The Blu Chip Show

By Gentle Jones, AllHipHop.com
originally published in the News Journal

Blu Chip is a Delaware rapper who has made a mark outside of his home state. Although he hangs his hat in New Castle County, Chip has worked with high-profile artists from the West and Gulf coasts, even appearing on MTV to spit a verse.

He has spent extensive time in the San Francisco Bay area making some noise but is currently representing Delaware to the fullest with his newest mixtape, "Gwop City," and a holiday reality show from Wilmington, all to be released in the coming weeks.

Where have you been?

I've been out everywhere trying to make this music thing pop, but mostly in the Bay area with my label partner Laron Mayfield of Mo'betta Entertainment; you know, building the buzz. I've also been recording with Big Mont in Whirlwind Studios, located in New Castle.

How long have you been back in Delaware?

I've been back in Delaware since June. I was out in Cali (California) with JT the Bigga Figga, my partner, and everybody else out there that supports me and that grind with me everywhere. Because you are only as good as the crew you run with.

How has Delaware been treating you?

Delaware has been good to me; ain't no city like my own. Just mad at all my homies that's passing away. Other than that, we good. I wanna say rest in peace to a true friend Craig Stanford; I found out he had passed on his birthday this year, so that messed me up to find out like that.

How is your family these days?

My family is good. My son just turned 9. It's tough juggling being a full-time father and chasing a dream; it has its ups and downs. But hey, I love it. I love my son more than anything in this world. If he reads this, I just wanna tell him that his dad will always be there, remember that.

How did that "Get Retarded" single do for you?

The "Get Retarded" single was getting heavy rotation in the Bay Area market, on the number three radio station in the country. It was produced by Droop-E (E-40's son), plus it was getting spins from over 500 DJs in other areas as well, so it did me very good.

You've recorded some high-profile tracks with stars like Game and Juvenile. How did you benefit from that?

I did the Juvenile song back when he had first left Cash Money, when Young Buck was running with Juvi. They had came out to the Bay, so we bussed it up. That's what started my buzz in New Orleans.

How many units do you think you've moved and appeared on at this point?

The Game album I was on sold over 600,000 units (not counting the chopped and screwed version that came out).

You still see any of them other cats?

The Game, I haven't talked to him, but I ain't tripping off that no more. It's old. It's about me getting me and that's it! Far as Juvi, I seen him a couple of times but you know in this game, everybody's moving at a pace like, "I gotta get this dough;" it be like, "I see you at the finish line!" I talk to Peedi all the time; we are both on Indy 500's new mixtape called "16 bars."

What's your label situation now?

Right now I'm in the process of finding new management, but far as labels I was in talks with a few but it didn't turn out the way you plan things to turn out. But it's good because I'm still in contact with everyone. It's just all about the timing, you dig?

I recall when a few different labels were interested in what you had buzzing. What did you learn from interacting with labels like Universal, J Records and Koch?

Meeting with all those labels taught me one thing: If you can really do it yourself, do it. Because watching the labels move how they move, you gotta do a lot of work. Because first of all, if rappers think deals is landing out the sky on your lap, you are way behind the game. So it taught me to be more on my business and know that it's never personal. It's supply and demand, so you have to make them want you. With the Game album deal that was going down that I was on, I saw how money talks. When you got something that the labels want, they gonna pay top dollar for it. Seeing all that money exchange hands made me go even harder.

What happened to take your career to the national level?

Going down to the 1999 Source Awards, it was big. That was really the beginning for me, because going to South Beach and seeing the whole industry down there doing it big, it just made me want even more. I mean, how can you know the Source Awards going on and you not there? Because it's all about networking, and that's what changed my career.

You performed at First Night in 2005 in Wilmington; how did you get on that bill?

They came to me and asked me to perform, paid me and everything. So I got down with First Night. They cut the check no questions asked. Love them for that.

Do you have any new projects in the works?

Yeah I got a mixtape I'm about to drop titled "Gwop City," plus I am releasing a seven-episode reality TV show on YouTube starting Christmas night, and every night at midnight I'll be dropping a new episode until the new year! It's gonna be big, so tell your momma, son, friend, sister, and everybody that it's going down.