Johnson Barnes III (born April 15, 1983), better known by his stage name Blu, is an American rapper and record producer from Los Angeles, California.

He performs as one half of the duo Blu & Exile, which was formed in 2007 and whom released their debut studio album, Below the Heavens in July of that year.

He is recognized for his collaborative albums with record producers Mainframe, Ta'Raach, Bombay, Damu the Fudgemunk, Madlib, Nottz, and Union Analogtronics.

By age 19, Blu was selling out local shows at the Knitting Factory, House Of Blues, and headlining once a month at the Rumba Room on Universal City Walk.

It was produced by early collaborators L's and Bombay, and featured Bridgetown crew members Donel Smokes (Black Spade) and Miguel.

After working with Oh No, and reaching out to J Dilla and Madlib for production on his own album, Blu decided to have Exile produce his entire LP for Sound In Color.

While an opening act on a tour with Seattle-based LifeSavas and Dallas-based Strange Fruit Project, Blu discovered all three of his unreleased but fully completed full-length albums had leaked.

These three albums began to build a huge buzz online and caught the attention of Okayplayer, as well as other sites like HipHopDX and Nah Right, who all named him "Rookie Of The Year".

Furthermore, Blu produced an album titled Her Favorite Colo(u)r for himself, which was initially released for free download online after breaking up with his girlfriend.

The album would feature production from Los Angeles beat scene heavyweights such as Flying Lotus, SA-RA Creative Partners, Daedelus, Madlib, Knxwledge, Samiyam, and others.

This album was recorded in two days, produced by Blu, and featuring production from Madlib, Alchemist, Knxwledge, Hezekiah and Rome, as well as guest appearances from Planet Asia & Killer Ben of Durag Dynasty.

Recorded in New York and Los Angeles; and initially leaked in 2011, the album featured exclusive and previously released production from Flying Lotus, SA-RA Creative Partners, Daedelus, Madlib, Knxwledge, Dibia$e, Samiyam, and Exile.

It also featured vocals from U-God, Edan, Theophilus London, SA-RA, J*Davey, Andy Also, Pac Div, UNI, Tiron, and Ayomari.

[11] Released on Nature Sound Records, the album was inspired by Blu connecting back with his West Coast roots after touring the world; and features guest appearances from Prodigy, Planet Asia, Strong Arm Steady, Step Brothers, Chace Infinite, Imani, LMNO & 2Mex from the Visionaries, MED, Oh No, Fashawn, Pac Div, Co$$, Definite Mass and many others.

Blu followed up with a collaboration album with MED, produced entirely by Madlib called Bad Neighbor[12] with features from Stones Throw alumni MF Doom, Aloe Blacc, Dam Funk, Anderson .Paak, Mayor Hawthorne, Frank Nitt and Oh No, as well as Hodgy Beats (Odd Future), AMG, and Phonte.

In 2013, Blu teamed up with infamous Virginia producer Nottz for the EP Gods In The Spirit which featured Homeboy Sandman, Aloe Blacc, Dag Savage, and many others.

Other projects from 2016 included Crenshaw Jezebel with Ray West, Cheetah in the City with French production duo Union Analogtronics; and Open Your Optics to Optimism with Fa†e.

In 2017, Blu & Exile celebrated the 10th anniversary of Below the Heavens at Regent Theater in Los Angeles, California, with a performance in its entirety with a live band.