The Red Bulletin April 2021 (US)

T H E D E P A R T U R E
Living in L.A. can feel
like a vacation—the
sun-soaked days,
towering palm trees, vast
mountain ranges and
beautiful beaches. It’s lovely
for many people, but in South
Los Angeles, there is a
different existence, one that is
distracting and dangerous and
surrounded by gangs. This
was the reality for the multihyphenate
rapper, singer,
songwriter and producer
Blxst, who grew up near 75th
Street and Central Avenue.
“When I was young, living
with my mom, my school was
eight blocks away from my
house,” says Blxst. “It was
literally between two gangs,
where anything could happen
on any street.”
The twentysomething
artist has been singing for as
long as he can remember, but
September 2020 marked the
release of his debut EP, No
Love Lost, on Red Bull Records.
In just a week, the collection,
which seamlessly blends rap
and R&B, picked up 4 million
streams and reached 75
million streams as of January.
The deluxe version, which
dropped in December,
features bonus tracks with Ty
Dolla $ign, Tyga, Dom
Kennedy and Bino Rideaux.
His versatility, DIY ethos and
singsong, melodic funk sound
have been compared to the
“King of Hooks”—the late hiphop
legend Nate Dogg.
Growing up, Blxst dreamed
of playing in the NBA, but he
eventually fell out of love with
basketball. To escape the
trappings of South L.A. street
life, he relocated to the Inland
Empire with his dad.
The Inland Empire—or
“the IE”— is a short drive east
from Los Angeles, but worlds
away from South L.A. Known
for its harsh deserts, mountain
towns and sprawling suburbs,
the IE is where Blxst picked up
a new love—skateboarding.
“I was definitely invested in
skateboarding,” Blxst says
during a phone interview on
MLK Day. “I was skating every
day, like to the point where I
thought it was going to be my
future—until I got a reality
check and broke my ankle.
That led me to picking up a
laptop. I started recording
myself and taught myself how
to make beats when I was
around 16 years old.”
The change of scenery
allowed Blxst to hone his craft
and his sound, but more
importantly, learn how to be
his authentic self. “Living in
the IE was the complete
opposite of South Central,”
says Blxst. “It was more
suburban. The school system
was strict, but it also made me
keep to myself. I didn’t really
know anybody out there, so
that’s how I fell into the pocket
of being home and just
creating music.”
For Blxst, the decision to
lean into his music career
eventually paid off, but it
wasn’t without contention
from some of the people who
were closest to him. After the
release of his first single,
“Who Would’ve Thought,” in
2016, and his 2019 breakout
hit, “Hurt,” Blxst’s rising
success and the amount of
time he spent focused on his
work caused some friction
with friends and family.
“Sometimes people around
you can’t understand,” Blxst
explains. “It takes separation
for elevation. Being away from
everyone gave me a different
perspective, a sense of
discipline. I decided I wanted
to do things for myself and
have a different dedication
towards my music.”
With this newfound focus,
Blxst teamed up with R&B
sensation Eric Bellinger to
produce the 2018 track “By
Now.” In return, the singer
appeared on Blxst’s single
“Can I.” Picking up on this
momentum, Blxst joined
forces with Bino Rideaux for
the collaborative Sixtape in
2019. To date it’s generated
nearly 5 million total streams,
flaunting fan favorites such as
“Selfish” and “Bacc Home.”
“I felt the pressure early
on trying to build my
foundation,” Blxst says of his
career beginnings. “I didn’t
even know where I was going
to lay my head at a certain
point. I was just trying to
follow through with the plan,
just strategizing and executing
and believing in myself.”
It was around this time that
Blxst came to a difficult fork in
the road, where he had to
make a choice between the
people he loved and chasing
his dreams. “That’s what a lot
of No Love Lost is about,” Blxst
says. “It’s saying ‘no hard
feelings’ to my loved ones, to
my friends—that I had to take
time away from them to be
self-sufficient and support
myself. Sorry, not sorry.”
But it’s also that type of
perspective and selfassuredness
that’s led Blxst to
find his own lane in an already
crowded hip-hop space. “I
create music for the soul,” Blxst
says. “No matter what genre it
is, it’s going to be intentional.
I create what’s missing in the
game. I feel like people are
missing that love connection,
that honesty, that soulfulness,
and I want to be that.”
As he wraps up work on his
first full-length album, set to
be released later this summer,
Blxst continues to stand firm
in his own truth as an artist.
“[My music] is about being
authentic and being real with
myself,” he says. “I’m opening
up and giving the listener an
opportunity to know that
they’re not alone, no matter
what emotion they’re feeling.
I just want to be able to show
people that it’s cool to feel, it’s
cool to love. It’s cool to be who
you are.” —Evan Majors
10 THE RED BULLETIN