...and from out of nowhere appears a new star, just like a supernova in the sky. Have you heard of Blake O. yet? Believe me fellow Okies, you will. Why? Because, when you go to the myspace page of Neal Pogue and read his “about me” paragraph, you’ll see Blake O. mentioned there, alongside Neal’s past credits of producing all of Outkast’s hits (from Southernplayalisticadillacmusik to SpeakerBoxxx/The Love Below, which he won a grammy for Album Of The Year), TLC’s “Waterfalls”, Stevie Wonder, Patti Labelle...well, you get the point. BIG TIME! It’s a classic story in the making. A determined mid-western white boy struggles in L.A., and finally manages a few minutes with a major producer, who says yes. We here at the NONzine office don’t often listen to hip-hop, but this one caught our attention. Blake O. brings a wide range of influences into his style, including his own guitar playing. Here’s a rundown of a few tracks from the finished product, Buckle Down:

“Out in the Country” - This one lays out the crux of Blake’s style with a low, dirty track, and sums up the theme of the album with rhymes about living in OKC. “You ain’t never been out in the country.” “Bar-B-Que and the grill, we got the same grub. Old folks showin’ out, it’s all the same love. ”

“Two White Boys (in a Pontiac)” - He calls this one his white boy motivational tool, about guys doin’ the same thing for years on end. “Two cracker-ass crackers goin’ nowhere fast.” An awesome chorus glides by on this one, “Two white boys in a Pontiac, don’t know how to act. Doin’ some shit that you might not like, actin’ up.”

“O’la” - This is the first commercial single off the album. It’s produced tight and sounds like a definite radio hit, but overall not the best song on the album.

“Bubble Guts” - This one is nasty, and took me back almost 20 years, driving around listenin’ to 2 Live Crew. His sense of humor tips over the edge with this one.

“Small World” - A beautiful duet with female vocalist, Graph Noble. The song’s about running into your ex on the street. “Yeah, it was some shit like that that made me crazy. Thank God, me and her never made a baby, and it’s a shame that we had to grow apart. She knew me from back in the day when I starved. Now when I see her, she just another kitty, with her own litter, that’s OK City. Biggest small town with the tornado swirl and the country girls singin’ ‘such a small world’...”

“My Backyard” - This one is funny, catchy, and is all about kickin’ in OKC. It’s a great song to introduce Blake O. and can be accessed on his myspace.com/blakeoverstreet. “Grew up around nails, hammers, and saws. Broken bones, broken homes, and broken laws. I got love, I’m so affectionate. That’s all I had comin’ up on section 8.”

www.blakeo.net