The brainchild of The Black Keys, former Roc-A-Fella records partner Damon Dash and John Peets of Q Prime South, BlakRoc started as a studio experiment. The blues-influenced, garage-rock duo entered the studio, jammed and then brought in some of the biggest names in modern hip hop to rap over live instrumentation (no samples were used on the record). The results feature a number of today’s biggest MCs, including Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch, Jim Jones, NOE, Nicole Wray and Billy Danze. Acclaimed music journalist Alan Light sits down with The Black Keys to talk about the project’s origins and recording, what other musical adventures the duo have planned and how two white rockers from Ohio came up with one of the year’s best rap records.

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