Galactic Orgins

Originating from the human vessels of Sheryl & Donnie McCormick, “Blonju” is the rap moniker given to Josh McCormick by his friend, the “Bogee,” while attending Vanderbilt University in the late 90’s. Blonju’s emcee and production style is heavily influenced by OutKast, Goodie Mob, Organized Noise and the blues. Growing up in Atlanta, GA, in the 80’s & 90’s, Blonju was exposed to blues and southern rock by his father Donnie (founder of legendary southern rock group “Eric Quincy Tate”). This led to a profound love for music at an early age. Being inspired by the likes of RUN DMC, The Beastie Boys and Fresh Prince, Blonju began writing raps at the age of 12. Although sports and schooling took priority in his teens, music was never far away. As OutKast rose to fame, Blonju would abstract their lyrics and perform their songs at high school parties in the mid 90’s. Unbeknownst to Blonju, this was foreshadowing the future. Through his 20’s, Blonju performed hundreds of shows in and around Atlanta. These shows were mostly a combination of live music and hip hop with local musicians backing the budding emcee. Notable cohorts from performances at Northside Tavern in Atlanta include Sean Costello (“Skull & Crossbones” Blonju/Sean Costello 2007), Oliver Wood, Joe McGuinness, Bill Sheffield (of the XL’s), Col Bruce Hampton, Marcus James Henderson (Marshall Tucker Band), Charlie Wooten, Donna Hopkins, Sonia Leigh, Coy Bowles and Joel Williams (Zac Brown Band), the Hollidays, Lebron “Porky” Scott (Curtis Mayfield Band), Larry Bowie, Ross Pead, Stephen Takovich, Dave Roth, Nathan Nelson, Lola Gulley, Terrell Sass (drummer for TI) Willam Bell (writer of “Born Under a Bad Sign”) and many more countless souls both here and no longer with us. Blonju began producing musical compositions in the early 2000’s, culminating in a project dubbed “Juxtacomposed,” featuring his father Donnie, which released on bandcamp in 2009, just after Donnie’s earthly exit. Other notable projects during this time were “Ed-jucation” (produced by Mark Rockwell, 2005) and “Doomsday Insurance” (self produced, 2007). It was during this time that Blonju and DJ Frankie Diesel began performing and recording together. DJ Frankie has been alongside Blonju providing elite level dj sets, scratches and bringing an overall wealth of energy to the rise of the ATLien extraordinaire. After his father’s passing, Blonju redirected his resources into more various styles of music - working with the likes of Matthew Markham (“Galaxy Motel” - 2011), Joe McGuinness (credits on “Juxtacomposed” and other projects) and Rysa Davis (“The Singularity” - 2011), Blonju began to find his sound. In honor of his father, Blonju held a residency at the Northside Tavern from 2009-2013, performing every other Tuesday, backed by Nathan Nelson and Dave Roth. By 2017, Blonju had posted a few notable industry credits (the Wood Brothers “Loaded” and Locksmith “Americonspiracy: Volume 2”). During this time, with a foundation in spiritual awareness through completing his double major in Philosophy and Religious Studies at Vanderbilt, Blonju really began to clarify his message in his music and establish a strong fan base, both locally and nationally. By 2020, and with a few more projects under his belt (including “DJ Old Man Up North” and “Anti Social Meteor”), Blonju began to connect with accredited hip hop industry artists again. Blonju produced a song with 4ize for a project called “Unsurvival Guide” (October 2020) proceeding to address racial inequities, white privilege and marginalization of people of color in America. By 2021, 4ize and Blonju powerfully came together to create “Body Cam” (produced by Jensen), which further highlights the trauma and struggle that African Americans deal with in the United States with respect to corrupt law enforcement and blatant institutional racism. Also in 2020, Blonju forged a bond with the Dungeon Family’s Own “Backbone” and further accentuates the potency of music to lift up the spirits of marginalized communities, on their 2021 single “Journal Constitution.” Blonju went on to release the full length LP, dubbed “Blonjufo” later that year, which would build a bridge to stronger connections with emcees and producers alike. Blonju has become known for his alien-like emcee style, organically original hip hop productions and wildly fantastic theories exploring the nature of existence. Since 2021, Blonju has fostered innumerable relationships with like-minded emcees and producers from all walks of life. By late 2021, Blonju and Ceezy Wonder completed a project dubbed “Third Side Eye,” which was entirely produced by Ceezy. This record contains features from Cory Gunz, Backbone, High Sunday, Daphya and Jae the Lyoness. “Third Side Eye” was released on December 13, 2021, and peaked at #52 on the ITunes hip hop charts. In 2022, as a co-creator on “Space Rhyme Continuum” with Genesis Da God (Xuper Heru/Universal Theory), Blonju partnered with Dincooks (founder of P. O. N. Y.) to create an underground record that fuses spirituality, futuristic emcee cadences and progressive production into an all encompassing sound that displays hermetic concepts, enlightened ideas and spiritually progressive thought through advanced tonality and resonation. That record also features D. Cure, Jubilation and Lyphe (of “Star & Lyphe), among others. During 2022, after the passing of his mother Sheryl in late 2021, Blonju befriended an emcee called Ansolu. These two would help take underground hip hop to another level over the next few years. Blonju and Ansolu co-founded “The Bartians” hip hop group featuring other alien emcees ELOH (Eyes Lie On Him), Klvss (pronounced “class”) and K.O.N.T.E.E (keep opportunity near through endless effort). These gentleman would form a bond and brotherhood that would continually shake the fibers of the underground. The Bartians manifested a 13 song full length album that would drop on May 23, 2023 and peak at #32 on the ITunes hip hop charts. This album contains production from Jerome Duffy, Ansolu, Blonju, Tsquare Beatz and Killavic. All five emcees have heavy contributions to the project and are working diligently behind the scenes to produce a noteworthy follow up release by 2025. Later in 2023, Blonju would team up with Jerome Duffy and release “Monk is the Master Alien is the Legend.” Driven by production from Jerome Duffy and Exurt Beatz (Square Rootz), this concept album would portray Jerome as a Monk seeking help for humans by extraterrestrial means. Released on July 31, 2023, the Monk and Alien would find themselves peaking on the ITunes hip hop charts at #82. On November 5, 2023, Blonju released a project dubbed “Alien Face” which would debut at #32 on the ITunes hip hop charts. This album was a culmination of relationships formed through Instagram. Including features from all The Bartians, Savage Poet, Grandsome, Authentiq Angel, Bison, Showrocka, 1015cutt and Dincooks - as well as additional poignant contributions from soulfully included underground artists/producers. This album would display Blonju’s ability to put together a cohesive and transformative record through heartfelt collaboration and spiritual intuitiveness. So far, 2024 has been another productive year for Blonju, with more to come! Current releases for 2024 include “Little Chop of Horrors” (2/2/24) which features DJ Frankie Diesel and High Sunday on coproduction. This instrumental album includes 12 tracks for artists to purchase, download and use with their own commercial rights to the music. This sonic soundscape LP would peak at #120 on the ITunes hip hop charts. On March 1, 2024, Blonju and Ansolu connected again to drop “Hip Gnosis.” This album is filled with soul bending hooks and classic hip hop production. Blonju, Jerome Duffy and Marques Pitts, Jr., anchored the production for this project. Peaking at #82 on the ITunes hip hop charts, the #ansoju combination would drive their fans crazy with heavy bar work and sincere advice for life. On March 31, 2024, Blonju dropped “Boom Baptized,” a ten song LP produced entirely by Jerome Duffy. This album would delve deeper into personal aspects of Blonju’s journey while still providing uplifting spiritual perspective for listeners to draw from. Peaking at #95 on the iTunes hip hop charts, Blonju would leave a lasting impression for whatever is next to come. Look out for “I Love Jodie Foster” and “Scales from the Darkside” later in 2024!