SkyBlew and DJ Reimei (Mario Farrow and Leo Flounoy) stopped by Live & Local this month, following the release of their dazzling new concept hip-hop album “Battle for the Universe.”
Listen to the full album and purchase it on Bandcamp.
A sequel to their 2019 album “The Universal Journey,” “Battle for the Universe” chronicles an epic narrative across (and beyond, and between) time and space: following their “universal journey” away from Earth and back again, Blew and Reimei return to a world that’s somehow off-kilter, threatened by a vague but powerful sinister force – and find themselves called to take to the skies again, this time to save the world.
“There’s an external conflict going on,” says SkyBlew. “There’s a main villain, Sledge, he’s causing chaos – so two unlikely heroes have to come together, and put their wits together, and figure out different ways of combating them and helping the people on Earth.”
They do it (or do they?) across 18 spectacular tracks, syncing Reimei’s genre-busting beats with lyrics that dance across pop culture, anime, video games, and music history – among other things.
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It wasn’t originally intended to be a sequel, Reimei says; that’s something that came to pass organically, in the course of a process that stretched out over two years.
“I produced about 30 beats for this thing,” he says – “(but) the first one that stood out was ‘Intergalactic’,” which turned out to be a direct follow-up to a specific track (“Galaxy Walk”) from their previous album. “And then we were like, ‘well, if that’s a sequel–’ and then other sequel tracks started popping up.”
The end result: another memorable highlight in the careers of two artists whose talent shines through no matter whom they work with – but who mesh especially well with each other.
“SkyBlew is one of the most creative people I’ve ever met,” says Reimei. “No matter how out there my ideas go, he’s able to catch on and find a way to fit into it. We mesh very well in influence (and) style…and I think the difference is that when I’m working with Blew, I’m making a project with one of my best friends. We’re just doing what organically comes between us.”
And it’s all in service of a powerful message: “No one’s immune from boss fights,” Blew raps in the album’s pivotal track – a fact that’s true in real life no less than games – and the only way through is to stand together and dig deep to find the latent power within ourselves.
“Right now, in this time, (people) need some light more than ever,” SkyBlew says. “We have to rise up, and be that light. Sometimes you feel like, ‘nah, I wanna do something else’ – but you know what you’re supposed to be doing, in this moment right here…
“This is a battle not just for the universe, but for the people in it – so that they know, no matter how weird of an idea you have, chances are you’re the person who’s supposed to share that with the world. This is good. This is possible. It’s okay to be a little out there.”
SkyBlew and DJ Reimei joined Aaron Keck on Live & Local, to discuss the album and play three tracks: “Intergalactic,” “Wander/Wonder,” and “Awesome/Awful.” Listen:
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