Blackbird
Los Angeles, California, United States | SELF
Music
Press
"Blackbird ... got the charisma and the wild history to fit a Lizard King ... Being completely sober has made him sharper than a Ginsu knife." - Mike Sonksen - OC Weekly
"Los Angeles artist Blackbird is the sort that crushes genres down to the barest essentials and then builds his tracks up via pure energy and intuition. "Jus Someone" employs a simple minimalist riff that pivots around a driving punkish beat, and Blackbird rides it until there's no idea left unturned. "I want to be alone, but at the same time hold me," he sings with aloof urgency. Here, the lyrical contradictions match the musical ones. Blackbird is a little bit electro, a little bit hip-hop and a little bit punk, but perhaps he just presents a new conception of how the Cali youth rolls these days." - Carter Maness - RCRD LBL
Discography
Blackbird - Bird's Eye View (2005 Alpha Pup)
Blackbird - Three Bird (2009 Alpha Pup)
Blackbird - Black Electro (2011 unreleased)
Photos
Bio
Though it's been only one year since Blackbird began his Black Electro movement, the multi-faceted emcee's hip-hop roots go deep. Blackbird began writing and performing in the '90s with an experimental hip-hop group called Darkleaf, an avant garde underground rap group that was more psychedelic than boom bap.
In 1998 Blackbird began working with producer Paris Zax on a project called Fetterless that was self-released in 2003. Next came Bird's Eye View that was released in 2005 on Alphapup Records with the help of producer and Low End Theory resident DJ Daddy Kev, garnering overseas attention from the European press. Three Bird, also put out on Alphapup, was released in 2009, after which Blackbird collaborated with world renowned DJ Cut Chemist on several projects. Next, Blackbird formed an alternative pop-punk rock band called Blackbird and the Feather’d People which dominated the L.A. live circuit to massive critical acclaim.
In 2010, after Feather'd People disbanded, Blackbird decided he was ready for something different, something beyond the "what I got/what you don't got" braggadocio that continued to permeate hip-hop, and tracked down Thavius Beck to collaborate on a new concept... something that defied genres. Black Electro was born.
"I'm continually inspired by such artists like Bowie and Prince who have always been able to reinvent themselves and stay current if not ground breaking in their musical expression," Blackbird says. "I get inspired and make music to inspire others."
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