May
25

Blu Kisses the Sky

Jonah Bromwich is zen. Sometimes I think it’s amazing that I’m still paying so much attention to Blu. He’s the most singularly frustrating artist I’ve ever been a fan of. He released two albums this year that were drowned in fuzz, and when I say drowned, I don’t mean the kind of fuzz that Douglas… Continue reading »

Mar
14

Blu and Sene Break Glass

If Jonah Bromwich plans to bank his shot in, he calls it as loud as possible. Lately, when you see the name Blu, you unfortunately expect to hear more crackle than lyrics. Dude just can’t get with any kind of decent sound quality –he just released two full albums of barely listenable music. That’s why,… Continue reading »

Feb
06

Blu Jesus

Fun fact: this video was created entirely out a photo collage of pictures taken from Blu’s Instagram page. Media TakeOut told me that Lana Del Rey demanded her swag back after watching this (and a full definition of what swag means in 2012). Madlib is credited with the beat. Only the IRS knows if he… Continue reading »

Oct
19

Blu & Gonjasufi Eat Fish, Tossed Salads, and make Rap Ballads

October is the time for Gonjasufi. Nothing says derangement like the crazed vagabond vocals of Sumach Ecks. Don’t be fooled by the Alan Wiggins-era San Diego Padres logo above. There is nothing Catholic about this. In my imagination, Sufi is the next Nate Dogg for all left field rappers. Need a hit for your haunted… Continue reading »

Sep
07

Past the Heavens: Blu’s Continuous Self-Transformation

This is the first contribution from Tosten Burks. It will not be the last. When you debut with (near) perfection, what happens next? This question is Nas’s career. No matter how highly you revere Stillmatic or any of his other post-Illmatic works, Nasir Jones’s legacy will always be a tale of an artist beating on… Continue reading »

May
20

Blu Dreams: Her Favorite Colo(ur) Redux

Jonah Bromwich’s favorite color is Cardinal. Enigma. Anomaly. Sky-high potential. Game-changer. Rap messiah. We’ve heard these labels applied to up-and-coming rappers many times over the past decade. A short list of them goes as follows: Wale, Lupe Fiasco, Lil B, Tyler the Creator, B.O.B., and of course, Jay Electronica, who has personally used all of… Continue reading »

Feb
09

Blu, Freddie Gibbs, and Homeboy Sandman Go In

Never heard of Homebase. Never been to one of their parties. Does that make me out of it? I might be down though after this. They must have that Chilly Tee money. After all, I assume that Blu, Sandman, Gibbs subscribe to Danny Brown’s dictum laid down in “LOL”: don’t text…if it ain’t about dough.… Continue reading »

Jan
26

Co$$ ft. Blu – “Through the Flames”

I’ve already done the sales pitch for Co$$ and the first leak from his forthcoming debut, Before I Awoke is further validation. Subtly paying homage to 2Pac (“my thoughts are so deranged“), Co$$ and Blu assert themselves as LA’s best one-two combination this side of Pau and Kobe. There’s a lot to unpack in this… Continue reading »

Jan
15

Andy Allo ft. Blu – “Dreamland”

Credit due to Aaron Matthews for unearthing the buttery “Dreamland,” that operates equally well as warm milk before bed or alongside coffee and the morning paper. Smooth Sunday music. Johnson Barnes negates any theories about “hotness” or the need to flood the market. He just drops gems, quietly and understated.

Nov
26

Blu-”BNG” Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWj_qrjqvGU Posted because Blu’s sense of timeliness is congruent with my own and because of my predilection for things that remind me of Adult Swim that aren’t actually Adult Swim. Wildly tardy, but in the words of Cheech Marin in Ghostbusters 2, this is better later than never. For those keeping score, Flying Lotus claims… Continue reading »

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