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Page 1 of 4 Editor's note:
Blu & Exile and their forthcoming album Below The Heavens come up relatively little in hip-hop conversations. When they do,it's always in positive terms. While doomsayers and pessimists admit the collaboritive project throws out their it's-all-messed-up-now thories, utopians and enthusiasts are quick (yet again) to anoint the pair hip-hop saviors and heroes. Andres (thanks to a helpful Jonathan Kim) got to chat it up with Blu and Exile (once again) about the much-lauded album. With Blu, Andres talked in depth about the album also got to touch on this promising emcee career heretofore, his affiliates and other projects.
This is Blu
 Hey Blu; what’s up, man?
Chillin’, chillin’
Alright, well I guess we can just go ahead and start this. You wanna introduce yourself?
My name is Blu, latin women call me Azulito... um, my mom calls me Jon and my grandma calls me JB.
What was that first thing you said, Azulito?
Yeah, latin women call me Azulito.
What’s that from, what’s the story behind that?
Um, it just stands for little blue
Oh okay, ohhh! [over-pronunciating] Azulito, okay, okay, I wasn’t hearing it right.
My accent is bad
That’s fine, dont worry about it. I’ve definetly heard worse. Let me know, what’s your background in hip hop. I think I read somewhere that your dad actually introduced you to a few things back when you were young.
Yeah, my moms, she didn’t let me listen to hip hop. So my dad bought me... when I would visit my dad, my first tape was LL’s BAD [also known as Bigger And Deffer]. Then when I went back to my moms she took that shit from me. My dad was mostly on West Coast shit though, as I got older, that’s when I got into other shit. Hello? Hello?
Yeah, I’m here.
Dru Down. Is Dru Down Mack of the Year?
Dru Down! Oh shit.
Yeah, Dru Down, shit like that.
Where did you go after that, hip hop wise? Cuz I know you got the other end of stuff too…
Well, then I moved in with my pops, then the first CD I ever bought... actually my step-mom bought me Will Smith Big Willie Style, Ma$e’s first album and, what was that one….oh yeah, The Firm. Those were like my first three CD’s right there that I really listened to, as far as full hip hop albums. Then it went from DMX to all the Bay shit, then Redman, which got me into Canibus, which got me into Common, where I felt more like… that was like comfort. I felt more personal with that, so I was like, that’s my shit. Then went into Mos Def, you know how it go.
From that, how soon did you start your own shit, not professionally, but when did you start to try to have a hand at it yourself?
I started after It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot by DMX
Okay, so that’s like ’97, ’98?
I think so, ’98 maybe. Right after I got that I wrote my first rap, that was my first rap I wrote myself, my cousin wrote my raps when I was like 12. So DMX, I got that then I started writing, then by the time I got to Common I was like... that’s when I started. I was actually just freestlyin’ too though, even when I first started writing, I didn’t have that many raps, I was always into freestlyin’. So after high school I really started to put the pen down…or, nah, yeah, yeah, after high school.
It’s funny you mention Common because when I got the advance to your Below The Heavens, and I’ve been playing and playing it for people, I’ve been telling them that it reminds me of Resurrection because…
Damn!
Nah, forreal, watch, and I’ll tell you why…
Yo, yo, he said it reminds him of Resurrection, that’s an ill one.
You know how Resurrection is like, most of the joints on Resurrection are upbeat, kinda boom-bappy, head-noddy type stuff, but he’s talking about older shit, like reminiscent…
Hello? Yo this shit just broke up majorly, I dunno…
I’ll call you back
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