Byron the Aquarius

Byron The Aquarius is the nom de plume used by Byron Blaylock, an American hip-hop and house music producer hailing from Birmingham, Alabama. A classically trained pianist with a background in jazz, he grew up listening to his grandparents' record collection, which included LPs by Herbie Hancock, Parliament, and Pink Floyd. Soon enough, he began receiving formal training from Frank Adams, a renowned pianist who used to play with Duke Ellington. Continuing his musical studies at Jacksonville, Byron The Aquarius made his official debut on the EP The Big Payback (2007), recorded in collaboration with French beatmaker Onra. The project's critical acclaim caught the attention of experimental musician Flying Lotus, who invited him to collaborate on his 2008 album Los Angeles. This was followed by a move to Detroit to work with producer Denaun from the hip-hop collective D12. However, it was after relocating to Atlanta that Byron The Aquarius fell in love with house music thanks to a fortunate encounter with DJ Kai Alcé. From there on, the Alabama native proceeded to push the genre's boundaries by organically adding elements of future jazz and hip-hop to releases such as the EPs High Life (2016), Euphoria (2016), and 1988 (2017). Astral Traveling, his debut album, arrived in 2019 and showed a more accessible side to his music while retaining the experimental edge of his earlier work. This delicate balance between digital and analog sounds paved the way for his subsequent and equally ambitious releases Ambrosia (2020) and The New Beginning (2021).

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