Kahlil Blu Is More Than a Producer, He’s a Musican: Interview
Harlem, New York, artist Kahlil Blu can be compared to a collage. He utilizes a wide variety of sounds to help influence his production, which makes it easy for him to transition through trap-ish, lofi, and pop-ish records with ease. On his latest project, DOG, Blu holds no punches when it comes to showing his artistic abilities. He produced and wrote all 20 tracks, and even painted the cover art himself. The production on DOG is scattered in a way where you don’t know what the next song will sound like, but it compels you to embrace the new age vibe Blu is bringing forward. He mixes southern tempo with New York abruptness, along with alternative guitar chords that remind you of Mac Demarco. His production could go from a “Playboi Carti type beat” to a “Earl Sweatshirt type beat” in .5 seconds, which highlights the experimental realm he’s resting on. He gives just enough bounce to have fun but also heavy hitting/harsh vocal arrangements that make the listener pay attention because it’s easy to miss a word.
On “Coldsweats,” occupying the 2nd slot, Blu projects his confidence toward surpassing the limitations that’s placed on his artistry. For the past few years, Blu has produced for many artists, such as $ilkmoney, Mavi, M*dhane, and ICYTWAY. While producing has opened many doors and opportunities, Blu is ready to fully display his lyricism and wants to be viewed as a musician and not just a producer.
One of my favorite tracks on the project is “Brand New.” I love the alternative textures and following along Blu’s hazy singing. I appreciate the chanty hook on “Runway Talk” featuring Mavi. It’s something calm but it hypes you up for the verses to come. Even the catchy hook at the end of “October:” “I just do my dance , I don’t do romance.” On “Land,” another one of my favorites, it’s a bit more pop-ish, which is a lane he occupies with grace. He sings about questioning a lover's intentions and where he’ll be emotionally once “its all over.”
“All these niggas copy cats, trying to do what we do”
On “Melwood,” Blu feels extremely comfortable with the production. It feels like he’s getting his shit off on a beat he would typically give to another lofi artist.
“Lol play this when ur sad” is a fun song to blast with the windows down and I do recommend playing when you’re sad. DOG reminds listeners to believe in themselves and learn how to weed out the energy that provides no value to their life.
I had a chance to chop it up with Kahlil Blu about music, life and the limitations the industry places on musicians.
Our conversation, lightly edited for content and clarity, follows below.
How did you get the name Kahlil Blu?
“Well my actual name is Kahlil and Blu was inspired by Mac Demarco. Early on, I would listen to Rock and Roll Nightclub and there was a song called “Baby’s Wearin’ Blue Jeans” that I just loved so much.”
What high school did you go to and what was it like?
“I attended Frederick Douglas Academy in Harlem. I wasn’t involved in anything in high school because I always felt different. Don’t get me wrong, I had friends but they were not particularly people I had class with. It’s hard to connect when you’re ahead of the curve.”
Can you explain a little bit, how were you different?
“You know how most kids are into sports? I was into niche designer clothes and architecture, so people would look at me like the weird guy. Especially for our generation, where every school year, we’re into the “it” thing. I was never into “it.”
“Coming from Harlem, growing up, it was all about Tru Religion, Moncler, and Murmount. But for me, since I was young, I was into Billionaire Boys Club, Kidrobot, Bape, Super Vintage clothes and I had a hightop fade. I stood out from everyone else.”
When did you start rapping?
“Whenever Goblin came out, that was the year I wanted to become a rapper. I just remember hearing it for the first time and never hearing something similar to it. There’s just something about Tyler, especially after finding out he wrote and produced everything, I was more intrigued to try it out myself.”
What has influenced your sound more, NY or the internet?
“The attitude and content is NY but sonically my sound is far removed because I am not a fan of boom bap. Don’t get me wrong, I started off that way and I have love for J Dilla and DJ Premier production. But, at the same time, I love the South, Florida, Virginia, and Atlanta. I love how all the beats have a certain bounce. When you really want to talk about it, they set the blueprint for how we make music now.”
What's your writing and recording process?
“So first I’ll get the drums down, freestyle, add a melody and so on. Sometimes I’ll record that same day, week later or even months. It depends.”
What inspired the title DOG?
"I moved to Pittsburgh for one year, after being in community college and hating it. My roommate had a dog and I ended up being the one who took care of it. When it was time to move back, I tried to bring him with me but my mom was like nah. I eventually had to give away the dog, which was hard since I already developed a relationship and bond with him. The type of respect and bond with a dog is different from humans. Also within that process, having to depart from someone I cared about taught me how to depart from people, attitudes and things that were not providing good energy.”
He continued..
“With this project, I wanted to get more respect as an artist than a producer. Certain publications would post a song that I produced but not include my name. I felt I was not getting credit. I wanted to hown in and really establish myself as an artist.”
How did you get a $ilkmoney verse?
“I've known Silk for a min through the internet. He would come down to NY to do shows with my friends in Divine Council and we would all just hang out and I would play my beats. We naturally became really good friends. I've produced three of his last projects.”
On “Cold Sweats” you rap about not fitting in. What motivates you to go against the grain and create what feels good?
“That song is just me shitting on people. I don't even think it's going against the grain. I feel I'm residing in myself and figuring out the things I like. I wanted to flex and introduce people to me.”
When did you start to feel confident?
“I used to humble myself to the point it was detrimental to my character. Being passive in certain situations I shouldn't have to be. So that confidence came from acknowledging that I’m good and knowing that feeling that I’m good doesn't take away from other people, it should encourage them.”
How was it getting Mavi on “Runway Talk?”
“I met Mavi through M*dhane, they had a show. He pulled up to M*dhane crib, I pulled up a beat, he recorded it and we headed to the show. I’ve produced some songs for him but nothing has come out. Connecting with artists for songs is easy because I am known as the producer.”
Would you say that association has benefitted your catalog?
“In some instances yes and others no because I am often made to feel like this is the producer guy who wants to rap. Honestly, producing is getting me in the door and opening people's ears to give me a chance. Especially once I started to produce for artists bigger than me.”
Your story sounds similar to the Kanye story early on…
“I understand the Kanye story because people would try to marginalize you in a corner for just being a producer and not giving you the opportunity to hear what you have to say. My intention is to be an artist from jump. I'm not a producer, I'm a musician who happens to produce. The only reason I started to produce was because I could not find the beats I was hearing in my head.”
Are there any takeaways you’ve learned from those bigger artists?
“Being around artists who are ahead of you, you learn alot from them. Divine Council and M*dhane taught me how to perform and control a crowd. I learned different recording processes from SIlk. He’ll get all the beats, write to them and record them in a day or two. Silk would even tell me about business shit too because he was signed at one point.
What was your family playing in the crib?
“A little bit of everything. A lot of carribean and southern music. My mother is from the Domicanan Republic and my dad is from Trinidad. So a lot of soca, reggae and Lauryn Hill was played. I remember my father always had his Hot Boys cassettes and my mother was the one who put me onto College Dropout by Kanye West. My older bro was into Pharrell, NERD and 50 Cent at one point and also music from the 80’s and 90’s. He put me onto mad shit! I found out about jazz by looking up A Tribe Called Quest samples and song credit research.”
Since dropping 11 last year and DOG this year, how have you grown?
“11 was something light but DOG was like “he’s here.” 11 pushed me to come out my comfort zone sonically because I experimented with my vocal range.”
What's next?
“I'm working on two other projects. Right now I’m producing for my friend Fifthpower.”
What were the last three albums you listened to?
Ungodly Hour - Chloe x Halle
Shoot For The Stars, Aim For the Moon by Pop Smoke
Thriller 25 Super Deluxe Edition - Michael Jackson
