Shady Blu is a master of atmosphere. Pairing gentle yet expressive vocals with nakedly vulnerable lyrics, the California singer/songwriter and rapper merges her pensive ruminations with lush ambient soundscapes to create theme songs for the aspirational and the misunderstood. Those elements swirl together on “Jealousy,” a meditative single from her forthcoming new project. Floating above spacy synths, Blu lets loose a barrage of suspicions as she diagnoses the envy of jealous friends, simulating real-time urgency with a rapid-fire delivery. After rapping for fun at various points in high school, she recorded her first song in 2016 and started making music in earnest in 2020. Her first offering was “Dream$,” a semi-free-associative bop infused with melody and flashes of big dreams. After releasing two additional songs, she was searching for an audio engineer when she stumbled upon the Instagram account for Derek Ali—otherwise known as MixedByAli (known for his work with Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, and more). She sent him a DM with her music; he was immediately impressed and they began a partnership. By 2021, she’d been signed to Ali’s NoName Recordings. As she prepares this new project, it won’t be long before people across the world hear her work, which will bring her attention she’s still not all that used to. “When people are praising me for my music, I get a little shy,” Blu admits. “It’s like they’re applauding a piece of my heart.”
NO NAME RECORDINGS/INTERSCOPE RECORDS PRESENT SHADY BLU’S DEBUT MUSIC VIDEO “JEALOUSY”
