Avatar Young Blaze – Baptized in Vodka

Front Cover - Baptized In Vodka

Posted by Todd Hamm

The infamous young rap pusher/gutter life documentarian Avatar Young Blaze released Baptized In Vodka today, the follow up to his sinister debut LP Warm Blooded Cold Heart; a disk he says got love everywhere from his current home city of Seattle to his native Russia, and even featured a verse from star of rap stars Lil' Wayne.

Though heavily steeped in expectation, BIV actually turns out more streamline than the gaudy follow-ups so typical of the genre. With more focused production and cohesive songwriting, the tracks are musically and thematically relative, as Avatar's ice cold tenor crackles through the bulky instrumentals and carries the tracks with ease. There are features on the album, but none close to as noteworthy as Weezy, and of little consequence regardless. It's when Av is given space to breath on his own, as on the latin guitar laced "I Am King", the future-gloss opener "Put Me Under", or the mafioso tinged "Shootouts", that he sounds most in his element, and when the mood is pulled back a bit, as on the finale "Goin' Insane", his delivery works most to his advantage as the smoothed out instrumental plays sharp contrast to his gruff style, more so than ultra-hyped tracks like "Turbo Mode" and "I'm A Gangsta", although they do have definite club appeal.

Aside from the tiring shout-overs from the project's mixmaster DJ Folk, BIV is a solid hardcore record through and through, and a full step forward for the MC. To accent our take, we caught up with Sir Blaze to gain a little insight into the creative process, and find out why he wants you to know that death only scares you. Listen in...

NWmainstage: How would you describe the overall sound of Baptized In Vodka?

International. Unorthodox. Gutter. Emotional. Classy. Fly. Social. Honest.

NWM: Where did the concept for the album come from? Are there any religious undertones (since baptism is mentioned in the title)?

It evolved naturally from my previous projects, with the whole Russian theme. The baptism is the cleansing, the immersing. Vodka represents fire, passion, my Russian/ Ukrainian heritage. Baptized in Vodka is basically a metaphor for a couple different things.  First, being people are baptized in holy water, not vodka.  With me, and everything I been through, I feel like I've been baptized in vodka. I'm more extreme then the rest.  As far as religious undertones, I believe in God.  Im Russian Orthodox.  This is the oldest version of Christianity, where the most important thing is humility.

Back cover

NWM: Who did you work with on the album? How do you feel they affected the music?

As far as production, The Alchemist, Araab Muzik, Ty Fyffe, The Olympicks... My up & coming producer homie from New York V-Don got a couple joints on there aswell, look out for him he's a problem.  Shout out to Apoulo as well, he's from Seattle he definitely got it in. As far as features, Ackrite Da Butcha from Compton, Matt Blaque from the Bay, Carey Stacks, SkiMask Spec, Eighty4Fly all from Seattle.

NWM: How would you respond to people saying your rhymes are too violent?

Everyone perceives life differently, this is an aspect of life I've been exposed to, seeing as to when I rap, I rap about my life, not somebody else's.

I guess I've seen too much death up close.  Death scars you.

Avatar Young Blaze - Shootouts
Avatar Young Blaze - Goin' Insane

NWM: Do you have any plans for a tour or any upcoming projects?

I got a mixtape Im doing with Ackrite Da Butcha "From Geattle to Bompton".  Im also working' with Dj Nik-One from Moscow and some artists from Russia.  Also look out for BIV II which I already started working on.  As far as tours, I definitely got some things under wraps, especially overseas.

NWM: What do you want your fans to know about you?

I want my fans to know that I'm for real.  I also want them to know that I love them and am extremely grateful for their attention.  I get amazing feedback from all over the world: Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Columbia, Australia, Seattle, NYC, LA, ext.  I don't take it all for granted. I want to continue to put myself and my emotions out for my fans. Theres alot of shenanigans going on in the game right now where rappers are just not credible on what they speak on. This is really my life, Im not trying to glorify negativity, Im a positive person. Im just speaking on what I been through, and where Im going.<NWM>

Baptized In Vodka is available for zero $s for a LIMITED TIME HERE, so get it before it hits iTunes.

Here's the new two part video from Avatar for the tracks "Cry" and "Everybody Get Low"--both off of Baptized In Vodka: