BLU

It would be foolish to write off Blu Mandella as just another ring tone rapper from the South. With his anthemic first single, “Like Me,” and Rico ‘Magic Man’ Sagggus in his corner, the Zone 3 native is primed to take over radio airwaves from Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. in Atlanta all the way to Rodeo Drive in L.A.
A self-proclaimed activist, Mandella boasts that he is “the people’s president,” and often studies speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X in his downtime. Blu Mandella says his affinity for community progress is the inspiration that drives his musical ingenuity. “I’m here for change,” he says. “It’s not about the songs, it’s not about dancing on stage — it’s about getting us together as a people.”
Though he says he makes music to uplift the African American community that raised him, Mandella says that same community is his toughest critic. “The hardest part is getting your own people to believe that you’re somebody that [is] trying to [do] good,” he says, adding that he has future plans to build homeless shelters throughout Atlanta. “The difference between me and a lot of cats is that I’m a freedom fighter. I’m an activist.”
Win or lose, the potential rap Rookie of the Year seems primed to grab the industry by it’s coattails with his debut disc, All About the Cheddar. “I’ve been locked down for a lot of years and Magic Man Records has released me.”
–Gavin Philip Godfrey - Rolling Out Magazine 2008