Blue Sky Black Death

Blue Sky Black Death
Also known as	Torso Orphan (Kingston) Rev. Left (Young God)
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genres	Instrumental hip hop, alternative hip hop, trip hop
Occupations	Producers
Instruments	Drum machine, sampler, keyboard, synthesizer, guitar
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Fake Four Inc, Mush Records, Babygrande Records
Associated acts	Holocaust, Hell Razah, Jean Grae, Yes Alexander, Alexander Chen, Nacho Picasso
Website	www.bsbdmusic.com
Members	Kingston Young God

Blue Sky Black Death (abbreviated BSBD) is a production duo based in Seattle, Washington. It consists of Kingston Maguire, better known mononymously as Kingston, and Ian Taggart, better known by his stage name Young God. They are known principally for their hip hop and instrumental music, made with a mixture of live instrumentation and sampling. Their name is "a skydiving phrase alluding to beauty and death."

History

Kingston and Young God met and began collaborating on music in 2003. Young God, working under the name Rev. Left, began creating beats to rap over, but abandoned rapping and started producing exclusively around 2000. Kingston, working under the name Orphan, began his solo producing career collaborating with rapper Noah23 and the Plague Language collective (to which Young God also contributed production). Kingston entirely produced Noah23's debut album Cytoplasm Pixel in 1999, and the two collaborated closely until Jupiter Sajitarius in 2004, after which they parted ways. In the same year, Kingston worked on projects for Virtuoso's Omnipotent Records. He contributed a number of tracks to Jus Allah's scheduled Omnipotent debut All Fates Have Changed, but the album was shelved. The tracks "Vengeance" and "Drill Sergeant" were later released on BSBD's Dirtnap mixtape, and a number of other beats recorded for the album were bootlegged on The Devil'z Rejects album Necronomicon. One Kingston beat, "Supreme (Black God's Remix)" was included on the Babygrande Records release of All Fates Have Changed in 2005.

The duo, collaborating initially under the name Torso, signed their first record deal with Mush Records in 2005 to release the label's first double-disc album. During the album's production, the duo settled on their current name. The album, A Heap of Broken Images, was released on June 23, 2006. The first disc featured twelve instrumental tracks with heavy live-instrumentation, while the second disc featured nine rap collaborations made with traditional hip hop sampling, and a closing instrumental. The guests included Rob Sonic, Mike Ladd, Jus Allah, Sabac Red, Wise Intelligent, A-Plus, Pep Love, Chief Kamachi, Myka 9, Virtuoso, Awol One and Holocaust. The album received acclaim from various sources, including Vapors, Word, Mean Street, UK Hip Hop and Allmusic, and landed the duo on URB's "Next 100."

The album's acclaimed production led to the duo landing a record deal with popular independent rap label Babygrande Records later in 2006. Their first release on the label was a full-length collaboration with Holocaust, titled Blue Sky Black Death Presents: The Holocaust, released on September 5. Holocaust provided all the album's vocals with no guest appearances, and BSBD provided production for every track. The album included the duo's first 12-inch single The Ocean / No Image. The duo's next album was a collaboration with another Wu-Tang affiliate, Sunz of Man and Black Market Militia member Hell Razah. Their album Razah's Ladder was released on October 23, 2007. Unlike The Holocaust, the album included outside guest appearances, featuring Crooked I, Shabazz the Disciple, Ill Bill, Sabac Red and Prodigal Sunn. The duo strayed from the dark soundscapes featured on The Holocaust, instead providing a soulful backdrop for Razah. Shortly before the release of Razah's Ladder, the duo released their first mixtape, titled Dirtnap, featuring various unreleased collaborations and two instrumentals from their forthcoming album.

The duo's next release was their first all-instrumental project, Late Night Cinema, released on April 29, 2008. The dense instrumentals featured contributions from violinists, organists, trumpeters, synth players and vocalists, as well as guitar, keyboard and drum kit work from the producers themselves. The album received high acclaim from XLR8R, Music-Reviewer, PopMatters, SputnikMusic and RapReviews.com. RapReviews writer Pedro Hernandez stated "With this album, Blue Sky Black Death pushes the limits of what hip-hop music can be" and called it "essential listening". BSBD stayed active online throughout 2008, releasing two instrumental podcast blends titled Gifts in Jail Vol. 1 and Gifts in Jail Vol. 2, as well as a screwed version of Late Night Cinema titled Lean Night Cinema.

In June 2008, after an online petition from fans, Babygrande released the acclaimed instrumentals from The Holocaust on vinyl and CD. BSBD then contributed twelve of thirteen tracks for Phoenix MC Gutta's debut album Heads Will Roll, released on Babygrande on September 2. On September 30, Babygrande released the album The Evil Jeanius, by pairing Jean Grae vocals with Blue Sky Black Death beats. November saw the duo's fifth release of the year, Slow Burning Lights, an indie pop project with singer Yes Alexander), which was recorded and completed two years before its release.

Third Party, a collaboration with Alexander Chen of Boy in Static, was released on Fake Four Inc in 2010.

In 2011, Blue Sky Black Death released a new album, Noir, on Fake Four Inc. The duo also released For the Glory, a collaborative album with rapper Nacho Picasso, in the same year.

Two more collaborative albums with Nacho Picasso, Lord of the Fly and Exalted, were released in 2012.

Their new instrumental album called Glaciers has to come out on October 1, 2013.

Discography

Albums

• A Heap of Broken Images (2006)
• Blue Sky Black Death Presents: The Holocaust (2006) (with Holocaust)
• Razah's Ladder (2007) (with Hell Razah)
• Late Night Cinema (2008)
• The Evil Jeanius (2008) (with Jean Grae)
• Slow Burning Lights (2008) (with Yes Alexander)
• The Indie Rock Essentials (2009)
• Third Party (2010) (with Alexander Chen)
• Noir (2011)
• For the Glory (2011) (with Nacho Picasso)
• Lord of the Fly (2012) (with Nacho Picasso)
• Exalted (2012) (with Nacho Picasso)
• Aquatic Reverie (2012)
• Cliff of Death EP (2012) (with Deniro Farrar)
• Skull & Bones (2012)
• Blue Sky Black Death & Key Nyata (2013) (with Key Nyata)
• Euphoric Tape (2013)
• Razah's Ladder 2 (TBA) (with Hell Razah)
• Glaciers instrumental album (2013)

Singles

• "The Ocean / No Image" (2006)
• "Rebel to the Grain / Slapbox with Jesus" (2008)

Mixes/Podcasts/Other

• Dirtnap Mixtape (2007)
• 07/10/15 URB.com (2007) exclusive Podcast
• Gifts in Jail, Vol. 1 (2008)
• Gifts in Jail, Vol. 2 (2008)
• Lean Night Cinema (2008) Late Night Cinema screwed
• Recession Proof (2009)
• J(A)Y(Z) (2009)
• Lost and Unreleased (2009)
• Noir + Violet (2011) Noir screwed
• 13 (2012)
• Aquatic Reverie (2012)

Production credits

Kingston (aka Orphan)

• Noah23 - all tracks on Cytoplasm Pixel (1999)
• Noah23 - "Mercury Retrograde", "Insect Network", "Spiral Knuckle", "Tapeworm", "Nemesis", "Psychic Biters", "Qualude", "Avoid", "Harvest", "Kali Yantra", "Frequency" & "Hemoglobin" on Neophyte Phenotype (2001)
• The Twin Sisters - "Mugshot" on Amulet (2002)
• Mindbender - "Class of Immortals" on Fantasyland Before Time (2002)
• Noah23 - "Volapuk", "Crypto Sporidian", "Learning Curve", "Hourglass", "Banded Hairstreak", "Nocturnal", "Imhotep" & "Julia Set" on Quicksand (2002)
• Baracuda - "Tetragammoth", "Deadly Rays", "Ice Age", "Royal City Chainsaw Massacre", "Unpardonable Sins", "Dental Plan", "Mulberry Skies", "Rain Buckets", "Duplicate Version" & "Regime" on Tetragammoth (2002)
• Noah23 - "Deep Space Machinery" on Tau Ceti (2003)
• Orko the Sykotik Alien - all tracks except "Wack as Fuck" on Atoms of Eden (2003)
• Offwhyte - "People Music" on Submerged State 2G4 Tour CD (2004)
• Noah23 - "Silicate Magma Chamber", "Orange Dolphin", "Twist of Fate", "Data Hooks" & "Trilateral Damage" on Mitochondrial Blues (2004)
• Noah23 - "Digitaria Desert Search", "Bitesized Rat Race", "Fuzzy Logic", "Lemon Fever Helmet", "Blast Off", "Sunset Crater", "Viper Centipede Blizzard" & "Orphaned Ad" on Sigma Octantis (2004)
• John Tsunam - "Feet Not Feat" on Not Too Intelligent But Extremely Resourceful (2004)
• The Train Rawbers - "Infinite Infinite", "Ninjah Pizza", "Blueberry Soup" & "Big Baby Taurus" on The Train Rawbers (2004)
• Ceschi - "Bad Love Poem", "Heaven" & "Roaches" on Fake Flowers (2004)
• Plague Language - "Leave", "Skin Deeper", "Angel by Aging", "Bad Both Ways", "The Cessation of Samsara", "Precious" & "Again" on Farewell Archetypes (2004)
• Plague Language - "Bad Both Ways", "Find Yourself", "Again" & "I Alone (Remix)" on Farewell Archetypes Vol. 2 (2004)
• Noah23 - "Lizard Lion Eagle", "As Below So Above", "Chicken Pox", "Godhead Omelet", "Freelance Zenarchist", "Scream", "Quicksilver", "Nova Toast" & "Marshes" on Jupiter Sajitarius (2004)
• Noah23 - "Chicken Soup" on "Chicken Pox" (2004)
• Jus Allah - "Vengeance" & "Drill Sergeant" (2004)
• Livestock - "Wolf & Serpent", "Big Bad City", "Prey 2 Machines", "Almond Wine" & "Spiral Like the Nine" on Spiral Like the Nine (2005)
• Ceschi - "In a Coma" on Fake Flowers R.I.P. #1 (2005)
• Orphan - "Jailbreak" on Superiorbelly Compilation (2005)
• Jus Allah - "Supreme (Black God's Remix)" on All Fates Have Changed (2005)
• Demune – "Precious", "A Ceilings Observations", "Triangle" & "Find Yourself" on Crossbreeding and Grafting (2006)
• Famous Playaz - "Viper Centipede Blizzard" on Funny Money (2007)
• Noah23 - "Chicken Soup" on Cameo Therapy (2007)
• StapleMouth - "Angel by Aging", "Trilateral Damage", "Outbreak" & "10 Kings (Mega Tuff)" on Un-Everything Except Three (2009)
• Kingston - "Good Good Feeling" on Phase Five - NZ Music - Disc 11 (2009)

Young God (aka Rev. Left)

• Noah23 - "Revertebrae" on Tau Ceti (2003)
• Noah23 - "Birdfish" on Sigma Octantis (2004) (with Aloeight)
• John Tsunam - "When Blondes Go Bald" on Not Too Intelligent But Extremely Resourceful (2004)
• The Train Rawbers - "Vacuum Oyster Surprise!" on The Train Rawbers (2004)
• Ceschi - "Once" on Fake Flowers (2004)

Blue Sky Black Death

• Midaz - "Call the Police" on Beast Wars (2007)
• Sabac Red - "Engage My Words (Remix)", "The Ritual Pt. 1", "Darkness Deepens", "Anywhere" & "Shift of the Earth" on The Collection Vol. 2 (2007)
• Ill Bill - "Darkness Deepens" on Black Metal (2007)
• Juice - "Halos (Remix)" on The Death Certificate (2007)
• Gutta - all tracks except "Thrashin'" on Heads Will Roll (2008)
• T.H.U.G. Angelz - "Audiobiography (Remix)" on Welcome to Red Hook Houses (2008)
• Ras Kass - "Elevate" on Institutionalized Vol. 2 (2008)
• Sabac Red - "The Ritual", "Shift of the Earth" "Breaking Through" "Darkness Deepens" on The Ritual (2008)
• CunninLynguists - "The Park (Remix)" on Strange Journey Volume Two (2009)
• Virtuoso - "IntroFlection", "The Final Conflict", "Piercing", "Heartbeat Stopper", "No Fear", "Propaganda", "The Bay of Pigs" & "OutroSpection" on The Final Conflict (2010)
• Donnis - "Gimme" on "Break Hundreds & Hearts EP" (2012)
• Pepperboy - "Felon" on "Post Traumatic Stress (PTS)" & "Love My Life" on "Nitetime" (2012)
• Sadistik - "Russian Roulette", "City in Amber", "The Beast", "A Long Winter", on "Flowers for My Father" (2013)

External links

• Official website
• Blue Sky Black Death on Mush Records
• Blue Sky Black Death on Fake Four Inc
• Blue Sky Black Death on Babygrande Records