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his rap shit is nothing to Miami, FL newcomer Billy Blue. By age 18, he had already experienced more turmoil than a shady record exec could ever put him through. Born to Haitian immigrants in New Rochelle, New York, Blue’s mother passed away when he was just 10 years old. He was subsequently shipped away by his father, along with his two sisters, to an aunt in Miami. “That shit wasn’t easy at all ’cause when you move, and you don’t have nobody to lean on around that age, you’re subject to a lot of fucked up shit,” Blue says. Hard times living with his aunt forced him into the streets and landed him behind bars by age 13. The next few years in a juvenile detention center were some of the darkest times in Blue’s life. “That was the craziest time of my life, and I didn’t come back out until I was like eighteen,” he explains. “[There] was no prom, no graduation day, none of that high school shit. So, basically after 6th grade that was it.” But even after missing out on his wonder years, Billy’s next destination would be gloomier than the life he left behind bars. After three years in juvenile, Blue was released, only to find himself sent to Haiti to live with an uncle, in the mist of a Haitian revolt. “I got out on a Monday morning at 8 o’clock, by 9 o’clock that same morning, my dad had me on a flight to Haiti,” he recalls. “My dad wasn’t trying to have nothing [to do woth] me at that time. He sent me down there [to Haiti] when they were trying to overthrow the government.” By the grace of God, he survived that nightmare of late night gunfire and walking over dead bodies just to get to school, and returned to Miami at 19. Upon his return to the states, Blue took to rapping, a hobby he had picked up during his years in juvy. He recorded a song called “Ball Like A Dog,” which became a local hit. The record ultimately landed him a deal with Interscope through a joint venture with Poe Boy, Akon’s Konvict Music, and Timbaland’s Mosely Music Group. With a collection of the music industry’s most powerful record labels behind him, Billy Blue finds himself the next up in a lineage of Florida rappers to make waves in the industry. “I’m getting love from all the hoods,” he says. “Getting that respect means I’m doing something right. They’re saying, ‘Let me stop listening to Jeezy and Ross for a minute and pause the Plies [record] to hear what Blue has to say. I’m giving them something different.” Words by Randy Roper
44 // OZONE MAG
Patiently Waiting