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Music

Interview - Whoa, Turns Out Sky Blu from LMFAO is Fucking Awesome

Sky Blu told us about how he got to grab Madonna's butt one time, and also how his grandfather just so happened to start Motown.

Every generation gets a crew of giant-haired goofballs whose express purpose in existence is to make music for blacked-out people to dance to. Sky Blu and Redfoo of the recently-disbanded LMFAO managed to turn that into a fucking science. And at the risk of torpedoing my credibility as a critic, I think LMFAO is actually kind of awesome.

While they might be the dudes responsible for the wedding-rap staple “Party Rock Anthem” as well as its accompanying shuffle dance, they’ve also done some truly admirable shit. The duo worked with Lil Jon on “Shots” in 2009 back when nobody would give the original king of Crunk the time of day, remixed their hit “I’m in Miami Bitch” to find them in such hilarious cities as Hartford, Chattanooga and Portland, and one of them once rapped the line, “I’m a human, not a sandwich.” So yeah, LMFAO were goofy hitmakers. But they were completely self-aware ones, and they came from a serious musical legacy—Sky Blu is the grandson of Berry Gordy, who’s the guy who started Motown, and Redfoo is Gordy’s nephew.

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Yesterday I got on the phone with the now short-haired Sky Blu to discuss his solo career, how he got to grab Madonna’s butt at the Super Bowl, the day when he realized his grandfather had changed the course of history, and partying very, very, very hard.

NOISEY: How have you been holding up since the LMFAO breakup?
Sky Blu: Every day I have to take my meds, I can't go outside…just playing. I'm hanging man. I'm very excited about my solo work and we got a lot of music coming for the world. I can't wait, man. I can't wait for the world to know who Sky Blu is.

Fuck it, I’m never gonna get to ask this of anyone else ever. Did you look at Nicki Minja's butt when you were performing at the Super Bowl?
Actually, I was fixated on Madonna's butt.

Really?
Yeah. I ain't into the fake butt. The fake butt is sort of like, “You're lying to me!” You know what I mean? You grab that, it doesn't have wiggle or natural responsiveness. Madonna…she’s holding up. I got to grab it a few times at rehearsal. We didn't do that move on TV, but in rehearsal…yeah.

One of my friends blacked out and threw up at a show of yours once.
I've done that many times at my shows.

Really?
Yeah, man! I didn't make it to my own show one time because we had two shows in a day but an afterparty between them. We did a show and it was one of our biggest shows ever at that point for us. I was so excited that I got on the afterparty stage and drank a whole bottle of Patron by myself.

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Holy shit.
I was just like, "I'm the man!" I got so drunk that I ended up falling into these deep bushes and they had to pry me out of them because I was just out in the middle of a big shrubbery. It was tough for people to get to me. They threw me onto the party bus and then I thought I was going to pee in a bathroom but I started peeing on our DJ and few other people. These are what people are telling me by the way.

They had a huge trash bag that I was throwing up in, and I guess I decided to pee in that as well. I woke up with my pants at my ankles with people drawing all over my ass. I was alone in the party bus because they were at the second afterparty show that we were booked to do that night. I never drank that much again. I’ve drank close.

You guys have lots of dancing going on stage. I just kind of figured you'd have to be at least a little sober to do that.
We’re drunk as hell, usually [laughs]. Rockstar shit. We're having a blast. I mean, I've definitely done shows sober, it's not like I need to be drunk when I’m rocking, but sometimes when you're in that spirit… That's kind of the vibe we bring. It's our party, so we have to partake.

Wait. Were you drunk at the Super Bowl?
Nah, I was actually in a lot of pain then. I had three herniated discs in my back. I was just in so much pain that I could barely walk. They called me to do the Super Bowl and I said, “I'll do it, but I have to lay on my back the whole time unless we're practicing.” I never did one full rehearsal. The only one that I did full out was at the Super Bowl, and I slipped my disc out during it. So right when they lowered us through the stage and my part was over, they had to carry me into the darkness and work on me in the back. I didn't get to see the rest of the show.

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Was it worth it?
Oh, hell yeah! It was awesome!

I heard Riff Raff was going to be on your next album.
Yeah man, Riff Raff is on it as well as a few other people. All the big, bad artists are on it. I want the world to know SkyBlu. I feel like I’ve got a lot to say and music has been a part of my life throughout my whole life. I feel that people are going to be pleasantly surprised at what I'm bringing to the table. I’ve got "Pop Bottles" out right now; I’ve also got "Alcohol" out with the Cataracs. I'm going to be releasing a Spanish-language song very shortly, as well as the Riff Raff song.

Your grandfather is Berry Gordy, who started Motown. Is there a legacy you feel like you have to uphold?
What he's done, you can't do. He overcame racial segregation and thrived in the music industry. If it weren’t for him, there would be no hip-hop, no R&B, none of that. He put black artists on the radio. They thought they were white artists, so they played the records. When people found out they were black, people already loved the music so much that it was too late. What he's done for the world is just amazing, man. I feel blessed just to know him. When I was younger, I didn't know. I just knew him as my grandpa, a funny old man. We used to joke around and try to beat him at every game we'd play. As I started getting older, I started realizing that I was part of something special here and I really got to learn. Grandpa gives you wisdom when you're talking to him. Growing up and being able to hang out with Rick James, all these people, they’re family for us. Just being able to see the way they carry themselves, the way they talked, and just the way they held themselves was inspiration enough.

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At what point in your childhood were you like, "Oh wow, that guy changed music?"
I was in third grade. I believe this was on a Monday because I was with my grandfather all day the day before. I went to school, and we opened a book and turned the page and there's a picture of my grandfather and there's a whole chapter on him. I said, "Yo, that's my granddad!" Teacher says, "What do you mean?" Then she looks at my last name and goes, "Oh my god! That is your grandfather." I read it and I was blown away. I knew he was a great dude and he lives in this fly crib and everybody loved him, but I didn't know this. It really opened my eyes, but it really opened my eyes on how people treat you. Then, everybody wanted to be my friend but before then I'd get picked all the time. So then I was like, "Damn this is weird." From then on, I'd tell everybody at school my name was Skylar Austin.

Can you recall the circumstances of your birth?
I remember that I came out and didn't cry. Something was wrong with me. I didn't cry, but I was purple…or blue? Sky blue [laughs].

I heard Jay-Z didn't cry when he came out, either.
Me and Jay come from a really exclusive community of non-crying babies.

What is your least favorite food?
Ranch.

Why is that?
I don't know. I guess I was traumatized by it when I was a kid. I can't smell it, I can't touch it.

Some people are just fucked up by certain foods.
I know man, it's weird. Just like some people don't like spiders, I trip out when I see ranch like a spider. Like, "Oh god man!"

Can you say the alphabet backwards?
Z, Y, W, X…uh…Z,Y, W, X…T, S, U, V, R… nah.

Watch the "Pop Bottles" Video below:

Drew Millard ate the worm one time. You should follow him on Twitter - @drewmillard