Random Axe received acclaim from music critics.[13] At Metacritic,which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics,the album received an average score of 80,based on 12 critics,indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13]Allmusic editor David Jeffries complimented its "literate but loose rhymes,free spirits,and dope beats" and wrote in conclusion,"the album barely crosses the 40-minute mark and it doesn’t bother pleasing the crowd,but it rewards its core audience with a freestyle feel and an uncompromising allegiance to true hip-hop".[2] Nate Santos of XXL noted "forceful lyrics over light flutes,choppy keys and thumping bass" and stated,"the project feels unified,and the three artists mesh well with one another throughout".[11] HipHopDX writer William Ketchum noted Sean Price's and Guilty Simpson's "hard-nosed rhymes with a twist of dark humor",and wrote that Black Milk "eschews his usual soulful,electronic-influenced soundbeds for a collection of tailor-made gritty,percussive bangers".[5] David Amidon of PopMatters called it "a throwback to the mid-‘90s",adding that "because it sounds,and more importantly feels,so unified and right".[8] Cokemachineglow's Chet Betz commended its "hard" aesthetic and "their vision for street rap,undiluted and pure in its filthy flow straight from the gutters".[14]
However,Pitchfork Media's Martin Douglas viewed that the album "feels carelessly phoned in at times" and stated,"the verses are reliably good,but the tedium of clock punching replaces the spirit of competition".[7] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club perceived "self-indulgence" and lack of "diversity" in the lyrics,but praised Black Milk's "quietly assured production" and wrote that the group is "more than the sum of its considerable parts".[3]Okayplayer's Niela Orr called Random Axe "a release that’s thematically consistent if not repetitive and evocative of the three’s surefire chemistry" and dubbed Black Milk's production "probably the most positive (feeling-wise) attribute of the album,even though the beats are moody,dark,and gritty".[6] Jesse Serwer of Time Out wrote that Black Milk "finds complementary foils in surly Brooklyn rapper Price (of Boot Camp Clik and Heltah Skeltah fame) and Simpson,a J Dilla disciple whose flow is as intimidating as his name suggests".[9]Boston Phoenix writer Chris Faraone commented that Black Milk "pays aesthetic homage to Madlib and J Dilla's Champion Sound".[4] M.F. DiBella of URB commented that "[Guilty] and Sean Price are blessed with two of the best voices in hip-hop" and stated,"The beats here just make your head drift. Milk has cultivated an electro-centric musical sensibility;a sound every bit as reminiscent of Kraftwerk,Gary Numan &Brian Eno as J Dilla".[10]
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