by Marisa BrownAlthough it has the look of a true record, Sound of the City -- put out on Black Milk's own Music House label before he signed to Fat Beats and went on to release one of the best hip-hop albums of the year in 2007 with Popular Demand -- often seems more like a mixtape than an official full-length, with nearly as many sub-two-minute tracks than not. This, however, doesn't detract from the overall feel and flow of Sound of the City, which, thanks to Black's strong beats and engaging vocals, keeps the pace up even with all the breaks. Lyrically, he's not as sophisticated as he can be on Popular Demand, but his flow is good and fits his rawer, soul-based production well. In fact, it is the production that is most interesting here, moving from the very Dilla-esque "Pimp Cup" to a Georgia Anne Muldrow-ish "Eternal" to the harder, Beatles-sampling "Bang Dis Sh&@t" while still maintaining his own distinctive sound. This versatility all...