The Blue - So Look at the Bright Side
Self-Released
Released on September 16th, 2025
Bright, upbeat, and celebratory describe the gentle sound curated by Calgary-based rapper and festival manager Hemen Tor-Agbidye (aka. The Blue). The Blue has been active in the YYC since the release of his debut record The People’s Album (2016) and which was followed up with six years later with his YYC Music Awards-nominated sophomore album Things Could be Worse (2022). Along the way, The Blue has sprinkled singles around his releases, with some of them finding their way into the 2022 album and with others now finding a home in his latest release: So Look at the Bright Side.
I first came across Hemen through his participation as a panelist in the “Talk City” panels that were a part of Edmonton’s Purple City Music Festival. Shortly thereafter, I found out that he was performing later on in the festival as The Blue which I felt compelled to check out. The first thing to strike me in The Blue’s performance is the enthusiastic joy he gives: you feel it among his backing band and accompanying MC Wyatt Trombley, you feel it as he invites featured guests to the the stage, and you feel it as you as the audience are invited to get involved in the performance. This left enough of an impression on me that I needed to keep a tab on The Blue’s music.
If there is one thing that needs to be said outright, it is that Hemen’s work is community-oriented and collaborative in spirit. You can feel this tangibly when you step into the world of Sled Island, Calgary’s iconic music and arts festival which Hemen manages. And this doesn’t stop there, as this attitude shows up in his creative ethos and process as an artist himself. As a showcase, So Look at the Bright Side sheds light on many artists that The Blue admires in his various communities. To me, this makes The Blue a rising star shaping the state of Alberta rap music along with his many collaborators including our friend here at Cups N Cakes Network Tea Fannie, Kthechosen, Lowkita, Arlo Maverick, Rome IX, Zenon, among many others.
So, although I usually try to review things by emphasizing the technicals like production, mixing, and mastering, I think the highlight that brings all aspects of this album together resides in the thematic focus and collaborations that The Blue explores. So Look At The Bright Side is openly in dialogue with The Blue’s sophomore album Things Could Be Worse with an unwavering optimism that choreographs the best out of all of his collaborators in the album.
The titular track drives the point home as The Blue owns up to his own insecurities while expressing gratitude for how far he has gone in spite of them. This track is a short and sweet thematic statement, gently wrapped up through Yongo’s silky vocals that deliver us into the second track. “Remember You” might be the most critical song in the album as it looks at the music industry and the predatory tendencies that often surround it. It is bold of The Blue to do this song alone (in fact, this is the only song without features). But the main refrain positions him and his ethos as that of kindness and respect, a way of building upon his own betterment and the betterment of others as a way to be remembered. It is only apt that reminiscing on memories follows this as The Blue is joined by a long time friend and collaborator for “Back Then.” The two of them celebrate their accomplishments while also reflecting on their friendship through the medium of hip hop and riding on beats.
My favourite track comes along this early: “How Could I Not Try.” The main hook is just catchy. But having experienced it live a couple of times, it is one of those parts where you are invited to join along the track. The features are just astonishing storytelling in themselves, as it feels like The Blue opened up a space for Kthechosen and Tea Fannie to tell their own story. Kthechosen reflects on all these seemingly impossible choices, the Donald Glover predicament between acting and rapping — truly a rough one for a musical artist who creates personas and characters — but above all, he embraces his Blackness and that of others lovingly. Then Tea Fannie rolls up to show off her demure spectacle that defines her own music and live act while exploring her own explorations of self-love.
In “Can’t Slow Down,” The Blue is joined by K-Riz on a track reflecting on the restlessness of constantly performing and producing work, a state of acceleration fueled by a sense of expectations building up. K-Riz takes The Blue aside for a sense of perspective, to not forget where they have come from and how far they have come. With “End of the Sentence,” The Blue and Dozie give us their word — if I put it playfully — but seriously, it is a song about commitments and responsibility full stop. Along the way, Dozie gives us a more complex reflection on adversity and nonetheless sticking by those around him. In “Mustard Seed,” The Blue reestablishes how these blessings are not to be taken for granted, how his faith in himself stabilizes him when stripped down to his most elemental.
We get a delightfully low-frequency cut transition with a slick guitar lick leading to “Diamond Builder,” which is an absolute banger of a track where The Blue plays on a parable of how diamonds are made under pressure and with time: “you either crack or get better.” This clears the way for Homebrand Whiteboy to come in and pick up the track’s pace with a flow that wonderfully hits us with triplets, double time, and rhythmic accents. Then with “Look Like,” The Blue questions the know-it-alls and prepackaged answers about what success looks like when his perspective sees the grounded and earthly work to make it happen — the shows with only 10 of your friends, the tour dates with nearly empty venues. The Lowkita feature is probably one of my favourites in the tracklist, as she narrates her own youthful fantasies of becoming a dancer into the day-to-day work and peer admiration that it takes to make it.
Speaking of incredible features, “If I’ve Got You” includes the gorgeous RnB gospel singing by Rome IX over a tight guitar, drum, and bass groove. The serenading feature by Rome IX sets the tone for the romantic and loving devotion that The Blue is trying to place front and center in the song. The track ends with a lush chorus singing the main refrain laid out by Rome IX, something which returns as a bright feature in the later track “Nobody Told Us.” This romantic love continues in “What a Crazy Thing,” where you can hear The Blue’s amorous butterflies fluttering the rhythm of his bars in the tenor of his voice alone. Bijaan’s feature has a more discreet energy with a heart on the sleeves performance taking on an angle of setting priorities straight when it becomes all too easy to lose oneself in the quotidian shuffle.
The Blue takes a moodier, more contemplative tone for a love song “What Does Love Look Like.” This is incredibly suited for the soulful vocal feature by genre-bending RnB non-binary icon Zenon accompanied by Anthony Kha’s expressive trumpet (a subtle instrumental piece in the mix but which adds a pressure that keeps the beat grooving). The Blue begins wrapping up the underlying themes of the album with “Ground Up” where he celebrates the strides made without the backing of a label or industry support, backed up by the stylish vocal ad libs by C4 which play back and forward with Slim Tyme’s saxophone in the outro. The album closes with “Life Is Good” which kicks off with Pinky Rido’s bright vocals into an upbeat groove where The Blue and Jon Oshone work their way through all of their gratitudes. This is an easy and celebratory end to the album which is really elevated by Pinky Rido’s vocals which give the track an angelic tinge, especially in the largely acapella outro that closes the album.
This new album by The Blue is an absolute and communal tour de force, one which captivates the bright side that The Blue performs at his live shows — perhaps it has a brightness of its own. The cabaret of features really brings together some of Calgary’s best into a shared spotlight of their own making, and you get to learn how they made that spotlight themselves through hard work and looking out for each other. As a listener, there is plenty to grasp on to with the various threads of personal and interpersonal narratives delivered by excellent lyrical and rhythmic vocal performances. Having seen The Blue in Edmonton again during the Bright Side Tour, you can get the tangible air of mutual celebration and encouragement that fans the flames of fire bars and energetic beats. Anyone who has the chance to see The Blue live should do so, because you will see how this album is not just words and music.
