“The contemplative beauty of Exile’s beats fits Blu’s soul-searching perfectly on Below the Heavens.” – Pitchfork
“Blu and Exile’s Underground Classic Below the Heavens Changed West Coast Hip-Hop” – L.A. Weekly
“[Below The Heavens’] timeless production, raw vulnerability, and obscure mythology make the 2007 album a quiet classic.” – Noisey
The Video:
With Blu‘s high-minded and tongue-twisting lyrics soaring over Exile‘s crate-digging, soul-inflected instrumentals, it’s no wonder that the duo are heroes in the L.A. underground. Like all heroes, Blu & Exile have an origin story, as fictionalized in the charming new “Constellations” video. Though Blu and Exile met as adults, the new video speculates about what could have happened if the duo were childhood pals, playing with action figures, chilling in the park, and of course, bonding over their favorite music. Premiered byAmbrosia For Heads, “Constellations” is a nostalgic and charming look at Blu and Exile’s similarities, differences, and how they blend to create an excellent partnership. An organ-sampling boom-bap banger about stardom and destiny, “Constellations” is a highlight from In The Beginning: Before The Heavens, a new collection of unearthed gems from the sessions of the duo’s cult-classic Below The Heavens album.
Emerging from a fertile Los Angeles underground scene in 2007, Blu and Exile’s Below The Heavens was an instant cult classic, showcasing Blu’s incisive and thoughtful bars over Exile’s dusty-yet-beautiful soul-sampling instrumentals. Premiered with an interview by Billboard in October 2017, In The Beginning: Before The Heavens is a rare time capsule that sounds just as fresh now as in 2007, providing manna for fans of underground hip-hop on both coasts. Featuring appearances from Aloe Blacc, Co$$, Donel Smokes, Blame One, Dr. Oop, and more, In The Beginning: Before The Heavens arrives via Dirty Science/Fat Beats. In 2017, the duo reunited for the nationwide headlining Below The Heavens 10th Anniversary tour. “We planted the seeds of creativity and grew about 40 plants,” Exile says of In The Beginning: Before The Heavens. “We picked the ones that we thought were the best for an album, but that didn’t mean that the other flowers weren’t beautiful. I’m super happy to re-release [In The Beginning] to people and have it actually get some attention that it definitely deserves. It’s amazing.”
Watch “Constellations”: https://youtu.be/KVbsTPpnyqU
Check out the Ambrosia For Heads premiere: http://ambrosiaforheads.com/2018/02/blu-exiles-video-imagines-their-playful-chemistry-20-years-before-below-the-heavens/
Listen to In The Beginning: Before The Heavens:
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dirty-science/sets/blu-exile-in-the-beginning-before-the-heavens
Bandcamp: https://bluandexile.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-beginning-before-the-heavens
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/in-the-beginning-before-the-heavens/id1283440313
Buy a physical copy of In The Beginning: Before The Heavens: https://www.fatbeats.com/products/blu-exile-in-the-beginning-before-the-heavens-2xlp-fat-beats-exclusive-colored-vinyl-7
Please contact Michelle or Isabel for more info.
The Background
In 2007, the same year that Kanye vs. 50 Cent in an album sales battle dominated headlines in the mainstream, Blu and Exile were carving their own path with an instant classic. The rapper and DJ/producer duo released Below the Heavens: In Hell Happy With Your New Imaginary Friend on July 17. Featuring soul-infused production with the raw vulnerability of Blu’s rhymes, the album began to receive rave reviews by hip-hop tastemakers and underground enthusiasts. In a review penned by 2DopeBoys’ Shake for HipHopDX, he gave it a 4/5 and noted that Blu is an “an extremely talented lyricist; clever rhymes, technically sound, intensely personal and witty.” Below the Heavens impacted everyone in some way, as it would later end up on many critics’ year-end lists from all over the internet.
2017 marks the 10-year anniversary of Below the Heavens. One of the interesting tidbits about the album is Blu and Exile made over 40 songs, with only 15 of them making the final cut. Now, the duo is reuniting for their third release, In the Beginning: Before the Heavens, a collection of the best tracks from the original sessions. “I’m super happy to re-release it to people and have it actually get some attention that it definitely deserves,” Exile says. “It’s amazing.”
Blu: twitter | tumblr | bandcamp | instagram | spotify
Exile: official site | twitter | instagram | facebook | spotify
“Constellations”: https://soundcloud.com/fatbeats/blu-exile-constellations // https://youtu.be/KVbsTPpnyqU
“Sold The Soul”: https://youtu.be/uCNlLjIsb7U
“Christmas Missed Us”: https://soundcloud.com/amazon-music/blu-and-exile-blue-xmas
In The Beginning: Before The Heavens: https://bluandexile.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-beginning-before-the-heavens // https://soundcloud.com/dirty-science/sets/blu-exile-in-the-beginning-before-the-heavens // https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/in-the-beginning-before-the-heavens/id1283440313
“On The Radio”: https://soundcloud.com/dirty-science/blu-exile-on-the-radio
“Back To Basic’s”: https://soundcloud.com/dirty-science/blu-exile-back-to-basics
Below The Heavens: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/below-the-heavens/id256776564
Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them: https://itunes.apple.com/us/…my-flowers-while-i-can-still-smell-them…/id1021444977