Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Blu & Exile. Originally recorded in 2009 and leaked online in 2011, it was released through Dirty Science and Fat Beats on September 4, 2012.[1] Recorded at the DirtyScience Labs and produced entirely by Exile, it features guest appearances from Adad, Andy Allo, Black Spade, Fashawn, Homeboy Sandman, Jimetta Rose, J. Mitchell, and Johaz of Dag Savage.[2][3][4]
| Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 4, 2012 | |||
| Recorded | 2009 | |||
| Studio | The DirtyScience Labs | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 54:18 | |||
| Label |
| |||
| Producer | Exile | |||
| Blu & Exile chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Blu chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Exile chronology | ||||
| ||||
In the United States, the album debuted at number 53 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 31 on the Heatseekers Albums charts.
Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them Instrumentals was released on July 24, 2015 with different cover artwork and unreleased non-album instrumental track "Enough".[5]
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 76/100[6] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| HipHopDX | 3/5[7] |
| Pitchfork | 6.8/10[8] |
| PopMatters | 8/10[9] |
Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 76 based on five reviews.[6]
David Amidon of PopMatters wrote: "working with Exile seems to ground Blu, forcing him to examine his self-image and the way the world perceives him. It's just riveting stuff for those who value rap music as a sort of social experiment, and those who've stuck with Blu throughout his whole gonzo period of bandcamps and muddy zshare files ought to feel vindicated by Fat Beats' treatment of this album".[9] Jonah Bromwich of Pitchfork resumed: "though this album is a beautiful, well-executed listen, Blu will only really be fulfilling his potential when he starts looking toward the future again".[8]
In mixed reviews, Phillip Mlynar of HipHopDX found "there's nothing to startle about the music or the lyrics and there's little that isn't coated with a whiff of having heard it all before".[7]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Letter" | 1:35 | |
| 2. | "Ease Your Mind" |
| 4:28 |
| 3. | "Maybe One Day" (featuring Black Spade) |
| 3:56 |
| 4. | "I Am Jean" |
| 3:14 |
| 5. | "O Heaven" |
| 3:19 |
| 6. | "More Out of Life" (featuring J. Mitchell) |
| 3:54 |
| 7. | "The Only One" (featuring Jimetta Rose) |
| 3:35 |
| 8. | "Money" |
| 2:49 |
| 9. | "Mask Your Soul" |
| 1:54 |
| 10. | "Good Morning Neighbor" |
| 2:04 |
| 11. | "Growing Pains" (featuring Johaz and Fashawn) |
| 4:08 |
| 12. | "Don't Be Jelly" |
| 3:33 |
| 13. | "Berries and Juices" |
| 2:09 |
| 14. | "The Great Escape" (featuring Homeboy Sandman and Adad) |
| 3:16 |
| 15. | "Seasons" |
| 2:41 |
| 16. | "A Man" |
| 4:31 |
| 17. | "Cent From Heaven" |
| 3:12 |
| Total length: | 54:18 | ||
Personnel
edit- Johnson "Blu" Barnes III — lyrics, vocals, recording, executive producer
- Aleksander "Exile" Manfredi — keyboards solo (track 12), producer, recording, executive producer
- Andy Allo — additional vocals (track 2)
- Veto "Black Spade" Money — vocals (track 3)
- Jasmine Nicole Mitchell — additional vocals (track 6)
- Jimetta Rose Smith — additional vocals (track 7)
- Johaz Bosley — vocals (track 11)
- Santiago "Fashawn" Leyva — vocals (track 11)
- Angel "Homeboy Sandman" Del Villar II — vocals (track 14)
- Demetrius "Adad" Barry — vocals (track 14)
- Cedric "I Ced" Norah — additional vocals (track 16), keyboards (tracks: 3, 5, 16)
- Randall Fisher — flute (tracks: 4, 7, 9), horns (track 4)
- Michael Bergen — keyboards (track 12)
- Frederico Lopez — mixing
- Kenneth Barrientos — mixing (track 2)
- Jose Jurado — mixing (track 11)
- Omar Loya — tracking (track 14)
- Mitch McCarthy — mastering
- Justin Abbink — design
- Theo Jemison — portrait photography
Charts
edit| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[10] | 53 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[11] | 31 |
References
edit- ^ "Blu & Exile's Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them finally gets proper release". Fact. June 19, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
- ^ "Blu & Exile (of Emanon) - 'Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them (MINI LP CARDBOARD GATEFOLD)' (Audio CD)". UGHH. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
- ^ Horowitz, Steven J. (December 16, 2011). "Blu & Exile Release Full Stream Of New Album "give me my flowers while i can smell them"". HipHopDX. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
- ^ "Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them by Blu & Exile". mp369. September 1, 2012. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ "Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them Instrumentals, by Blu & Exile". Bandcamp. July 24, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
- ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
- ^ a b Mlynar, Phillip (September 8, 2012). "Blu and Exile - Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them". HipHopDX. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
- ^ a b Bromwich, Jonah (August 30, 2012). "Blu & Exile: Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
- ^ a b Amidon, David (September 6, 2012). "Blu & Exile: Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them, PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
- ^ "Blu Exile Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
- ^ "Blu Exile Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
External links
edit- Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them at Discogs (list of releases)