''York'' (originally titled ''NoYork!'') is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American rapper

Blu Blu or BLU may refer to: Businesses and brands *Blu (Italian company), a telecommunications company *Blu Manga, an imprint of Tokyopop * blu eCigs, a brand of electronic cigarette owned by Imperial Tobacco *BLU Products, an American mobile phone m ...

. The album was initially leaked during the

Rock The Bells Rock the Bells was an annual hip-hop festival that originally took place in Southern California only, but has since toured throughout the world. The concert featured a line-up of high-profile alternative hip-hop artists, often headlined by a mor ...

tour in August 2011, and officially released in 2013.

Background

Blu was still under contract with Sire/Warner Bros in 2011, but as the

LA Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

noted "the slashing collection of songs was nowhere near commercial enough to ever see major label release". A few weeks later, Barnes was released from his Sire/Warner Bros. contract, although demo copies were pressed. Later officially released through New World Color on March 26, 2013. The album was also released as a vinyl 4-LP set with three additional songs, "Jazmine", "Jazzmen" and "Ronald Morgan". 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". Many of them featured at the

Low End Theory Low End Theory was a weekly experimental hip hop and electronic music club night that took place every Wednesday from 2006 to 2018 at The Airliner in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California. History "The Low End Theory" is the second studio albu ...

music club. These included the performers

U-God Lamont Jody Hawkins (born November 10, 1970), better known as U-God, is an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He has been with the group since its inception, and is known for his deep voice and rhythmic flow tha ...

, Jack Davey, Sa-Ra, Nola Darling, Cashus King, Suziana Lounge, Chop, Cherry Pop, Tiombe Lockhart,

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

, Jimetta Rose, Donel Smokes, Definite Mass, Dubble Oh, Niaa Andrews, Andy Allo,

Edan Idan or Edan may refers to: People Given name * Edan (musician), American alternative hip hop artist *Edan Everly, American guitarist, musician, singer songwriter *Edan Gross, American child actor *Edan Milton Hughes, American art dealer and art c ...

, El Prez,

Pac Div Pacific Division, better known as Pac Div is an American rap quartet from Southern California. Formed by brothers Like and Mibbs, Pac Div started rapping together in high school. Originally an eleven-member crew, they shrank to three in 2005 ...

, Uni, J Davey, Tiron, & Ayomari. The artwork uses a photomontage by the Japanese artist

Tsunehisa Kimura Tsunehisa Kimura (木村恒久, ''Kimura Tsunehisa''; 1928–2008) was a Japanese artist influential in graphic design. Style Kimura's photomontage imagine a surreal world of ongoing apocalypse and often showcase the encroachment of nature an ...

titled ''The City Welcomes a Fresh Morning'', which depicts New York City being engulfed in a waterfall.

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". 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". 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". 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". While Steve Juon of Rap Reviews warns that "Caution is advised - Blu's brand of hip-hop on this one's not for everybody".

Track listing

;Standard Edition

References

{{Authority control 2013 albums Albums produced by Exile (producer) Albums produced by Flying Lotus Albums produced by Madlib Blu (rapper) albums Sire Records albums Albums produced by Knxwledge