From Seattle, WA, Blue Sky Black Death is an instrumental production duo that consists of Kingston (Kingston Maguire) and Young God (Ian Taggart). An underrated production team, Blue Sky Black Death nonetheless have a large cult following. They focus their efforts on merging traditional Hip Hop elements with an experimental ambiance that includes live instrumentation.
From Seattle, WA, Blue Sky Black Death is an instrumental production duo that consists of Kingston (Kingston Maguire) and Young God (Ian Taggart). An underrated production team, Blue Sky Black Death nonetheless have a large cult following. They focus their efforts on merging traditional Hip Hop elements with an experimental ambiance that includes live instrumentation.
“Our Hearts Of Ruin” by Blue Sky Black Death
Blue Sky Black Death has been producing music collectively since 2003, generating a slew of instrumental albums under the BSBD moniker, and collaborating with powerhouse rhyme spitters like Ill Bill, Jean Grae, Holocaust (Wu Tang), RasKas, and the Cunninglinguists. Their first studio album, A Heap Of Broken Images, is a 22 track double album, which was released by Mush Records in 2006. The first disc is a 12 song sample-heavy instrumental album that incorporates some live instrumentation from string musicians on bass, violin and cello. The second, more impressive disc features 10 tracks of cameo appearances from many well known underground lyricists, most notably, Jus Allah (formally of Jedi Mind Tricks), Sabac Red (Non Phixion), and GURU (Gang Starr). A Heap Of Broken Images was well received, landing on URB’s top 100 and leading to record deal with Babygrande. Blue Sky Black Death’s already impressive resume expanded in a matter of months.
Since then, BSBD has produced for the best and brightest Babygrande artists. In 2008, they released their first all instrumental album, entitled Late Night Cinema, to rave reviews. In a similar vein as the production from A Heap Of Broken Images, Late Night Cinema utilized a vast, impressive arrangement of live instrumentation, leading BSBD to recognition by publications around the world as one of the 21st century’s best production teams. Three years later, they released their 3rd instrumental album, Noir; followed by a slower, screwed-n-chopped version entitled Noir + Violet.
This Wednesday, February 29, Blue Sky Black Death will take the stage at The Canal Club (1545 E. Cary St.) for their first Virginia performance ever, accompanied by local openers Lonely Skies, Just Plain Ant and DJ Dizz. This East Coast performance is rare enough that it may draw quite a few loyal out-of-state fans, so get your tickets as soon as possible. Advance tickets can be purchased HERE, or check out the facebook event page HERE for more information.
