While prepping his debut EP, which he expects to drop sometime in the first quarter of 2021, Chris Blue, season 12 winner of “The Voice,” got a premonition as he completed his sizzling new track, “Back 2 The Future.” Fortunately for his adoring fans, that omen, which pays due homage to Chadwick Boseman and the imaginary wonderland of Wakanda, led him to release a track he hadn’t considered prior to that session. Blue shared as much and more with rolling out on New Music Friday.
We’re all about moving onward and upward into 2021. We know you don’t want to get left behind because you made a song called “Back 2 The Future.” Talk about the process behind making that song.
Chris Blue: Funny enough. I didn’t even think I was gonna release that song this year. A lot of people when they ask me, “What inspired you to write it?” I’m like, “Honestly, I guess everything that’s been going on has inspired me to write it.” I didn’t intend to release it this year, but there’s a line in the song that says, “I’ve been dreaming of Wakanda,” right? When I heard that line in the song, I immediately felt like there was some type of connection to purpose, like, I need to release this song right now because there’s somebody that needs to hear it.
When you talk about purpose, what was it that you felt they needed to hear?
People need to hear this message, this theme, this song, right now. What’s crazy is we wrote the song a day before Chadwick Boseman passed away. I remember we finished the song [and everybody] was going crazy the night before. The very next day, I went into the studio and got an alert on my phone that Chadwick was gone. It was just like, that line — “I’ve been dreaming of Wakanda, but I still got brothers with no water.” To me it was like, “We need to get this message out right now.”
The song has an 80s feel to it, but it’s still current. Where did you draw inspiration from for this song and in general?
I’m kind of all over the place when it comes to being inspired. I’m inspired by so much. I feel like inspiration is constantly around us. Because the gifts that I have and the gifts that you might have, you know what I’m saying aren’t necessarily gifts that other people have. … I’ve been inspired by all sorts of artists — painters, writers, musical artists, Michael Jackson, Prince, Marvin Gaye. Al Green. … Then you got some guys who are currently doing it right now; Bruno Mars, The Weeknd, Jason Derulo. I’m a big fan of musical artistry. That’s what I gleaned from. That’s what I pull from. That’s why when you listen to “Back 2 The Future,” it takes you back, but it also gives you a sense of right now, like we’re in the present.
