Blu & Exile

Formed in Los Angeles in 2007, Blu & Exile bring together rapper Blu and producer Exile in an independent hip‑hop sound nourished by soul, jazz and warm loops, with introspective lyrics firmly rooted in everyday urban life. Their meeting dates to the mid‑2000s, when Blu worked as a hype man with various rap acts and connected with Exile through Aloe Blacc, then a member of Emanon alongside the producer. That same year they released Below the Heavens (2007), an album that firmly established the duo in the American underground rap scene through its balance of personal narrative, social awareness and expansive yet restrained production. The pair followed with Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them (2012), where the approach became freer and more fragmented, and with In the Beginning: Before the Heavens (2017), a compilation of tracks linked to the sessions for the first album. Blu & Exile returned with the EP True & Livin (2019) and the album Miles: From an Interlude Called Life (2020), extending an aesthetic of organic beats, muted samples and precise, calm, narrative rap.