The Playground Meets: Kerry Blu
By Zahir Byam
Kerry Blu is a budding musical prodigy that is a melting pot of genres. Hailing from North Carolina, Blue attended the Appalachian State University where he studied Performing Arts and Psychology. After graduating and realizing that his dreams were larger than life, he relocated to New York City to explore opportunities that would help him further his career. A friend of his convinced him to move to the Big Apple in hopes of launching a musical. With only two bags and $800 in his pocket, Blu set his sights on a journey that would set the tone for the rest of his career.
Many superstars we know today have rocky beginnings to their now fruitful careers. Kerry Blu is no stranger to that, as he spent the beginning of his time in New York working at Paradigm Sports, living in a friend's kitchen on an air mattress. One of his biggest accomplishments while moving to the big city include creating what is now the Empire State Music Festival. This was created out of Blu’s desire for an artist showcase. This festival began as a one night event, then turned into a seven day event that included partnership from the ride sharing apps Via and Uber. This opportunity taught him a great deal about the music industry and collaborating. Unfortunately, the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic caused a halt to everything, as expected. However, instead of being unproductive, Blu used that time to teach himself production. After a few negative run-ins with producers involving ownership and artistry, he made the choice to create his own signature sound, as opposed to creating a sound that he shares with a producer.
Kerry Blu’s admiration for all musical genres led him to his signature sound which he calls, “Rap-clectic Soul”. This style would be a combination of his love for gospel, soul, R&B, grunge, rock, and emo. Being raised in a household that was against hip hop culture, yet championed old soul and R&B music played a role into his musical upbringing. It led him to sneak and listen to his favorite hip hop artists and grow an appreciation for it. He credits pop music of the late 90’s as a major influence as well, including: NSYNC, Britney Spears, 98 Degrees, and so on. As he entered high school, his love for alternative music grew as well. Specifically, artists under the Fueled by Ramen umbrella such as Paramore and Panic at the Disco!.
Kerry Blu makes it clear that “he is a singer-songwriter that’s also a rapper, but he raps more than he sings”. He doesn’t have a trained voice for singing and considers himself a better rapper than a singer, but he ensures that he is a good singer. Kerry Blu is currently being trained in singing, but sticks to rap music because of the way he’s able to navigate the energy during a performance.
Kerry Blu’s most recent song THINK was the first time that he received genuine praise from his friends about his music. He’s always received support and praise for his music, but this one was a little different for him. The song currently has almost 40k plays on Spotify since its initial release on March 30th, 2021. The song mainly speaks on his struggles while being in the house during quarantine. It’s an R&B song, that he raps on over a trap infused beat. Blu makes it known that he’s taking the moment in and continuing to use this song’s success as a pathway for his future recordings.