Mista Blue Marley is a young rap phenomenon originally from Brunswick, Georgia, now calling Augusta, Georgia, home. "Blue" as he is known to most folks, was born Hernry L. Keith, Jr. His stage name was derived from a combination of several different situations. "Blue" was given to him by his friends because of his dark complexion. The other reason for the name Blue Marley comes from his love of blues music and his love for the late, great, Bob Marley. As Blue jokingly puts it, "I am like Bob all over again without the dreads". One session in the studio with Blue, however, and you will quickly realize all jokes are to the side, his talent is serious business. The amount of time it takes him to create incredible lyrics for a beat, isn't much longer than the time it takes for the track to play. And they're never just lyrics, but something more like magic. Not everything for this young man has always been easy. Blue has persevered through many hardships and much heartache to get where he is today. With his father in prison and his mother following the same unfortunate path, the luxury of a steady role model was virtually nonexistent. For years Blue was forced to deal with the influences of the streets, wether it was pimpin' or hustin', as he struggled to put food on the table by any means necessary. Fortunately, Blue was smart, even greater then the influence of the streets, was the influence of a cousin, who Blue describes as a "street pharmacist". He encouraged him to join the military, which Blue did in the fall of 1996. He spent four years in the artillery division. In the military he began fine tuning his craft while developing a following in Hawaii. After returning home to the South he signed with Solicit Record where he further honed his lyrical prowess and charismatic stage presence.After a brief stint with Solicit, Blue decided to start his own label, CME. On his own label he released one of the hottest mix-tapes to ever hit the streets of Augusta. During the time of making a name for himself in the rap game, he was introduced to Sam Bussey, the owner of D-Firm, a newly formed Indie label based out of Augusta. After severeral conversations and discussions about the direction of D-Firm and the vision for Blue, a deal was soon constructed and signed in 2005. Now out of his contract with D-Firm Blue is focusing on CME and getting his music in the streets. As Blue once stated, "I speak for my southern folks and here we just more than crunk beats and gold teeth. We got something to say and I just come up with different ways to say them. I'm gonna be here.. .trust me! Before its over my folks gonna be full!".
