Blue Sky Black Death (abbreviated BSBD[2]) was a production duo with ties to the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington.
Kingston, working under the name Orphan, began his solo producing career collaborating with rapper Noah23 and the Plague Language collective[9][10][11][12] (to which Young God also contributed production).
Kingston contributed production to Noah23's debut album Cytoplasm Pixel in 1999,[13] and the two collaborated closely until Jupiter Sajitarius in 2004, after which they parted ways.
The guests included Rob Sonic, Mike Ladd, Jus Allah, Sabac Red, Wise Intelligent, A-Plus, Pep Love, Chief Kamachi, Myka 9, Virtuoso, Awol One and Holocaust.
[21] The album received acclaim from various sources, including Vapors, Word, Mean Street, UK Hip Hop, and Allmusic,[22] and landed the duo on URB's "Next 100.
"[23] Around the same time, the duo completed a collaborative project with Ceschi entitled Deadpan Darling, which was never released due to the loss of most of the final mixes on a crashed hard drive.
[25] The duo's next album was a collaboration with another Wu-Tang affiliate, Sunz of Man, and Black Market Militia member Hell Razah.
Unlike The Holocaust, the album included outside guest appearances, featuring Crooked I, Shabazz the Disciple, Ill Bill, Sabac Red, and Prodigal Sunn.
The dense instrumentals featured contributions from violinists, organists, trumpeters, synth players, and vocalists, as well as in-house guitar, keyboard, and drum kit work.
RapReviews writer Pedro Hernandez stated, "With this album, Blue Sky Black Death pushes the limits of what hip-hop music can be" and called it "essential listening.
[29] BSBD then contributed twelve of thirteen tracks for Phoenix MC Gutta's debut album Heads Will Roll, released on Babygrande on September 2.
[30] On September 30, Babygrande released the album The Evil Jeanius, by pairing Jean Grae vocals with Blue Sky Black Death beats.