Black Milk is a complicated artist. On some tracks he’s clever and brings a new bending sound to hip-hop. But his rapping skills are still subpar at best. This leaves “DiVE,” his newest project, in a gray middle place between complex greatness and bland repetition.

“Save Yourself” and “Black NASA,” the first two tracks, are by far the strongest. The new sound Black Milk brought out on “DiVE” works best there, before the Lo-fi beats get seemingly recycled for the next nine songs.

With the exception of “Black NASA,” every other feature by another artist is not only unwelcome, but seriously damages the vibe and sound Black Milk was going for.

The sound of this album/EP (no one can decide which it is apparently) sets a tone of deep reflection and tranquility. Sitting down to listen to it or running it in the car for some background noise doesn’t do it justice.

The vibe is great taken song for song. The problem comes when you connect them all together. It almost seems like Black Milk was going for a flow from track to track like in Logic’s “The Incredible True Story.” A mark that he missed by a long shot.

Was he even throwing darts at the proverbial board or just lobbing some sounds at it and hoping for the best?

However, I did find myself enjoying this new offering. I can recommend a lot of things as entertaining but not good, but I don’t find that “DiVE” fits into this category.

For one thing, if nothing else, parts of it are truly great and will almost certainly find their way into a playlist of mine. The enjoyable tracks are, again, “Save Yourself” and “Black NASA.” The passable ones are “Out Loud” and “Now Begin.”

Unfortunately for Black Milk, two solid picks and two acceptable ones hardly serve to produce a passing grade for the eleven track project.