Blu has finally uploaded a string of old releases on streaming services for the first time along with new bonus cuts and instrumentals.
On Monday (January 1), the 40-year-old MC took to social media to announce that several packages he released years ago — California Soul (2002), Open (2009), The GODlee Barnes (2010), GOD Is Good (2010) and Good GOD (2010) — have gone live across digital platforms.
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Speaking about his debut album, California Soul, he wrote: “This was the very first project I ever had pressed up. 20 years ago in 2003, we pressed 1,000 copies that were gone in a months time. Available now for the first time on DSPs.
“The project is produced by L’s with additional production by Bombay and Ariano. It also has features from my good friends Miguel, Donel Smokes and Cashus King.”
In his post about Open, which has also been released separately in instrumental format, he explained: “‘Open’ is a collection of songs that were made by various artists rhyming and singing over the “Open (instrumentals)” project. This compilation was originally compiled in 2009.”
The GODlee Barnes, he said, is “a collection of instrumentals made with a computer mouse and no MIDI or machine, on Pro Tools from 2008-2010,” referring to it as his “personal favorites.”
He then explained that 2010’s GOD Is Good — the “soundtrack to life” — was originally called GOD Is Good (In The Hood, Where I Lay Everyday, South Central LA), adding that he “produced this entire project in 2009 (Exile produced ‘Never Dream’). Featuring some of my best friends; Miguel, Exile, Cashus King, Sene & more.”
Good GOD, which comprises bonus cuts from the above LP, is “a collection of songs made during the ‘GOD Is Good’ sessions.”
There have been a lot of artists as of late who have been posting their music on streaming platforms for the first time to tremendous success. De La Soul, for example, put out their entire catalog on DSPs last year, and their first-week streaming numbers reflected just how much fans had been anticipating the release.
In March, Billboard confirmed the De La Soul catalog registered 12.5 million official on-demand U.S. song streams in the week ending March 9 and sold 28,000 albums (both digital download and physical copies combined).
After a long delay and legal battle, De La Soul’s first six albums — 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate, Stakes Is High, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump and AOI: Bionix — finally arrived on streaming platforms, joining the rest of their discography.
Their debut was the most streamed album for the week and even made its return to multiple Billboard charts. The 1989 LP landed at No. 8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at No. 8 with 26,000 equivalent album units, No. 4 on the Top Rap Albums chart and No. 15 on the Billboard 200.
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Its lead single and the group’s biggest single to date, “Me, Myself and I,” led the recap of De La Soul’s most streamed songs, with one million on-demand streams.
