Tagged: below the heavens

stream: blu & exile – give me my flowers while i can smell them (2011)

this isn’t a typo, folks. blu & exile were hoarding an entire fucking album of collaboration FOR YEARS, as these songs date back to 2009, a mere two years after below the heavens dropped. funny thing is, dropping this in 2009 would’ve caused a ruckus in the hip-hop blogosphere, but it’s in perfect blu fashion to release it when no one’s expecting. while you can stream the entire album for free via bandcamp, you can purchase the release for $15. i’m very excited to sit down with this, as they’re one of the most underrated and elusive duo’s hip-hop’s ever seen.

buy/stream:

blu & exile – give me my flowers while i can smell them [full LP]

-grizzly

show recap: blu (oct. 23, 2010)

panda and i hit up boston last week; deemed an “inspirational” trip for the 2.0 version of the blog, hopefully coming during the cusp of 2010-11. in any case, we managed to catch one of our favorite emcees in action while we were up there, and there are definite mixed feelings involved. i’ll keep the recap as brief as the show was. i did happen to take some photos and video, which will take up a considerable amount of room here.

blu is erratic; we all know this. the guy doesn’t make music for anyone but himself. you’re always hearing about artists doing that, but blu is one of VERY few artists who literally couldn’t care less if you were listening or not. with promises of a live band: blu showed up without one. when the dj started spinning songs from below the heavens (or any of his back catalog), blu scratched the 1s and 2s, dismissing the songs and saying “they ain’t ready for that shit yet.” it’s like he was in his own hazy world, doing what he wanted, when he wanted. after showcasing about 5 new songs, he went into a “mini-set” of old material, dating from below the heavens and her favorite colour, to newer songs like the flying lotus-produced “gngbng.” all in all, it WAS a good show, it just wasn’t what it could’ve been, mainly to blu being as indifferent as any rapper could possibly be.

hit the jump for videos of “my world is…,” “blu collar workers” and “soul amazin,” as well as some photos.

-grizzly
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blu & exile – below the heavens (2007)

blu

it’s really refreshing to see a talented young mc not pandering to the hipster backpack demographic and truly playing to his own strengths. blu has a commanding prescence and rhymes that are equally modest, intelligent, and soulful, very reminscent of common. on below the heavens he touches upon a assortment of topics including love, religion and fatherhood, displaying a maturity level one would expect from a far more experienced mc. emanon’s exile keeps holds the album together with jazzy, soul inspired beats (again, think the kanye produced common album, be). smart scratches and well placed samples used minimally let the album breathe and the music truly speak for itself. the duo produce an inspirational album showcasing the honest rhymes and creative beats of two talented individuals.

can’t wait to see these guys hold it down at sxsw.

album dl after the jump.

- SB
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