The Witzard

"So proud of my brother James Blake dropping the bigness tonight... Also, so proud of our song ["I Need a] Forest Fire" came from wonderful accidents and good friendship... James , or Jim as I call him when I'm upset with him, is such a powerful musician; to be like Aaron Neville , AND Aphex [Twin] ?" Bon Iver frontman and frequent James Blake collaborator Justin Vernon (@blobtower) exuberantly Tweeted on the eve of The Colour In Anything . Vernon and Blake previously collaborated on "Fall Creek Boys Choir" from mid-album Enough Thunder EP , although likely first rubbed shoulders due to this singular candid statement: "He's James Blake . Just go listen to his music and say, "hey, that's Kanye 's favorite artist." Justin Vernon contributed crooned backing vocals assists to "MONSTER" and the majority of Kanye 's sprawling magnum opus, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy , as well as a number of fractured ...

"I've always felt like "Life Round Here" wasn't [ever] really finished," lamented English singer-songwriter James Blake during a recent Noisey video-interview with new-found collaborator. Chance The Rapper . Arguably a First Wave Dubstep pioneer, Blake's music almost seems pre-fit for a sharp-tongued young emcee like Chance ; But it doesn't come off in that preconceived, label-suggested, and slapped together kinda way like other recent "crossover" hits (ie: A$AP Rocky & Skrillex ). It's pretty easy to tell that these guys are true admirers of each other's work, who have become fast friends. Fresh off a collaborative track with Lil' Wayne , Chance The Rapper recently revealed to online-magazine XXL that he and Blake met at this past year's SXSW and "kept in touch and started working together on a couple of tracks, including some original material... people seem to like ["Life Round Here"] a lot....

James Blake is a London -based First Wave Dubstep super-producer; one of the genre's originators, before it got all Americanized , club-ready, and alcohol-infused (ie: Skrillex ha). Blake has always kinda seemed like an on-looking Hip-Hop supporter/closet fan... he actually unleashed a series of white label 12" Harmonimix[es] prior to his self-titled debut: Lil' Wayne , Destiny's Child, Snoop Dogg , and handsome hermit D'Angelo. After working with master swordsman RZA on his second album Overgrown , James Blake recently recruited hyper-rhyming Chicago upstart, Chance The Rapper to help remix "Life Round Here." It's supposedly the "first of many songs with @jamesblake ," if Chance The Rapper 's righteous Twitter feed is to be believed; Blake told Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe Tuesday morning that the track was re-recorded post- SXSW and lamented that "[He] never really felt the track was finished; even when it went on the album...

James Blake 's music has always had an underlying, vaguely Hip-Hop feel to it; from his early Harmonimix tracks to his work with Grime rapper, Trim . But now, it seems like Blake is fully embracing his inner beatsmith on his upcoming sophomore album, Overgrown ... having worked with legendary Wu-Tang Clan emcee/producer RZA , sampling Big Boi for a bonus track , and most likely logging some studio time with Kendrick Lamar in the near future. James Blake recently linked up with former R&S Records manager, Dan Foat to form a new imprint, which has been dubbed 1-800-DINOSAUR . Overgrown hits shelves next week, April 8-9th and it will be their second (first major) release. James Blake lamented, "It was like sending it for mastering. It was like, 'Just see what comes back.' [RZA] really nailed it though. I mean, he's obviously a consummate professional. He also did it with such a level of intimacy and sensitivity that I got it back and I got shivers,...