York
Studio album by Blu
Released	March 26, 2013
Recorded	2010–11
Genre	Hip hop experimental hip hop lo-fi
Length	59:00
Label	Sire/Warner Bros New World Color
Producer	Exile Flying Lotus Samiyam Madlib Daedelus Dibia$e Knxwledge Shafiq Husayn
Blu chronology
j e s u s (2011) York (2013) Gods In the Spirit (2013)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Pitchfork Media	8.1/10[3]
Popmatters	9/10[4]
Rap Reviews	6/10[5]

York (originally titled NoYork!) is the second studio album by American rapper Blu. The album was initially leaked during the Rock The Bells tour in August 2011,^[6][7] and officially released in 2013.^[8]

Background

Blu was still under contract with Sire/Warner Bros in 2011, but as the LA Times noted "the slashing collection of songs was nowhere near commercial enough to ever see major label release".^[9] A few weeks later, Barnes was released from his Sire/Warner Bros. contract, although demo copies were pressed.^[3] Later officially released through New World Color on March 26, 2013.^[8][10] The album was also released as a vinyl 4-LP set with three additional songs, "Jazmine", "Jazzmen" and "Ronald Morgan".^[11]

While Blu is the featured artist he was found to be "tapping a cadre of California instrumental hip-hop luminaries (...) of the Los Angeles beat scene".^[3] Many of them featured at the Low End Theory music club.^[4] These included the performers U-God, Jack Davey, Sa-Ra, Nola Darling, Cashus King, Suziana Lounge, Chop, Cherry Pop, Tiombe Lockhart, Exile, Jimetta Rose, Donel Smokes, Definite Mass, Dubble Oh, Niaa Andrews, Andy Allo, Edan, El Prez, Pac Div, Uni, J Davey, Tiron, & Ayomari.^[11]

The artwork uses a photomontage by the Japanese artist Tsunehisa Kimura titled The City Welcomes a Fresh Morning, which depicts New York City being engulfed in a waterfall.^[12]

Critical reception

Jeff Weiss of the LA Times described the leaked version as touching "upon soul, jazz and straight up boom-bap rap, with Blu alternately nostalgic and forward-minded. It's an album more sincerely strange than any of the more straightforwardly weird records that are all the rage".^[9] David Amidon described this first release as "a sound that can’t currently be compared to any other vocal hip-hop album of measurable consequence, a decidedly original experience".^[4] Craig Jenkins described the official release as "the physical document of that time a gifted rapper blew off a promising record deal to geek out in the studio with friends and then came out with one of the defining documents of his scene".^[3]

Jason Lymangrover at allmusic.com was less enthusiastic and found that if the album "could be considered a success based solely on ambition, this would be a masterpiece, but as it stands, there are so many frills and guests clouding up the scenery that it’s hard to place Blu's voice among all the mess".^[2] While Steve Juon of Rap Reviews warns that "Caution is advised - Blu's brand of hip-hop on this one's not for everybody".^[5]

Track listing

Standard Edition

References