continuing with the slept-on theme, here's more proof that Rick Rubin never truly grew out of hip-hop, he just grew a beard and got weirder. That's not meant to be taken as disrespect, but how many people can you think of that produced Neil Diamond, Donovan, Danzig, Slayer, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, LL Cool J, Run-DMC and more? I'll leave that list thoroughly incomplete because I could spend all day writing it, but it certainly takes someone with a unique perspective to effectively work with such a diverse list of artists.

Rick Rubin didn't produce Milk., rather he signed him to American Recordings and got the Never Dated album released in 1995. Milk., and yes that period belongs after his name, handled all the production apart from a remix by Joe Quixx and King Tech with guest vocals from the jazzyfatnastees as well as a track with co-production from Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys. As for where you may have heard Milk. from before, he's the man who provided the vocals in Audio Two, generally remembered for the awesome Top Billin', although Never Dated is just as good as anything Audio Two ever recorded with Milk. coming hard and the beats being very solid. So, why didn't it blow up then? Well...

I've mentioned before that American Recordings seems to have a poor reputation regarding the availability of it's catalog. If you're signed to American and your name isn't Johnny Cash, or if you're not part of Slayer, your catalog will most likely languish somewhere in the digital realm without mentions, reissues or any push from whatever label holds your rights. Again, none of this is meant as disrespectful to Rick, but it's clear that his label's legacy will best be remembered for Mr. Cash's late-period career resurrection and as an off-shoot of Def Jam. Back to Milk. though, it probably didn't help that his solo debut is just over twenty-five minutes long and, no matter how good it was, saw release in the mid-nineties during the peak of gangsta rap and grimy, underground hip-hop. On top of that, while it may have been intended purely for entertainment purposes, the phone call interludes on the album, with Milk.'s friends and associates calling him angrily regarding work he was supposed to turn in may be another reason he remained more of an old-school memory than a then-modern contemporary.

Whatever the real reason for Milk.'s lack of solo success, he's in top form on Never Dated, bringing lots of classic boom-bap beats and flows. It also helps that the record is practically over before it starts because his high-pitched voice might burn some listeners quickly. Unfortunately, the best moment on the record is of course Spam, the collaboration with Ad Rock and Mike D. on drums. Milk. would most likely claim people were playing favorites with Spam as the single, especially with the Beastie association, but it's the only track here that has a real chorus and sounds truly focused, whereas tracks like Go 2 Hell! and Rude & Cocky sound like they might have been mostly written off the top of his head, and that's not necessarily a good thing. Some rappers really shine when going off the beat, but Milk. simply sounds like he's giving a stream-of-consciousness rant when he tries to experiment.

All in all, Milk.'s Never Dated isn't going to change your life but you'll probably find yourself singing Get Off My Log if you're not watching yourself. The remix is even better with the extra chorus vocals from the jazzyfatnastees. Too bad things didn't work out for Milk. but at least Never Dated is a fun listen. Enjoy!


Milk. - Never Dated

01 Intro
02 Get Off My Log (feat. Big V)
03 Laid & Paid II
04 Spam (feat. The King Ad Rock)
05 Rude & Cocky
06 Go 2 Hell!
07 Ask Me How Thick
08 Smoke Up My Ass
09 Get Off My Log (the jazzyfatwoody remix)