Image via Bee Gutierrez
Some albums just sound like a victory lap. They convey the feeling that the artist has already won, but will never stop. Love (the) Ominous World, the latest from Southern California’s favorite sons, Blu and Exile, is that kind of album. And in a fitting circularity, it’s their first release since gaining ownership of the masters for Below the Heavens, their canonized debut album that cemented them as 21st Century torchbearers of L.A. underground hip-hop.
Unlike their most recent two collaborative projects, Miles (2021) and Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them (2012), this album was made with a different sentiment. It was made knowing that they’d successfully fought for what was rightfully theirs. They’d come to learn that although the world can be ominous, love and justice can prevail.
Johnson “Blu” Barnes and Al “Exile” Manfredi first got together in 2003. The two were introduced by fellow SoCal native Aloe Blacc, Exile’s longtime friend and counterpart in Emanon. The meteoric impact of Below the Heavens led Blu to receive a Warner Bros deal, become part of XXL’s famed 2009 Freshman Class, and make one of the classic Low End Theory rap records in NoYork!; Exile has since produced for Flying Lotus, Open Mike Eagle, and Pharoahe Monch, as well as helmed production for revered collaborative albums with Fashawn and Choosey.
On Love (the) Ominous World, Exile flexes his mastery, using whip-smart, crate-digging samples and funky percussion. It both pays homage to the golden age of hip-hop yet feels simultaneously contemporary. In true Blu form, the writing and delivery emphasizes compelling narratives. “Suge Knight” rests comfortably in both the lineage of Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story” and Kendrick Lamar’s “DUCKWORTH.” The song details the unexpected twists and turns of a seemingly unlikely meeting and how, had just a few things been slightly different, Blu probably would have been on Death Row Records and the world would probably never have received Below the Heavens.
Despite the sporadic tempo of their releases (five years, eight years, four years) — the boys have been busy. Not only did Blu drop four other albums this year (Royal Blu with Roy Royal in February, Out of the Blue with Shafiq Husayn in March, abc in May, and Los Angeles with Evidence in July), but the pair whittled this Love (the) Ominous World from 60 completed tracks and have teased that this album is the first in a larger project with a hint in the title. My guess? Either a trilogy that ends up spelling “Low End Theory.” Or maybe a tetralogy or quadriptych that spells “Below the Heavens.”
In the weeks following the September release of the album, we talked about their working relationship, hopes for the future, and preserving the parts of hip-hop they fell in love with. Not just the beats and bravado, but the parts that helped shape their ideas of what it means to be a good person. – Nereya Otieno