Hi, everyone. Bratthony Squattano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new Blu and Evidence record, Los Angeles.

West Coast rapper, producer, songwriter Blu. He's back and currently knee-deep in a bit of a prolific release streak at the moment. I have been reviewing this guy's work and talking up his massively underappreciated talents for years now. He is a California rap veteran with numerous classics under his belt at this point, from 2007's Below the Heavens to his most recently critically acclaimed album, which was also produced by Exile, Miles.

While much of Blu's best work tends to come out with him, he is a rapper that has a talent that shines no matter who he's working with. Because when it comes to modern day West Coast hip hop, I think there are a few rappers out that have the ability to focus and drill down into a single idea or concept in the way Blu does and portray it from numerous angles. To go back to the 90-minute Miles project that Blu did with Exile, he got way more mileage out of the classic jazz canon and the works of Miles Davis than I think most artists out there ever could.

The same goes for all the color blue-based lyrical and instrumental nods throughout the 2021 album, The Color Blu(e), or the recent collab record Blu did with Nottz, which was just one track after another, celebrating African culture and heritage. And let's not also forget the cinematic storytelling on A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night.

Either way, much of the time when Blu has something to drop, there is often an angle to go along with it. And on this new record with Evidence, the main theme is a familiar one, the city of Los Angeles, which, of course, Blu calls home. This is not the first time he has focused on LA as a point of inspiration for an album. But you could argue this is one of his most impressive homages yet. And it sounds especially good with Evidence being behind the beats on this thing. If you're at all familiar with Ev's past and catalog, you know he is a formidable West Coast hip hop veteran himself, but one that's typically known more for his rimes than his production.

In a way, this is a collaboration that some fans might not not necessarily expect because for the most part, blu sticks to the bars and evidence sticks to the beats. Honestly, it's a match made in heaven with both of them doing their best to pull out all the stops to create this very dark tribute to the City of Angels. Meanwhile, anyone listening is just along for the ride for something that feels akin to a movie or a musical documentary, as the entire record starts with a very strong sense of place on "54th", which sees Blu performing at some rap showcase or cipher, something like that. He spits a verse, he says where he's from, people are impressed, and then he's asked one more time where he's from.

That transitions us into the core succession of songs that do their best to detail Evidence's and Blu perceptions of LA. Because I think it's important to keep in mind that at the end of the day, all of this is coming from one man's perspective and lived experience. Hence, why the first full song on this thing, "The Land," is such a cold-blooded overview of LA, with loads of bars that are hard as diamonds and mean as junkyard dogs. LA being a place where 'Your man could catch a cap with his teeth / if he ever tried to come at me with beef.'

Blu further goes on to drop bars about killer cops, rival gangs, drug dealing, as well as a hefty, hefty, hefty nod to the legendary West Coast hip hop outfit, Cyprus Hill. On the following title track of the record, we have more general, very dark and gritty descriptions of LA. It runs along the same lines, but touches down on some different reference points this time around, with ballers, taggers, and actresses being mentioned. Also what enhances this track on Evidence's side is just all of the various mentions of Los Angeles popping up in the background and what sounds like just a bunch of samples from news reports.

Also loving Evidence's production on the following "Three Wheel Motion," which brings some intense psychedelic, woozy vibes. Not only are we making low rider references here, but there are moments where Blu goes into detail about just how he reacts in a moment when he's being pressed about where he's from, presumably by somebody who is checking him, and he does everything he can to remind this person not to make a stupid decision. And of course, this track is not the only moment where he seems to be dealing with exactly that scenario.

Further into the record, though, we have a very quirky and silly highlight that comes in the form of "LA Traffic" that has these chanting kidsy choruses that say, 'Green light means go, red light means stop, green light means go, red light means stop.' Now, of course, this is like a sensible reference point. If you've ever been in LA, you know how horrible the traffic is. And Blu brings some serious levity to that topic with bars like, Like a bitch from LA, it's mad thick because everyone you know is trying to make it in that bitch, which is about the most unhinged thing I think I've ever heard anyone say about traffic.

There are even more more insane features from Cassius King as well as Self Jupiter on the track, too. I love, love, love, love, love Evidence's production on this track, specifically because of all of the synthesizers that resemble like honking horns. These guys really go in in terms of making a track that just has a strong sense of place. Of course, this is like only enhanced by Blu describing himself in the car, wrapping two beats as he's caught in LA traffic.

Following this, though, we have "The Cold," which is pretty much about how unforgiving and deadly and impoverished the city can be, how the violence there can turn what is seemingly a paradise into a funeral. Blu essentially painting LA as a place of contrast and contradictions with a lot of illusions on this track to his youth growing up there. A lot of these cold and hellish themes continue on to the song "Hell," which is one of the few tracks on the record that come across as redundant, either because Blu is reusing similar turns of phrase, but reorienting them verbally, or he's just making a lot of the same general points about similar topics. Still, Blu does what he can on this track to portray LA as this cruel and unforgiving and exploitative place. It makes the city seem like a monster that would just eat you alive.

Then from "Hell," we go on to "Heaven," which is an interesting writing exercise and a great switch-up for the record lyrically. Beautiful instrumental, too, as Blu tries to write a letter to himself from the perspective of a friend who passed on and went to heaven in this scenario. It's a serious heartwarming moment on the album, even if it does end really abrupt with this wake-up moment as if it were all a dream. But then the following track, "Wish You Were Here," is in a lot of respects seemingly pretty much a response to the previous track. It's essentially Blu saying this person who's passed on and wrote me a letter in my dream, essentially, I'm going to talk about all the things that I miss about them or the things they're missing while here, which honestly multiplies the emotional devastation of the previous track by a factor of 10.

From here on the record, we go into a pretty decent ending. We have great lyrical chemistry between Damo Genesis and Navy Blue on the track, Lites at night. We have some near drumless jazz fusiony loop bits hanging in the background of that that sound pretty nice. While it's not quite as conceptual or as thematic as a lot of the songs that came before it, it's still a highlight just because, again, you're hearing three really talented rappers back to back to back doing an abstract thing, and it sounds great.

Following this, we have some chipmunk soul on "Wild Wild West," which is another moment where evidence's production shines. The chorus is solid as well. I just wish Blu had more to add to the general themes of the record on this song, though. It just seems like he is once again reiterating a lot of the downsides and dangers of the city, which obviously is a valid topic. That is reality. That's just true. Too, especially given that, again, you're talking about a record that works from one man's single experience. With that being said, there are numerous tracks up until this point that pretty much already got this message across and arguably did it better. So again, what this song really adds to the overall canon of the album, I don't know.

The ending track, while I do love the production here quite a bit, I just feel like this doesn't wrap things up all that well. To finish things off, we're not really left with a whole lot of final statements or conclusions on much of anything. While obviously, I think Blu and Evidence went into this project with a lot of passion and a lot of creativity and a lot of ambition, When I got out of the other end, while there were a lot of good songs along the ride in the tracklist, as a concept and as an overall focus, I didn't really get the sense that Blu dug as deep into the idea of L.

A. As a songwriting muse in the way that he has on past records where he was, again, focusing on a single topic. On The Color Blu(e), on Miles, and even on that recent record with Nottz, it feels like he had just more to work with, more to play with, more to say. Whereas on this, pretty quickly, it seems like he ran out of stuff to say about LA after a while, and toward the end was just forcing it.

With that being said, though, I still think Los Angeles is a pretty decent album from Blu. I guess I just wish there was more substance and versatility and just more commentary from Blu on this topic if he was going to dig this deep into it.

I'm feeling a decent to strong 7 on this one.

Fantano, Blu, Forever.