Blu & Exile

The underground Los Angeles-based duo of MC <a href="spotify:artist:1KeJhR0ENFviw187pD4LPT">Blu</a> (b. Johnson Barnes) and DJ/producer <a href="spotify:artist:4r4XYZJUeeKCcrkvi7voDP">Exile</a> (b. Aleksander Manfredi) earned widespread acclaim right out of the gate with their debut album, Below the Heavens (2007), which critics crowned as the seemingly perfect marriage of <a href="spotify:artist:1KeJhR0ENFviw187pD4LPT">Blu</a>'s everyday-struggle raps and <a href="spotify:artist:4r4XYZJUeeKCcrkvi7voDP">Exile</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:3BeQqzKdlARoOd6y30kCO2">Pete Rock</a>- and <a href="spotify:artist:0IVcLMMbm05VIjnzPkGCyp">J Dilla</a>-inspired production. <a href="spotify:artist:1KeJhR0ENFviw187pD4LPT">Blu</a>, struggling to make ends meet at the time, first crossed paths with <a href="spotify:artist:4r4XYZJUeeKCcrkvi7voDP">Exile</a> in the early to mid-2000s, while the rapper earned gigs as a hype man for various soul/hip-hop outfits like <a href="spotify:artist:1020a42xVklY6c56imNcaa">Slum Village</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3Fo8jy2ayRJdwl8SMgbKrG">Platinum Pied Pipers</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4r4XYZJUeeKCcrkvi7voDP">Exile</a>'s own duo, <a href="spotify:artist:7prV8pCkEDmtURPtpMfgkd">Emanon</a>. In fact, <a href="spotify:artist:1KeJhR0ENFviw187pD4LPT">Blu</a> knew the other half of <a href="spotify:artist:7prV8pCkEDmtURPtpMfgkd">Emanon</a>, MC/singer <a href="spotify:artist:0id62QV2SZZfvBn9xpmuCl">Aloe Blacc</a>, who then introduced the two to each other. Deciding to sign to L.A. independent label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sound+in+Color%22">Sound in Color</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4r4XYZJUeeKCcrkvi7voDP">Exile</a>'s label home, in 2004, <a href="spotify:artist:1KeJhR0ENFviw187pD4LPT">Blu</a> began cutting a few records with the DJ/producer and assisted him with his solo LP, Dirty Science (2006). <a href="spotify:artist:1KeJhR0ENFviw187pD4LPT">Blu</a> was still trying to break into the industry, but <a href="spotify:artist:4r4XYZJUeeKCcrkvi7voDP">Exile</a> was enjoying production credits for the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:6wFId9Jhuf9AKVzWboOj2B">Jurassic 5</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5P2rwRBgIN450RaJxdjYdA">Kardinal Offishall</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6O2zJ0tId7g07yzHtX0yap">Mobb Deep</a>. The release of the soul-entrenched collaborative effort, Below the Heavens in August 2007, put them both in the limelight and had fans of the alternative rap scene buzzing; however, it specifically garnered <a href="spotify:artist:1KeJhR0ENFviw187pD4LPT">Blu</a> many "Artist to Watch" features in various magazine and online publications throughout the year and into 2008. During subsequent years, they worked apart more than together; nevertheless, 2012 brought another co-billed LP, Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them. ~ Cyril Cordor, Rovi