Blu
With his charismatic SoCal everyman demeanor, Blu was championed at the outset of his recording career when he collaborated with Emanon DJ/producer Exile for the highly acclaimed LP Below the Heavens (2007). While the album became so well-regarded that Blu and Exile performed it in its entirety a decade later, Blu has never relied on its reputation, typically releasing multiple full-length projects each year since his emergence from the West Coast underground. He hit Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with another Exile collaboration, Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them (2012), and did it again with Good to Be Home (2014). Since then, his discography has grown at an even faster rate, highlighted by LPs recorded with the likes of MED and Madlib (2015's Bad Neighbor), Nottz (2018's Gods in the Spirit, Titans in the Flesh), and Oh No (2019's A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night). He also reunited with Exile for the 2020 set Miles.
Born Johnson Barnes in Inglewood, California, Blu, whose stepfather was a pastor, was influenced by gospel and Christian rap when he was developing his MC skills in middle and high school. His musical turning point came when he heard the Common classic "I Used to Love H.E.R." (1994), as well as the Chicago MC's third album, One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997). From then on, Blu abandoned his schoolyard freestyle frame of mind and dedicated his abilities to crafting well-written songs. As he started doing live performances, he paid his dues working as a hype man for several underground rap and soul artists, including Slum Village, Steve Spacek, Platinum Pied Pipers, and Emanon. His relationship with Emanon member Exile and a newfound mindset in making music pointed him toward signing with L.A. independent Sound in Color in 2004, which for the young MC meant brushing off interest from Interscope and Death Row.
Subsequently, he cut a few tracks for Exile's Sound in Color album, Dirty Science (2006), recorded features for other L.A. artists, and self-pressed his Lifted EP (also 2006). When the Exile collaboration Below the Heavens (2007) hit shelves, the pair weren't all that well-known in underground hip-hop, but Blu's deft songwriting and Exile's soul-drenched, J Dilla-influenced production quickly amassed them a national audience. Below the Heavens ended up on critics' year-end lists and launched Blu into the public hip-hop eye. Remaining independent, Blu later turned to Sound in Color labelmate and L.A.-via-Detroit MC/producer Ta'Raach (formerly known as Lacks) for the collaborative project C.R.A.C. Knuckles. Over the next five years, Blu released a total of seven albums and mixtapes, including 2011's Open (2011) and Blu & Exile's Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them (2012). The previously unreleased albums Her Favorite Colo(U)r (2011) and NoYork! (2013) also finally saw proper release during this period.
For the rest of the 2010s, Blu was no less productive and still favored collaborative albums. These sessions included Good to Be Home (produced by Bombay; 2014), the MED and Madlib team-up Bad Neighbor (2015), Gods in the Spirit, Titans in the Flesh (produced by Nottz; 2018), and The Blueprint (co-billed with Shafiq Husayn; also 2018). During the last year of that decade alone, Blu joined Oh No for A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night, reconvened with Exile for True & Livin', and with Damu the Fudgemunk made Ground & Water. At least a dozen EPs and mixtapes were issued in the same period. Another Blu & Exile LP, Miles, arrived in 2020 with the collaborative Mickey Factz and Nottz EP, The Narrative, arriving the next year. He also peppered his schedule with a variety of singles.
© Cyril Cordor /TiVo
Artistes similaires
-
BLÜ DREAMS
Soul - Paru chez Fairy Tale Dreamers le 11 janv. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Green Sequence / P Junior
Dance - Paru chez Machine Records le 18 avr. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Adventure
Électronique - Paru chez Singularity Records le 29 juin 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Remember When
Alternatif et Indé - Paru chez Octiive le 28 oct. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Quest
Kinzuu, Blu, Versa, Hilloy, Pixel Wave
Électronique - Paru chez Singularity Records le 1 janv. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
watch yo bacc
Électronique - Paru chez Psychocybin Recordings le 25 févr. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Cream Soda
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Black Hockey Players Ent le 15 août 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Perso
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez 2623229 Records DK2 le 13 janv. 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poison
Alternatif et Indé - Paru chez Fairy Tale Dreamers le 13 sept. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
With You (Malibu Money Remix)
Pop - Paru chez Blu & Alexandru Bleu le 4 mars 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bounce It Girl
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Golden Music Group LLC le 11 sept. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boosterpack: vol. 1
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez tventytventy, blu & modi le 28 févr. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
cleared my schedule (from the vault) [short] (live from 1515)
Alternatif et Indé - Paru chez 3187121 Records DK le 1 mars 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-