VIDEO: RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY Lecture Session With Blu & Exile

The RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY is currently in session for its special tenth anniversary edition in Barcelona. The Academy has travelled far and wide, bringing its unique symposium of knowledge and good musical vibes to cities like Melbourne, New York, Sao Paulo, and Cape Town. As every year, it goes down like this: a group of 60 participants, hailing from 36 different countries and selected from thousands of worldwide applicants, zooms into town. It’s not just the students, or ‘participants’ as they call them, who’ll find themselves fusing new musical patterns. 40 musical luminaries have been invited as lecturers: from Melvin van Peebles to James Pants, there’ll be plenty of wisdom and wonkiness in play. The lecturers, team members and participants will take those fresh ideas from the studios straight to the ears of the people of Barcelona, as they perform at over 40 events in the city.

The above video features a sit down with hip hop duo, BLU & EXILE. They speak on their beginnings, creative and production philosophy and Exile rocks the MPC live throughout. Blu and Exile is a tag team made in heaven, as their album Below The Heavens ably demonstrates. There's not many duos making hip hop music in the spirit of the golden age, yet astonishingly fresh. Blu talks to his audience instead of at them, concerned more about the message in the music than breaking even. Bringing West Coast sunshine and honest introspective lyrics, he is the perfect foil to Exile's fierce MPC adventures, crafting gritty soul in the tradition of greats like Primo, Dilla, and Pete Rock.