The Blue Hour - Rexx Life Raj

Thank god for artists like Rexx Life Raj. Immediately he takes you right into his head space. His story telling ability is next to none. He sings, he raps, but more than anything he shares his emotions and helps people heal.

His latest album “The Blue Hour” has got to be one of my favorites to be released so far this year. The beginning of the album starts with him explaining how he lost both of his parents within 3 months of each other. This is a New Normal for him and he is trying to come to grips with it. The middle of the album feels like he is trying to figure out how to navigate this new life without his parents and he is realizing he is on his own now. The song Balance is a great example of this. The latter part of the project takes you through his healing process and acceptance of the situation. Heal / Best of Me has to be my favorite near the end.

For me personally it helped me heal from the death of my two grandparents in May and June. I was never able to fully communicate to either of them what I was doing with this community and what I wanted to accomplish. My grandma had Alzheimer's. I got to show her a couple of my early videos but you could see in her eyes she didn’t fully understand. She was gone before she was actually gone.

The situation with my grandpa was pretty loaded as well. We hadn’t spoken in over 5 years. Stupid family shit and a big head kept me from staying in touch. He ended up in the hospital a month before he passed and this is what made me decide to reconnect. His passing was still very sudden and unexpected as we thought he had been making progress. But at least I got that month with him.

I am so thankful for projects like this. This is music that can help you grow and deal with emotions that may be more foreign to you.