Blu
Blu biography, discography and videos: Inglewood, Los Angeles. Below the Heavens (2007) with Exile; Good to Be Home (2014) on Nature Sounds; “Dancing in the Rain”; “The West”.
Origins
Johnson Barnes III was born on April 15, 1983, in Inglewood, California, and came up in the Los Angeles underground in the early 2000s. His early recordings, later gathered as California Soul, established the reflective, jazz- and soul-steeped style that would define him, and he became part of loose collectives such as the All City Chess Club and Dirty Science.
Below the Heavens
His breakthrough came in partnership with producer Exile. Below the Heavens, released on July 17, 2007, by Sound in Color, paired Blu's candid rhymes about faith, family, money and young adulthood with Exile's warm sample work across every track. Guests included Aloe Blacc, Ta'Raach and a young Miguel. Pitchfork scored it 8.7, and HipHopDX later named it one of the best underground rap albums since 2000. It went out of print in 2009 and was reissued in 2011 and 2014, and songs like "Dancing in the Rain" and "The Narrow Path" remain fan favorites.
He moved quickly, releasing The Piece Talks (2008) as C.R.A.C. with Ta'Raach and a project with Mainframe as Johnson&Jonson. In 2009 he signed with Warner Bros. Records for an artist deal, a film deal and a label deal for his New World Color imprint, but the NoYork! album stalled amid staff turnover, and he eventually left. He instead released music on his own terms, including Her Favorite Colo(u)r (first as a free download, officially in 2011) and York (2013).
Nature Sounds and Beyond
Good to Be Home, a double album produced entirely by Bombay and released on May 19, 2014, through New World Color and Nature Sounds, was a love letter to Los Angeles led by the single "The West." It reached No. 27 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and Exclaim! called it his most consistent work since his debut.
Blu reunited with Exile for Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them (2012), the ambitious Miles (Dirty Science, 2020) and Love (the) Ominous World (2024), and paired with Evidence of Dilated Peoples on Los Angeles (2024).
Legacy
Blu is one of the most revered cult figures of West Coast rap, an artist whose output is scattered across labels, collaborations and free releases but whose debut still sets the standard for soulful, introspective LA hip hop. His steady catalog with producers such as Exile, Madlib and Bombay has made him a touchstone for independent rappers who value craft over commercial polish.
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Discography
Studio albums 10
Collaborative albums 32
EPs & mixtapes 7
Albums on Breakbeat Archive
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