PREMIERE: Blue City CDF + Risk1 - Anamnesis (Album) + 10 Questions
Welsh duo Blue City CDF (Jay Rede and Formal Brown) team up with producer Risk1 for their stunning "Anamnesis" album.
On the surface "Anamnesis" feels like a simple ode to adolescence with its light-hearted approach, retro TV and video game references and samples that are peppered throughout the album but once you scratch through the ice, more mature subjects and themes begin to rise to the top and break through.
Jay Rede and Formal Brown really excel with their storytelling abilities as the duo recount tales of being teenage tearaways (Two's on a Draw, White Lightning) through to more mature subjects such as the joys, angst and uncertainty of parenthood (Cry no More) through to the indescribable heartbreak and loss when losing a loved one (Indebted) and everywhere in between, with utmost sincerity.
Producer Risk1 handles the production throughout "Anamnesis" digging deep into the crates to create some fantastically soulful Boom Bap that sets the tone throughout, leaving the emcees with plenty of breathing room to express themselves at their own pace.
Anamnesis features guest appearances from Rollo, Seek the Northerner, Jass Bianchi, Brighty and The Scribes.
Words by: One9Ate7
Blue City CDF sat down with Wordplay Magazine to answer our infamous 10 Questions:
1. The new album Anamnesis, is a throwback to the 90’s, where did the idea come from?
Every generation says their era was the best era, but for late 80's / 90's kids, we truly feel that our era was the era to beat all era's!! Like, we had the best of both worlds! Technology was slowly being introduced so we could keep up with the dopest gadgets, but it wasn't so prominent that we couldn't go outside with nothing but the clothes on our back and create our own fun! Anamnesis wasn't really a thought until Risk sent us over an absolute tonne of beats. We knew we wanted to do an album with him because Risks beats are just "Blue City CDF as f***", we jumped in a meeting pretty much straight away and started penning ideas until we got the lightbulb moment of nostalgia.. The name was the hardest to come up with! We searched for synonyms of 'memory' and Anamnesis was one that struck us as its so unique.. Like it literally means "memories of a previous existence" (google helps haha), and with us well into adulthood now, our childhoods literally seem like a different lifetime!
2. You have some great featured artists on the album, tell us about them?
Absolutely! We are ridiculously happy with everyone who gave us a verse for Anamnesis! Rollo, who features on 'Two's on a Draw', (track 2) is an absolute beast of an MC! If you come to Cardiff and mention Rollo in the Hip Hop scene here, you will be hard pressed to find someone that replies "who?". His multi syllable rhyme schemes and unique flow is just ridiculous.
Seek The Northerner ('We Are', track 4) is a genuine diamond of a man! He co-runs Northentic Records in the North West (Burnley) alongside Karlow, and both of those dudes are people we massively respect and rate highly (along with the rest of Northentic). Seek has been a supporter of Blue City CDF, and vice versa for almost three years, when we met through a mutual friend. Seek actually got us on Blades radar and we went to the 05:21 studio earlier this year to do some bits for the channel.
We can't speak highly enough about Jass Bianchi ('Rivers, Track 6), a beautiful soul from the East Coast USA. She was introduced to us through our old manager and agreed to the collab straight away! Within a day of sending her the beat, we had her verse back and it floored us with how outstandingly good it was! We speak on a regular basis and Jass has recently hit us up about doing another collab which we are ridiculously excited about!
Brighty, (Adulthoods Begun, Track 14) is one of the most diverse artists we've ever met. He's done projects full of boombap tracks, then full albums of commercial sounding R&B style bangers. Also part of Bard Picasso Records, he continues to impress with every release he drops. His background in grime has helped him progress to the high standard he works at and you would catch so many people in Wales who place Brighty in their top 5 from the Principality! Including us.
The last collab on the album is with multi award winning Hip Hop group "The Scribes" (Retro Shit, Track 15). This one is special to us, being big fans of their music and live performances (which in our opinion are amongst the best in the UK, easily!). Risk is working with them on a separate project and asked them if they would be up for a collab for this project, it was an absolute honour when they agreed. Again, really quick getting back to us and it was just unbelievably good. We dropped it as a single on May 27th and plan to do a video for it.
3. Can we expect an album tour anytime from Blue City CDF & Risk1?
We are certainly looking to plan something in the coming months to promote the album. The album launch party is on 9th July at The Moon (Cardiff music Venue), and will be headlined by The Scribes! With support from DW Smith & Applied Science, its guaranteed to be a dope night! You coming?
4. How did you guys link up with Risk1?
Risk signed to Bard Picasso Records last March and is swiftly growing in popularity. In our opinion, he is one of the best hip hop producers in the UK and can make beats from any sample! Risk is also an incredible DJ and we've had many cuts off him in the past. As well as providing the beats for this album, all the DJ cuts are also provided solely by him. He's just an all round, talented human!
5. Who are Blue City CDF, tell us about yourselves and where your name comes from?
We're a duo from South Wales! Consisting of Jay Rede & Formal Brown. Both of us have been writing and recording since around 2005 but since forming Blue City CDF, we have gone from strength to strength and in the short time we've been a duo we have gained a decent following, regular listeners and have done a load of live shows!
The name was ridiculously hard to think of. We were mulling ideas for weeks when we first started as a duo. Blue City CDF came from the fact we are both from Cardiff, so CDF (Cardiff abbreviation), and Blue City being the fact Jay Rede is a huge Cardiff City FC fan, also known as The Bluebirds.. Not really cleverly thought out with the name, but its personal to us, and it works haha!
6. You are signed with Welsh hip hop label Bard Picasso Records, who are doing big things right now, how did you get involved with them?
We actually started the label, which was originally called Triple Affix Records. We created it as a vehicle for our debut EP "Out of the Blue" and shortly after we brought (*cough* dragged) Wolfgang on board due to his prestige and expertise during his time with powerhouse label SFDB back in the early to mid 2000's. Since Wolfgang came on board we have gone from strength to strength, number one changing the name to Bard Picasso, and a personal highlight being labelled as "The Def Jam of Cardiff" by the legendary DJ Jaffa! We've worked with some real bucket list artists and continue to thrive and help push the artists on board.
7. Do you have any live gigs coming up, where can we catch you on stage?
We do. We have 2 gigs coming at The Moon Cardiff. One on the 11th June and then the album launch on 9th July. We also have something else coming up which we can't mention right now due to contract reasons, but follow us on socials to keep eyes on that one!
8. What is next for Blue City CDF, do you guy’s have something in the pipeline already?
Always! We never stop working. We are constantly throwing ideas around! We have plans for albums 3 albums down the line! But next up, is a special one for us, another bucket list item ticked off and this interview is getting an exclusive announcement. Our next project will be a 6 track EP fully produced by Pitch 92 of High Focus Records which will also feature some artists that we've always wanted to work with! We are buzzing for this one!!!
9. Are there any artists that you guys would like to work with next?
We definitely have a list. We've worked with a few High Focus artists already and have a few more we want to track down for a collab, King Kashmere is someone we are massively influenced by. His descriptive writing style and the fact he references stuff from things we are heavily interested in is a big reason too! The guys just dope as f***! Res One is another we would love to work with. A massive influence and someone who's in both of our daily playlists (along with the rest of Split Prophets). We are working with Billy Whizz on a little project too at some stage, and with Billy comes Wishmaster, so we're hoping to maybe get a 16 from Wish at some stage too! Theres too many to mention. We respect and listen to so many dope artists, so yeah, all of them!
10. Name Three things you can't live without when in the studio?
So, our sound engineer Jamie Winchester who manages Lady Leshurr and Trumendous. Since working with Winchy, he has become a really close friend and someone we speak to almost every other day! He’s a mentor to many and someone we would never stop working with! We take watermelon to the studio because why not haha. Water! Water and water! If we're going for four things, snacks!
Lastly, Where can people connect with you on social media?
@bluecitycdf on all platforms!
Blue City CDF on all streaming services!