Black Ken

Black Ken
Mixtape by
ReleasedAugust 17, 2017
Genre
Length99:14
LabelBasedWorld
ProducerThe BasedGod
Lil B chronology
Thugged Out Pissed Off
(2015)
Black Ken
(2017)
Platinum Flame
(2018)

Black Ken is a mixtape by American rapper Lil B. It was self-released on August 17, 2017. Black Ken was self-produced by Lil B, and was dedicated to Diddy, Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, among others. It was first announced in 2010, with the release of singles and a 26-track preview to DatPiff.

In November 2016, Lil B tweeted that he was listening to songs from Black Ken, adding that it would be released in the coming months. Martin Shkreli, who had purchased Wu-Tang Clan's album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin (2015), expressed interest in purchasing the mixtape, and received a positive response from Lil B. The next month, Lil B released the song "My House" in collaboration with producer Metro Boomin as a single for Black Ken, though it was not featured on the mixtape.

Critics highlighted Lil B's stylistic versatility throughout the mixtape, and considered the production and rapping performances an improvement over his previous work. Black Ken is a hip-hop mixtape, with elements of hyphy and funk. Critics also said that the mixtape features 1980s West Coast hip-hop influences, with Francis Gooding of The Wire writing that Black Ken "orbits around [Lil B's] hometown of Berkeley". Black Ken consists of 27 tracks and one feature from rapper ILoveMakonnen.