Category: DJ Premier

Interview: Blu on his new album with Oh No

GingerSlim speaks to indy rap icon Blu about his excellent new album with Oh No, A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night.

You’ve teamed up with Oh No for this latest project. How did the collaboration come about initially?

When I first got signed to Sound In Color records back in 2005, I initially reached out to Oh No after seeing him battle Exile at the Rootdown, but I eventually decided to have Exile produce my first album which would become Below The Heavens. So me and Oh No have been contemplating putting out music together for a long time and this we felt was a perfect time to hit the people with a full length release from the both of us.

Is there much of a different dynamic working with someone of his calibre?

Oh No is fast bro, he has a very extensive arsenal of heat and he stays on top of his craft. So working with him is very easy for me because I tend to work fast as well.

As with a lot of your music, it’s a very LA-centric album. Is there any sort of concept beyond the obvious LA theme?

No, not really, it’s more so just writing from reality or experience. So growing up in L.A. and living daily in L.A. are obvious reasons why we create music from an L.A. point of view. “L.A. IS RED HOT”.

When we spoke last year you told me you were sitting on a crazy amount of albums and working on more new material. I was wondering if you always feel an internal desire to be creative? Do you always feel the need to be writing?

Not lately, now that I am sitting on so much material. I can kick back for once and not feel any pressures to write or create. I can for once just enjoy the music I have created.

Once again you’ve got a great selection of guests on the album, with a good mix of lesser known and more established artists. Do the names come to you as you’re writing the songs, or do you have an idea of who you want involved beforehand?

I know so many great artists, it’s really just overtime I meet an open artist who is ready and willing to create, we link up and actually create. As oppose to acting like you are willing to create and never really do. But when it comes to albums, I do try to carefully select my features, and that is a blessing.

You’ve already worked with some of the best names in hip-hop, including projects with both Oh No and Madlib. What’s next for you? Is there anyone else left on your wishlist?

Premier, and Pete Rock. Prince Paul. Fred Wreck. RZA. All kinds of people I would love to work with. On top of that list would have been J Dilla without a doubt.

Now religion isn’t something you ever really talk about in detail in your writing, but I always get the sense of some sort of spirituality in your mindset. Is there anything in particular you subscribe to in that respect?

My grandfather, who is very religious, always told me to write positive thoughts and not to project any negativity, and I try to do that in my music.

Do you spend much time listening to all the new hip-hop surfacing at the moment? If so do you have any particular favorites out there?

No, I listen to older 80s and 90s hip-hop. I tend to think it carries a lot more substance and it shares an experience long silenced and finally voiced by a people finally given a chance to express themselves, when before there weren’t any opportunities for so many people, all over the world.

I remember in an old interview you said you were getting more into reading and studying. Is that something that you’re still focused on and is there any area of study that you’re specifically drawn to?

I love history. I have actually just finished reading the Bible. The most intriguing book I have read in my life so far !

What’s next for Blu?

Releasing all these albums I am sitting on and hopefully getting into film somehow.

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A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night is out now on Nature Sounds. Get it here. Follow Blu on Twitter and Instagram.

Gingerslim has been a hip-hop fan since 1994 and has written for various blogs and websites since around 2006. During that time he has contributed to style43, Think Zebra, Headsknow and Front Magazine. His main interests in rap are UK hip-hop and the underground movement in America, with a focus on Rhymesayers Entertainment and the once mighty Def Jux label. He lives in Bristol and has a beard. All other details are sketchy at best. Follow him here. 

Interview: Blu

Blu Grown Up Rap InterviewBlu is constantly releasing new music, but 2018 has been a particularly busy time for the prolific LA emcee and producer. Fresh off the release of Godz in the Spirit, Titans in the Flesh, with Nottz, and The Blueprint with Shafiq Husayn; Gingerslim spoke to Blu about the diversity in his music, new projects, older albums and more.

You’ve always kept it pretty varied from project to project in terms of the overall sound and production choices. Is that important to you, to keep mixing things up like that? 

Yes, consistency is very important for each project, and diversity is needed for each project. I do not try to repeat myself or redo myself. I look at every album as another day in my life. Some of my fans can kick it with me for well over a week, depending on how many days out of my life they get familiar with.

Is that one of the keys to longevity do you think? 

No, not the key, but an option. The question is, is longevity my option in this game? Am I trying to be Duke Ellington with 200 albums, or more modest like a D’Angelo, who has just three albums in over 20 years.

And does each project come with a different way of working, depending on who you’re working with, or do you have a fairly formulaic approach to writing and creating them? 

What I really treasure behind most of the records I record is the joy of working with just one producer. It creates a certain diversity between each project, that you could pinpoint almost immediately, and you can bet on consistency from start to finish.

Your most recent release is The Blueprint alongside Shafiq Husayn. Can you give us a bit of background on the project? It’s a mixtape of sorts right? 

It’s an album, but it’s also a mixtape. It’s the continuation of my idea behind York. Over half of the production on that record was previously released by artists and their records. So I tapped into beats that no one else had access to, so it gave it a sense of exclusivity. But since the beats have been released, it could also be considered more of a mixtape. Me and Shafiq have always planned to work…this was our first jab at it and I think it’s gonna make an impact on quite a few of our listeners out there.

I remember reading an interview with you and Exile, where he said that sometimes you have to get rid of classic songs to make a classic album, in reference to making, Below the Heavens. That must take some vision and a lot of resolve, being able to see past the strength of the song on its own. 

Most definitely. Creating a record with that type of foresight is easier said than done, but a key part of how we work together. Like I was dying to put certain tracks on Below The Heavens that were dope, but didn’t quite fit the narrative or vibe, so we put ‘em to the side. That’s why we dropped, In The Beginning, which was a batch of gems originally recorded for BTH, that we never had a chance to release during its era.

I think for me at the time, NoYork was a very challenging and experimental album and the features made it seem like you were a co-star rather than driving force behind the album. Does that ring true with how you made the album? 

Nah, not at all. That album never came to full fruition. What was ultimately released was the demo’s for NoYork, which due to label complications we never had the chance to finish. Everyone featured knew these were demos. But at the end of the day, people liked the promo tape so we released it in demo form.

How hard was it to encapsulate the L.A. beat scene on a single record?

It was tough. But can you imagine if we actually created that record properly with the allotted budget, and everyone on gear?! Man! I don’t think people realized that we brought in the entire LA beat scene for that album. I wish we could do it again. The movie for it was crazy!!

There was another interview I read where you said you keep your experiences as a father completely separate from your art. I was wondering why you decided to do that, as a lot of art is inspired either directly or indirectly by what the artist is going through in life.

I feel I’m very open, or at least that I’ve grown to be in some of my newer records. I talk a lot about being a father and not being a father, it comes with the anvil of honesty in my art. I can never not be true, I’m Blu.

Is it hard to keep the two separate like that?

No, but I can imagine that trying to be someone you’re not, can become very difficult after a while. I’m me, so I do that until that doesn’t work. Right now, in Hip-Hop it’s working, so I’m doing Hip-Hop!

You never struck me as the sort of rapper who was out to achieve fame, at least not in the sense that you would be well-known and recognized. Would you say that’s a fair assessment? 

I already “blew up” in my mind. I been getting crowds of respect since high school so it’s a part of who I know I am, a part of my cool.

Is there anything left on your Hip-Hop bucket list that you would still like to cross off, dream collaborations and shows, or anything like that? 

Dilla, I just gotta say his name, cause he would’ve topped that list. DJ Premier and Prince Paul, G.

And what’s next for you? You’ve already got two releases under your belt this year, so you going to take a rest now, or are you already plotting the next move? 

I got eight albums unreleased under my belt right now, working on two more. It don’t stop, it won’t stop, it can’t stop.

***

Godz in the Spirit, Titans in the Flesh, The Blueprint and In The Beginning: Before The Heavens are all out now. Follow Blu on Twitter here. 

Gingerslim has been a hip-hop fan since 1994 and has written for various blogs and websites since around 2006. During that time he has contributed to style43, Think Zebra, Headsknow and Front Magazine. His main interests in rap are UK hip-hop and the underground movement in America, with a focus on Rhymesayers Entertainment and the once mighty Def Jux label. He lives in Bristol and has a beard. All other details are sketchy at best. Follow him here.