Blu - The Color Blu​(​e) ALBUM REVIEW

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Guys, I think his favorite color is blue.


I feel awful that this is the first time I’m covering Blu. Johnson Barnes III, professionally known as Blu, is a Los Angeles rapper and if I’m being honest, why does no one else talk about him as much as someone like Kendrick Lamar? Even if they’re his two newer projects, A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night (an album with Oh No) and Miles: From an Interlude Called Life (a 90-minute epic with long-time collaborator Exile) are still incredible projects. I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t formally review Miles when it dropped last summer. Now, we have The Color Blu​(​e), his fourth solo album. I’m going in blind on this, so there’s not much else to say other than let’s get into it.

Based on the title of the album, every song has the word blue. Actually, in this case, blu(e). My spelling check is going off the walls typing that. Either way, let’s get into the production. It’s very jazzy throughout, and that’s just playing to my personal preferences. With this album, I think that this cements that jazz rap might just be my favorite rap subgenre. There are two producers on here, Exile and J57, and since Blu is usually pretty selective with his producers, it’s no surprise that they deliver absolute fire on here. Actually, scratch that. It’s more chilled to the bone. It feels like the color blue. When it comes to the writing on here, it’s pretty rich and there’s a lot to dive into here, and when it comes to Blu’s flows, he glides easily over it and he sounds great on it.

To put it into perspective, if Miles is Blu’s To Pimp a Butterfly, The Color Blu(e) is his untitled unmastered. This is a smaller project of what we know Blu best for: complex writing over some jazzy, chill beats. If this isn’t proof of Blu being one of the best to do it, I don’t know what will. Just listen to this, you won’t be disappointed. Also, the sample on “Blu(e) World” genuinely choked me up.


9/10


Listen here

YouTube Music




The Color Blu​(​e) is a Nature Sounds release.

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