BLEU Discusses New Album 'Tantra', Working With Lil Wayne & More

BLEU's fascination with the moon keeps him among the stars as his music career reaches new heights.

The platinum-selling artist is going all out for his upcoming album, Tantra. His latest body of work is set to reflect his mindset following the success of his debut LP Moon Boy, which features its lead single "You're Mines Still" featuring Drake. Before he could prep fans for his next batch of tracks, BLEU decided to dig deep into his own mind and soul to come up with the perfect title for the LP. During his research, he came across the term "tantra," which has roots in Hinduism and Buddhism.

"I just was just Googling for real. I really was looking up certain little key things about spirituality and the moon," BLEU told iHeartRadio.

BLEU spent the majority of the year preparing fans for his new body of work by releasing eclectic records like his ballad with Ne-Yo "Walk Through The Fire". After he was named Best New Hip-Hop Artist at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards over the summer, the 28-year-old rapper-singer kicked things into high gear by releasing songs like "Love In The Way" featuring Nicki Minaj and "Life Worth Living" featuring French Montana. As if that wasn't enough star power, BLEU recently debuted the top-notch tracklist for Tantra and debuted his collaboration with Lil Wayne called "Soul Child."

Tantra is also set to feature Fivio Foreign, Zayn, Kelly Rowland, Lucky Daye, and Ty Dolla $ign. During our discussion with BLEU, we talked about his bond with Lil Wayne and how his other collaborations came together. Look out for his new album Tantra available everywhere on November 9.

iHR: You've got the new album coming out this week. How did you come up with the title of the album and its artwork?  

BLEU: Yeah I was just reading things about the Moon and my sign. It's really called 'Moon Magic' and it's like some spiritual stuff so I been reading into it. I wanted it to be called something that people ain't really know so they could read into it and find out about it.

What kind of reading did you do for that? Any subject in particular? Any particular author, anything like that?

I just was just Googling for real. I really was Googling and looking up certain little key things about spirituality and the moon. Most of the stuff I read had that meaning

At the beginning of the year, you definitely started off with "Walk Through The Fire" with Ne-Yo and then you came through with the "Love On The Way" with Nicki Minaj, "Life Worth Living with French Montana. What was it like working with all those legends?

Oh, I mean it's just another day at the office for me. I'm always working with them. I always been working with big artists and just being creative with them.

Earlier this year you confirmed that Lil Wayne was gonna be on the album. Talk about how that collaboration came together. Did that happen before or after you both appeared on Chris Brown's "Possessive"? 

That was before. Basically it was just us linking up and doing a lot of songs. "Soul Child" was one of the first songs I sent him and he liked it. Me and Wayne just bonded. That's like my big brother forreal. We've got a lot of songs together. 

What's one thing you learned from Wayne? 

I feel like I learned more just about him like who he is as a person. How selfless he is, and how much of a good person he is. With Wayne, the type of guy he is... he ain't no hater at all. He's so supportive.

I feel you on that man. What was the inspiration behind the instrumental? 

I was working with a producer named CC[ONTHETRACK]. She's out of L.A. and she's dope. She was just playing some records in the studio and that was one of the ones that I just heard and I just went crazy on it.

I saw the footage of you and Fivio Foreign getting sturdy at your recent video shoot. Will that scene be in the video for "One of Those Nights"? 

You know what, I'm not sure if they was filming or not actually. I don't know. That was after the shoot.

That would've been cool especially since that clip definitely went far and wide on social media. You two definitely have good chemistry from what I could see. How was your experience working with him? 

It was good. I just sent the record to him. We didn't really get in the studio. I was just surprised how much they really liked the record. That was my first time doing some New York stuff. I was like, 'Damn, they really like it.'

One of the things I noticed about this record is that its so eclectic. There are so many different sounds and so much going on. You even got the record with Zayn. How did you guys even cross paths and how did you guys start working together? 

My A&R [Dashawn White aka] Happie. I think they got a relationship. He had sent him the record and Zayn really liked it. He liked it enough to pop up for the first time in a long time. So I'm happy about that for sure.  

You've worked with so many stars at this point. Who is an artist that you haven't worked with yet that you really want to start working with?

I don't know. I'm just doing my thing and just going with the flow for real. Whoever crosses my path really.

As far as the rest of the album goes what are you most excited about? 

I'm looking forward to people to hear the whole project. I'm trying to piggy back off the last album and just cement that I'm here. The first album went certified gold so with this next album, you know, we here.