photo credit: 935 KDAY

Aloe Blacc sits down with Noah Ayala to discuss his unreleased album ‘Bird’s Eye View’ with producer Exile, his transition from rapping to singing, and the success he amassed with the international hit “Wake Me Up”.

Hailing from Orange County, Blacc first gained fans across the pond in Europe, building his early fan base in France with the assistance of his once-featured “I Need A Dollar” in the HBO series “How To Make It In America”. Getting his name out in foreign territory, major labels back home began to pick up on the sound of the early rapper, which Aloe says his hustle in France gave him the opportunity to see how much larger a record label’s reach could impact for his then independent career.

In Cali, the underground hip-hop circuit was like, “Do it yourself”, in New York everybody was like “I need to get signed”. On the west coast we’re like, we’re going to do it ourselves. We’re going to press our own tapes and record it, mix, master, do all of our own artwork, and then slang them at over at clubs and on the street, and consignment at stores. That’s how we did it. That was the west coast grind. And I grew up doing that in hip-hop.

Transitioning from rapping to singing and experiencing with various musical genres before finding his niche with a throwback soul sound, Blacc’s “Wake Me Up” appearance set the singer up for good as the track impacted all across the globe. Since his 2013 hit, Aloe is ready to deliver new music in the coming 2020 year and shares that he has an unreleased project with his long-time friend and collaborator Exile.

There is a hip-hop album I have with Exile called ‘Bird’s Eye View’. We’ve been sitting on it for a while. The idea is that, you know, from the bird’s eye view, we see how the world is being manipulated, how media is being manipulated, how politicians are working, just how, the games are working, like a chess board that you’re looking at. We’ve got songs on there that touch on a lot of topics that you don’t necessarily hear in hip-hop; I don’t think I’ve ever heard a song in hip-hop on genocide.

Watch the full Aloe Blacc interview with Noah Ayala below!