Black Noi$e

Detroit’s Black Noi$e is equally praised for his intricate, textural hip-hop productions and his spacious, slightly twisted house and electro tracks. His trippy, complex beats have backed rappers such as Earl Sweatshirt, Danny Brown, and ZelooperZ, all of whom appear on his 2020 release Oblivion.
Black Noi$e (born Robert Mansel) got into several types of music while he was growing up, from punk to hip-hop. He started playing guitar in hardcore bands when he was a teenager, then eventually started making hip-hop beats, finding a similar energy in creating both forms of music. He worked with Danny Brown producer Skywlkr as Bulletproof Dolphin, DJ’ed for M.I.A. on her 2013 tour, and produced tracks for Remy Banks, Deniro Farrar, King 810, and others. Mixtape Nonbelievers (with BK Beats) was released in 2014, and Black Noi$e’s solo EP Memento Mori appeared in 2016. In 2017, Black Noi$e and rapper Navy Blue released the EP Soul Golden, and the Detroit producer’s first two house records appeared. A self-titled EP came out on Ann Arbor-based Vanity Press Records, and Time Crisis was issued by Shigeto’s Portage Garage Sounds.
Illusions, a full-length featuring co-production by Teklife-affiliated DJ Taye, New York-based beatmaker Nolife, and Detroit house producer John F.M., arrived on Vanity Press in 2018. Black Noi$e produced “The Mint” from Earl Sweatshirt’s highly acclaimed 2018 release Some Rap Songs, and joined the rapper as his touring DJ. Black Noi$e then became the first artist signed to Sweatshirt’s Warner Records-affiliated Tan Cressida imprint, and his track “The Band” (featuring Liv.e) preceded his 2020 full-length Oblivion. Additional guests on the album included Danny Brown, bbymutha, MIKE, and several others. ~ Paul Simpson