Blu

All Music Guide:

With his cool-headed SoCal demeanor and everyman charisma, Blu was championed at the onset of his recording career when he collaborated with Emanon DJ/producer Exile for the highly acclaimed LP Below the Heavens (2007). Born Johnson Barnes in Inglewood, CA, Blu, whose stepfather was a pastor, was very 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 first 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 onward, 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, of course, Emanon. His relationship with Exile and 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 records for Exile's Sound in Color album, Dirty Science (2006), recorded features for other L.A. artists, and self-pressed his Lifted EP in 2006. When Below the Heavens first hit shelves in August 2007, Blu and Exile were virtual unknowns in underground hip-hop, but Blu's deft songwriting and Exile's soul-drenched, Jay Dee-influenced production quickly amassed them a national audience. Below the Heavens ended up on many critics' year-end lists and, particularly, 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.

Wikipedia:

Johnson Barnes (born April 15, 1983), better known by his stage name Blu, is an American West Coast rapper and producer from Los Angeles, California. Following the major success of his 2007 debut album, Below the Heavens, Blu was named HipHop DX's "Rookie of the Year". Since then, Blu has become one of the most prolific underground artists in the Los Angeles area, releasing "six full-length albums, and countless other projects and mixtapes" since his emergence on the rap scene. Blu has also become as proficient a producer as he has a rapper. In September 2011, Blu released his commercial album Open, his 4th solo project which features tracks all produced by the West Coast emcee.

Early life [edit]

Johnson Barnes was born on April 15, 1983 in San Pedro, California. Raised by his mother and stepfather who was a pastor, Barnes was highly influenced by gospel and Christian rap when he was growing up. However, Barnes' was also influenced by gangsta rap that he received from his father, contributing to his delivery of conscious yet raw lyrics. In his early days in the music business, Johnson worked as a hype man for underground rap and soul artists such as Slum Village, Steve Spacek, Platinum Pied Pipers, and Emanon. However, taking influence from Common, Barnes began turning from freestyle rhyming to crafting songs. In an interview with HipHopDx, Barnes talks about what it was like to listen to Common's 1994 song I Used to Love H.E.R.:

"When I heard it, it really changed my life. I felt like I had heard Hip Hop for the first time. It made me change my content and my whole approach. It made me serious about writing and wanting to say something."

Music career [edit]

2003 [edit]

Some of the earliest tracks by Blu can be found on the 2003 mixtape Bruised Brothers, done with fellow L.A. emcee Blacc also known as Jac Spade. Spade is also a producer and has worked with the likes of Planet Asia and Chali 2na.

2004-08 [edit]

Blu signed to L.A. independent label Sound in Color in 2004, choosing the label ahead of other big name companies such as Interscope Records and Death Row Records. After Blu was introduced to Los Angeles based producer Exile by Aloe Blacc, Blu released his debut album Below the Heavens in August 2007. New York weekly newspaper The Village Voice called the album "one of the most thoughtful indie-rap releases in some time". Following the album's success and Blu being named as Rookie of the Year by HipHopDX, the rapper began working with Detroit rapper-producer Ta'Raach, releasing the collaborative album The Piece Talks under Tres Records in April 2008. In September of that same year, the company released Blu's collaborative album Johnson&Jonson with producer Mainframe. In an interview with HipHopDX, Blu talked about his work in the underground scene and what motivated him to continue writing:

"The game in 2008 is not perfect and people complain and complain about how wack music is, but there's so much dope shit out there if you just turn the radio and TV off. I find ill shit all the fucking time and I'm like there's way too much music out there".

Following the reception of Johnson&Jonson, Blu and Mainframe formed their joint company New World Color. In celebration of the move, the two released their EP E.Q.E.P.; featuring rappers such as Gonjasufi and Dirty Paper. Aside from these commercial projects, Blu also released his second solo project (So)ul Amazing.

2009-10 [edit]

In 2009, Blu released his third solo album entitled HerFavoriteColo(u)r. Although the album was originally released as a free mixtape, the tape was re-released as in album in conjunction with Nature Sounds in 2011. The album is known for its jazz, neo soul feel as well its samples of artists such as Billie Holiday and Jimi Hendrix and Curtis Mayfield. During this year, Blu also released his mixtape (So)ul Amazing II with DJ Heat. The tape features a wide variety of artists including Talib Kweli, will.i.am, Kid Cudi, Evidence, The Alchemist, and Co$$.

In 2009, hip hop magazine XXL named Blu as one of their Top 10 Freshmen of 09'. That same year, Blu also began experimenting with production, releasing his 8 track instrumental NoSleepForADay. The year also found Blu signed to major label Warner Bros..

The following year, Blu released his lyrical/instrumental full length LP theGodleeBarnes.

2011 and Warner Bros. [edit]

2011 was one of the biggest years for Blu in terms of music production. In January, Blu released And If You See The E Drop Em, a title taken from a line on his first track on Below the Heavens:

Blu has proliferated highly in terms of commercial releases this year, producing three albums titled Jesus, NoYork!, and Open with Nature Sounds; the latter of which features a variety of artists with tracks all produced by the emcee. While the album Jesus was released independently under New World Color in July, NoYork!, a project that was supposed to be Blu's major label debut, was not. Initially planned for release under Warner, Blu later dropped from the label in October, deciding to release it for free over the internet instead. On his decision to leave Warner Brothers, Blu said: "Warner sucked! Kweli left, Tick who signed the Beastie Boys left, my A&R Naim Ali (who A&R’d the Roots and Common) left. The president was fired or left. His son, the VP of Sire left. Them niggas got bought out by Russians who didn’t give a fuck about nothing but Rick Ross so..[sic]"

Current Projects [edit]

In an interview with Above Ground Magazine, Blu expressed his future intentions with music, specifically on his notion of retiring from rap.

“I’ve never seen myself rapping after 30,... I’ve always seen myself doing film. I have like three films I would love to shoot. But I would need a budget for it.”

The rapper is currently working on several projects, one of which includes another link up with producer Exile on Memoirs, which was later released as Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them, an unmastered version of the record was leaked at the end of 2011. On February 22, 2012 Blu released Ucla exclusively on his Bandcamp page and claimed that the album was produced by critically acclaimed LA producer Madlib. According to Stones Throw, Madlib's label, Madlib had nothing to do with this album and the album was later removed from Blu's Bandcamp page. In March 17, 2012, Blu released no york e mo work (rmx z 1.3), which is a remix album of NoYork!. In July 2012, plans were announced to officially release a mastered version of Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them, as well as a prelude EP titled "Maybe One Day" on July 24.

Guest appearances [edit]