007, 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
born Johnson Barnes and the DJ/producer born Aleksander Manfredi 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.
Compared to Blu, who was coming off his indie release California Soul and building his name in
rap battle circles, Exile had already established himself with production credits on projects by
Jurassic 5, Kardinal Offishall, Mobb Deep, among others. According to Exile, he was introduced
to Blu through Aloe Blacc, who was the vocalist behind their group Emanon. “Aloe had actually
met him first and Aloe had brought me over to see him perform,” Exile says of seeing Blu
perform in L.A. in 2003. “It was just this hungry [MC], happy to be rocking on stage, and he was
killing it.”
Exile was so impressed by his performance that he wanted him to join Emanon as a hypeman,
where he let Blu perform some of his solo work. At the time, Exile was also working on his Dirty
Science compilation album. He recruited Blu as one of the featured rappers, giving him a batch
of beats to rhyme over. Blu, who was already a fan of Emanon, liked that Exile’s sound was so
sample-driven – a hallmark of hip-hop’s golden era. The pair got into the studio to create “Party
of Two” (their first collaboration), “Maintain ft. Miguel” and “The Narrow Path.” Their good
chemistry sparked the idea to make a full-length album together. “After that day, we knew we
wanted to make an album with each other,” he says. “I remember being in the car after our
session and just talking for a long time about the album and what we wanted it to be.”
From then on, Below the Heavens slowly earned its reputation as a milestone for West Coast
underground hip-hop, as it earned it’s spot on the greatest west coast Hip Hop albums of all
time from , Rolling Stone, LA weekly and more, as well as delivering a pure and authentic
experience for the Okayplayer heads. Although Sound in Color only pressed 3,000 copies back
then and Below the Heavens suffered a premature leak online, the rarity of the physical CD
added to the mythology of why people needed to cop and listen or face fear of missing out. Blu
had a knack for grappling with his everyman struggles and conveying them in relatable detail,
using Exile’s instrumentals as a vehicle for his emotions. When he touched on thoughts of
hopelessness, frustration, love, or spiritual enlightenment, people certainly adored it because
he was being so honest.
“People loved those personal stories, all the braggadocio over soul samples, all the sincerity. No
one looked at me as if I made a bad decision for making an underground record as opposed to
