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Total Tracks: 14   Total Length: 32:55

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2008 Innovators: Blu
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2008 Innovators: Blu

By Hua Hsu, eMusic Contributor

When Johnson Barnes was growing up in Southern California, he could have never imagined a career in hip-hop, mostly because hip-hop was more or less a total mystery to him. Raised in a strict, religious household, Barnes spent most of his time in church, hoping his mother and reverend stepfather wouldn't find and destroy his hidden stash of rap tapes. (His foundational texts: DMX, Timbaland and Magoo and Ma$e.) Now, Blu is making up for all… more »

Year in Hip Hop 2008
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Year in Hip Hop 2008

By Dart Adams, eMusic Contributor

I know what you're thinking. It's barely December, and everyone is already playing Christmas music. Meanwhile, you're still making turkey sandwiches from the cast-off pieces of your Thanksgiving bird. Similarly, it's barely even gotten cold outside, and people are already making Best Of 2008 lists? What gives, people? Well, that's what we do here — we keep track of the best albums of the year so that you know what hot tips to pass along… more »

They Say All Music Guide

An “open” microphone is another term for an amateur showcase, and underground DJ Blu here provides a forum for a batch of potentially up-and-coming rappers. As might be expected, the talents on display are at varying levels of competence. Tribe of Levi, for example, sound just about ready for prime time on “The Dance,” while the members of ScienZe seem to be reciting their first-ever rhymes, without much sense of what’s going on around them, in “Taking the Day Off.” The most consistently interesting aspect of the album, however, is the backgrounds. Blu can construct tracks out of a combination of found sounds, odd musical elements, and voices, and they range from the keyboard-inflected “Gotta Be Free” and “Twenty Seven” to the soulful “Remember Me” and the jazzy “Brown Sucre.” Blu himself speaks of “switching from independents to majors” on “Steel Remains (Raw),” and that’s what he may be doing in the not-so-far-off future. – William Ruhlmann

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