York (album)

York
York
Studio album by Blu
Released	March 26, 2013
Recorded	2010–11
Genre	Hip hop; experimental hip hop; lo-fi;
Length	59:00
Label	Sire/Warner Bros; New World Color
Producer	Exile; Flying Lotus; Samiyam; Madlib; Daedelus; Dibia$e; Knxwledge; Shafiq Husayn;
Blu chronology

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100^[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[2]
Pitchfork Media	8.1/10^[3]
Popmatters	9/10^[4]
Rap Reviews	6/10^[5]

York (originally titled NoYork!) is the second studio album by American rapper Blu. The album was initially leaked during the Rock The Bells tour in August 2011,^[6]^[7] and officially released in 2013.^[8]

Background

Blu was still under contract with Sire/Warner Bros in 2011, but as the LA Times noted "the slashing collection of songs was nowhere near commercial enough to ever see major label release".^[9] A few weeks later, Barnes was released from his Sire/Warner Bros. contract, although demo copies were pressed.^[3] Later officially released through New World Color on March 26, 2013.^[8]^[10] The album was also released as a vinyl 4-LP set with three additional songs, "Jazmine", "Jazzmen" and "Ronald Morgan".^[11]

While Blu is the featured artist he was found to be "tapping a cadre of California instrumental hip-hop luminaries (...) of the Los Angeles beat scene".^[3] Many of them featured at the Low End Theory music club.^[4] These included the performers U-God, Jack Davey, Sa-Ra, Nola Darling, Cashus King, Suziana Lounge, Chop, Cherry Pop, Tiombe Lockhart, Exile, Jimetta Rose, Donel Smokes, Definite Mass, Dubble Oh, Niaa Andrews, Andy Allo, Edan, El Prez, Pac Div, Uni, J Davey, Tiron, & Ayomari.^[11]

The artwork uses a photomontage by the Japanese artist Tsunehisa Kimura titled The City Welcomes a Fresh Morning, which depicts New York City being engulfed in a waterfall.^[12]

Critical reception

Jeff Weiss of the LA Times described the leaked version as touching "upon soul, jazz and straight up boom-bap rap, with Blu alternately nostalgic and forward-minded. It's an album more sincerely strange than any of the more straightforwardly weird records that are all the rage".^[9] David Amidon described this first release as "a sound that can’t currently be compared to any other vocal hip-hop album of measurable consequence, a decidedly original experience".^[4] Craig Jenkins described the official release as "the physical document of that time a gifted rapper blew off a promising record deal to geek out in the studio with friends and then came out with one of the defining documents of his scene".^[3]

Jason Lymangrover at allmusic.com was less enthusiastic and found that if the album "could be considered a success based solely on ambition, this would be a masterpiece, but as it stands, there are so many frills and guests clouding up the scenery that it’s hard to place Blu's voice among all the mess".^[2] While Steve Juon of Rap Reviews warns that "Caution is advised - Blu's brand of hip-hop on this one's not for everybody".^[5]

Track listing

Standard Edition

No.	Title	Producer	Length
1.	"Doin' Nothin'" (featuring U-God)	Flying Lotus	2:41
2.	"Everything's OK" (featuring Jack Davey)	Flying Lotus	2:58
3.	"Everybody Nose" (featuring Sa-Ra & Nola Darling)	Samiyam	3:43
4.	"Above Crenshaw" (featuring Co$$)	Samiyam	4:04
5.	"SLNGBNGrs"	Dibia$e	2:59
6.	"Soupa" (featuring Suzi Analogue)	Samiyam	3:08
7.	"Hours"	Daedelus	3:58
8.	"Annie Hall" (featuring Chop, Brooker T & Tiombe Lockhart)	Daedelus	4:04
9.	"Tags" (featuring Exile)	Exile	3:21
10.	"Spring Winter Summer Fall" (featuring Jimetta Rose)	Shafiq Husayn	5:26
11.	"Down to Earth" (featuring Definite, Donel Smokes & Dubble Oh)	Shafiq Husayn	3:20
12.	"My Sunshine" (featuring Nia Andrews)	Shafiq Husayn	3:27
13.	"Keep Pushinn"	Knxwledge	3:09
14.	"Doin' Something" (featuring El Prez, Pac Div, U-N-I, J*Davey, Tiron & Ayomari)	Flying Lotus	6:03

Vinyl Edition
No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Doin' Nothin'" (featuring U-God)	Flying Lotus	2:41
2.	"Everything's OK" (featuring Jack Davey)	Flying Lotus	2:58
3.	"Everybody Nose" (featuring Sa-Ra & Nola Darling)	Samiyam	3:43
4.	"Above Crenshaw" (featuring Co$$)	Samiyam	4:04
5.	"SLNGBNGrs"	Dibia$e	2:59
6.	"Soupa" (featuring Suzi Analogue)	Samiyam	3:08
7.	"Hours"	Daedelus	3:58
8.	"Annie Hall" (featuring Cherry Pop & Tiombe Lockhart)	Daedelus	4:04
9.	"Tags" (featuring Exile)	Exile	3:21
10.	"Spring Winter Summer Fall" (featuring Jimetta Rose)	Shafiq Husayn	5:26
11.	"Down to Earth" (featuring Definite, Donel Smokes & Dubble Oh)	Shafiq Husayn	3:20
12.	"My Sunshine" (featuring Nia Andrews)	Shafiq Husayn	3:27
13.	"Jazmine" (featuring Andy Allo)	Samiyam	1:15
14.	"Jazzmen"	Madlib	2:28
15.	"Ronald Morgan" (featuring Edan)	Madlib	3:19
16.	"Keep Pushinn"	Knxwledge	3:09
17.	"Doin' Something" (featuring El Prez, Pac Div, U-N-I, J*Davey, Tiron & Ayomari)	Flying Lotus	6:03

References

^ "NoYork! Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
^ ^a ^b Allmusic review
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jenkins, Craig. "Blu: NoYork! | Album Reviews". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c Amidon, David (February 16, 2012). "Blu: NoYork!". Popmatters. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
^ ^a ^b Juon, Steve (April 23, 2013). "Blu: York!". Rap Reviews. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
^ "Blu Gives NoYork to the People for Free". The Smoking Section. UPROXX. August 23, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
^ "Blu (2) - NoYork! (2011 version)". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
^ ^a ^b "Blu (2) - NoYork! (2013 CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
^ ^a ^b Weiss, Jeff (September 13, 2011). "The jagged Low End rap of Blu's 'NoYork!' mixtape". Pop & Hiss. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
^ "iTunes - Music - York by Blu". Retrieved 26 March 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Blu (2) - NoYork! (4LP version)". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
^ Coulthart, John (November 4, 2010). "Design as virus 13: Tsunehisa Kimura". { feuilleton }. Retrieved 2015-11-18. The composition has been used for a number of albums, including Zonoscope and Site Anubis

[1] "NoYork! Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2013-06-16.

[allmusic-2] Allmusic review

[P4k-3] Jenkins, Craig. "Blu: NoYork! | Album Reviews". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 29 March 2013.

[Popmatters-4] Amidon, David (February 16, 2012). "Blu: NoYork!". Popmatters. Retrieved April 14, 2015.

[Rapreviews-5] Juon, Steve (April 23, 2013). "Blu: York!". Rap Reviews. Retrieved November 18, 2015.

[UPROXX-6] "Blu Gives NoYork to the People for Free". The Smoking Section. UPROXX. August 23, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2013.

[7] "Blu (2) - NoYork! (2011 version)". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-11-18.

[:2-8] "Blu (2) - NoYork! (2013 CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-11-18.

[:1-9] Weiss, Jeff (September 13, 2011). "The jagged Low End rap of Blu's 'NoYork!' mixtape". Pop & Hiss. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-11-18.

[10] "iTunes - Music - York by Blu". Retrieved 26 March 2013.

[:0-11] "Blu (2) - NoYork! (4LP version)". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-11-18.

[12] Coulthart, John (November 4, 2010). "Design as virus 13: Tsunehisa Kimura". { feuilleton }. Retrieved 2015-11-18. The composition has been used for a number of albums, including Zonoscope and Site Anubis

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