Out Of The Blue (The World Will Know) - Baby Blue

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	A few good tracks, some creative ideas
Disadvantages:	Some duds

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Full CD title: Out of the Blue Volume 2: The World Will Know

Baby Blue is a female, British, hip hop artist from London. Three things I tend not to like: female rappers, British hip hop, rappers with strong London accents. A friend who was moving house gave this to me, and I had very low expectations. I expected a whole CD with maybe five or six tracks I could stand to listen to, maybe two tracks out of the twenty-three I actually liked. Defiantly something I could look to sell on eBay when my friend wasn't looking. In fact the album was quite enjoyable. Yes, there were a few tracks that hit every point on my "why I hate British hip hop" check list, but the majority were quite good.
First a thing about the CD cover and inlay: it is very amateurish. The lighting is all wrong, and there is a big reliance on gradients. Luckily, the person who made the CD design is credited on the back so you can see who to avoid should you ever want a CD cover made.

1. Intro [skit]

2. Sometimes ft Selah
The opening track goes a long way to giving me hope for this album. The beat is quite smooth, with subtle drums and a steady rhythm. Her accent is strong, but doesn't dominate the whole track and although quite distinctive is easy to listen to. The subject matter itself talks about breaking into the music business and makes for a good CD opener. 4/5

3. Blow my mind
This beat will blow my mind. It sounds like someone got on a keyboard and just kept hitting a key over and over, then Baby Blue decided to rap over it. It makes the song impossible to listen to and drowns out the lyrics of the track with the repetitive jumpiness. 1/5

4. Dreamin' parts 1 & 2
Part 1, ie the first two verses, was on Out of the Blue Volume 1. I think if I had got volume 1 and found out only half of one of the songs was on there I'd feel a little cheated, but this CD has the full version, including the recap. The track concept is pretty good; she wakes up invisible and uses it to find out information on her boyfriend. I think it has more potential than was actually delivered, but there's no denying it's a creative track. Some of the lyrics seem a little thrown in, like the line about curiosity killing the cat, where she said it but didn't go anywhere with it. It was as if that seemed like something that should be included in the song, and that was the only place it could be fitted in. Still, that's me being picky. 4/5

5. Love story '05 ft Sway, Seuwese
This has a long build up to the actual track; roughly one minute before any lyrics are said. Sway does a lot of talking at the start (unskippable skits are another of my pet hates). When they do get down to it, the track comes together really nicely. Sway and Blue do an informal type of love song, where instead of splitting the track into verses they put it together taking it in turns to say a line or two, turning the song into a conversation as such. I really like the format, and the beat and backing vocals (Seuwese) compliment the track very well. 4/5

6. I'm a hustla (freestyle)
Freestyle: To make up a rap as you go. Something you haven't written before hand. Improvised as you go along. As in, not like this track. It might be done live in one take, but she wrote it before hand, as most people in the industry do. It's better to prewrite something and face the criticism from that than to try and freestyle and not be able to do it. Other than the misleading title, this track is ok. It's quite short at about thirty seconds long and is done over Cassidy's "I'm a hustla" beat. Some of the lyrics are quite clever, such as "Blitz up the UK like we in the forties", and the flow is good. Could probably have made a decent full length track out of it. 3/5

7. I don't care ft Insane
This is one of the best produced tracks on the album. The beat is nice and varied with some trumpet sounds thrown in there. The rhymes are solid, with some good wordplay, similes and metaphors. Insane does quite well as well, in fact the verses from both of them are quite catchy. It's one of my favourite tracks on the CD. 4.5/5

8. Sometimes remix
This is the opening track but with a different, slower beat. There's not really that much to say about it, except I prefer the original and it could have done with being further down the playing order to put more distance between the remix and original. 3.5/5

9. Only you (freestyle)
This is on the beat of Ashanti's "Only you". Again, this isn't a real freestyle. Again, it could quite easily have been turned into a full length track and probably would have been quite good. As I have no idea whether Baby Blue has any beef with anyone, this may be a diss at someone or just a generic warning shots kind of thing. This time around it even has a hook of sorts, making the freestyle label even more misleading. 3.5/5

10. T-ster interlude [skit]

11. Roll wid us ft Akala, Riko, Jammer, Ears
Roll wit us was a song by Akala, another London MC. This is typical British hip hop. Repetitive beat, fast rapping, unintelligible to anyone from outside of London or who hasn't been over exposed to the accent. The production sounds really poor too, but I think that was intentional. At times it sounded like how car radios sound whenever you drive through a forest or get a bad signal. Very poor track. 1/5

12. I still don't care ft Sway, SAS, Bigz, Sincere, Pyrelli
This is a remix of "I don't care", with a lot more MCs involved. These two tracks are probably my favourites on the album just because the beat, lyrics and sound work so well together. There's not a weak verse from anyone, which is rare when you have so many people on a track. Somehow no one outshines anyone else or feels out of place, or goes off topic or in a completely different direction to everyone else. Great tune. 4.5/5

13. My love remix ft Sharifa
This is one of the most commercial tracks on the album as Sharifa's vocals are very R&B orientated. Still, Blue's two verses both have great flow and some original lyrics. I think it's a track I'd get bored of after a couple listens due to the amount of singing in it but it was entertaining the first few times. 3.5/5

14. Come over here ft Swiss
I really like the beat used in this track. It's got a 'light' feel to it broken up with some heavier guitar sounds. The track itself it a bit mediocre. It's alright, but there's nothing that really drew me in and made me want to replay it. 2.5/5

15. A good man
One of the best, most light hearted tracks on the CD. There are some funny lines, for example "I ain't like Hallie Berry I ain't sharing my man", which is dated now but still clever. The beat is smooth and a laid back style which I like. Whilst the subject is typical of what I'd expect a female rapper to write about, it's done in a very mature and enjoyable style. Also, the album isn't packed with this type of track which is refreshing. 4/5

16. Ace and Invisible drop [skit]

17. London N.E.W.S ft Sway, Incisive, J2K
The hook's the best part of this song. That's not to say the verses were terrible, because they weren't, they were average. The hook was just better. The concept for the song was very creative; where one MC from the North, East, West and South of London did a verse. Baby Blue's verse was one of the best ones, I felt Incisive was the weak link. All the others had a few lines that stood out to me whereas his didn't. 3/5

18. The world will know
The beat on this is similar in ways to the one on "Blow my mind", only it's done in a listenable way. In fact, it makes the track really good. The lyrics aren't overly impressive but the beat makes them seem so. If it wasn't for Sway and other MCs talking about Baby Blue at the start this would be up there with my favourites on the album. 3.5/5

19. Top of the world snippet ft Bad Angelina's
This is a song of two halves. When Blue isn't rapping there is some really powerful singing by Bad Angelina's and the beat is much stronger to match this. When she does start rhyming, the strength of the beat is toned down and she sounds very bland in comparison. She gets completely outshined, but I love the singing. 2/5

20. Want me back ft Sharifa
This is quite and average song. It's about dating someone in the music industry and splitting up with them, and Sharifa provides the sung hook. It feels like it's missing something to make it stand out amongst the other tracks on the album as there are so many of them. Being near the end doesn't help with that. It's certainly listenable, but not one of the tracks I'd remember. 2.5/5

21. Smilin'
This one will probably get over looked because it's so close to the end, but it carries a message in there somewhere. Blue tells the story of a single parent in an abusive relationship who goes on to be on the cover of vibe and in the music business. It's told through three diary entries which I think is an original idea and it adds something to hear the story told in first person, hearing about how she feels. It a lot deeper in meaning than any other track, and maybe deserves being higher up the playing order. I would have switched this with the Sometimes Remix. 4.5/5

22. Outro [skit]

23. UK chicks [bonus track] Michael Johnson
This song isn't done by Baby Blue, but by Michael Johnson instead. It's about naming attractive British girls and there are a couple of funny lines in there. It's quite short and proabably intended as advertising for him, but I've certainly heard worse bonus tracks 3/5.

Overall, the album is a lot better than I thought it would be. I probably won't buy any more CDs by Baby Blue but this one will get a few plays now and again. It's available for about £7 from Amazon, and may be difficult to get hold of outside of the internet due to its age and the fact that Baby Blue isn't a massive artist.