Interview: Albany, GA Based Duo Blyke_Love Discuss Their New Song "Juneteenth Everyday"

Big shoutout to Albany, GA based duo BlykeLove, comprised of Jo3 h3nson and Briley, who connected with DCWS to discuss their new single “Juneteeth Everyday”, which was produced by P K. Along with talking about the song, we got a chance to learn more about how Jo3 h3nson and Briley connected and formed Blyke_Love, the music scene for Hip-Hop and RnB/Soul in Albany, what we can expect from their upcoming project, and much more.

After reading our Q&A with Blyke_Love, be sure to connect with them on their website and social media, and check out their other song, “A Ride In The Deep”.

Congratulations on the release of your new song "Juneteenth Everyday". Tell us about your creative process for the development of the song. Also, how did you connect with the song's producer P K?

Thank You! It was a fun process making the song. As always, it's an in-depth process. We came across P K on YouTube and when we heard the beat, everything just naturally flowed. P K is a very talented producer, and his sound/vibe just spoke to us creatively. Once we wrote the song, we started recording.

For the sake of finding a way to illustrate a future where all black people know and live in the freedom we have everyday, Jo3 h3nson wanted to have kids say the chorus, too. So they got Briley's best friend and manager Jr’s kids and nephews to record saying the lyrics to the chorus (originally they were gonna be in the actual chorus). Eventually, we decided it would make a bigger impact, and illustrate a bigger point, by moving it to the end of the song as an acapella. The point is, we have to raise our kids to know they are free, they have power, and are valuable.

When someone listens to "Juneteenth Everyday" for the first time, what do you want them to take away from the experience?

We want black people to feel empowered, and reassurance in knowing that despite how hard the black experience can be in America, just because of who we are, and how this system has confined us in certain ways, we are still free.

We're free to live the lives we wanna live. It may be a little more difficult, but it's possible. Everyone before us fought for us to be free, to have these freedoms. That freedom is needed in our current society where public opinion causes people to feel like they aren't free to be themselves. That goes beyond black people. We all share that. We just want people to feel free to be who they are.

Tell us about how you two met and why you decided to form the group Blyke_Love.

We met in 2011 at a performance Briley had singing backup with a singer/mutual friend (who was in a group called The Freedom Fighters with Jo3 h3nson, who was going by Monte Carlo at the time and came to the show to support their friend).

In 2013 we started recording for Jo3 h3nson's album "L.A.M.E." and been recording together ever since. 2018 Jo3 h3nson released an EP called "Dear Organized Noize" that was dedicated to legendary southern producers Organized Noize who produced majority of the Dungeon Family's music, whom we loved and grew up listening to.

The EP was created using mainly Organize Noize production, along with 1 track produced by Earthtone III (a production group that consist of Outkast & Mr. Dj), featured Big Rube, and Briley was featured on every song on the EP as well. Realizing how good we sound together, and the natural chemistry we have, we decided to put our creative talents together and formed Blyke_Love.

What can you tell us about the project you are working on? Does it have a title yet and is there an overall theme or concept?

Yes it has a title and a theme but we're keeping that tucked for now. It ain't time yet. We want the listeners to get the full experience when they hear the project for the 1st time. We don't want them to know or be expecting anything but good music.

How would you describe the music scene, especially for hip-hop and RnB/Soul, in Albany, GA? Are locals supportive of homegrown talent and are there a lot of venues to perform?

The music scene here is growing, but still has a lot of room for more. Hip-Hop is the biggest genre that we have seen the growth in. Albany is predominantly a Hip-Hop/Trap city, although there are a few RnB/Soul artists.

The venues are limited to maybe about two clubs here that hip-hop artists can perform in, and that's determined by the content you create in which one caters towards trap music. Which is why we created L.A.M.E. Voices with our partner Chris Jenkins to build a platform for artists who makes more of a unique sound or a sound that is true to them. We saw that there was a need for something fresh, positive, creative, different, and a place to be you not only for the artists to come and showcase their art/gift but for the people to know and see what all they were missing and what all Albany has to offer.

With that being said, Albany locals are becoming more supportive of the talent that is right in their own home, even reaching out to the artists for events in and around the area that they may have heard/seen at L.A.M.E. Voices or other events.

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