Local musician Blase Groody has had a lifelong passion for music. “My dad introduced me to the saxophone when I was young, which turned me into a musician as I got older,” he said. A graduate of the University of Louisville School of Music with a Jazz Performance degree, he found his way into “the elite class of musicians around town pretty quickly.” In addition to his exploration of sound engineering and piano, he also followed his passion for hip-hop and started rapping.
Groody expanded his creative range even further when he began collaborating with Louisville-based music producer and audio engineer Rob Goodknight. “Rob and I have been cooking up beats together for years,” Groody said in an exclusive statement to LEO. “Sometimes it can be tricky to get your beats to the right people or get credited correctly if artists use your beats, so we finally decided to make our own project!”
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The co-producers wanted to showcase the Louisville hip-hop music scene by featuring their favorite local rappers and singers on their recording project. “We wanted to make it as easy as possible for the artists, so all they have to do is write their lyrics, and we take care of the rest,” Groody said. He and Goodknight do all the recording, mixing, and mastering as well as all the promotion, distribution, and royalty management. They even manage the video content and album cover art. “Literally everything.”
“One of the hardest parts was trying to find a name for the project,” Groody said. “We had a lot of ideas, but none of them really fit right. Until finally, we were debating through a list of names and one of us said, ‘you’ll know when you hear it.’ We both instantly realized that had to be the name for the project.”
The album “You’ll Know It When You Hear It” features rhymes by local rappers Mike Bandanna, Joey Phantom, Trapkingkai, Nise the Nymph, Empty Advice, Lady Laveaux, Anna B, justthos, Rosario, and Allen Witcher. “We ended up having quite a few songs, so we had to split the release into two parts,” Groody said. Part 1 was released on all major streaming services on Tuesday, April 1. Part 2 will be released approximately eight weeks later, on a date yet to be determined.
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In addition to his recording work with Goodknight, Groody also recently joined Operation Doomsday, a bilingual music and poetry series that features local musicians, spoken word performers, and visual art inspired by the music of hip-hop artist MF DOOM. Groody’s keyboard and saxophone jams behind spoken word offer audiences active engagement with poetry.
Groody is always looking for new collaborators, so he welcomes inquiries at his Instagram profile, Produced By Rob and Blase. “We’re trying to make a wave in the city with all the rappers and singers,” he said. “Spoken word poets are welcome too.”
Groody will be performing with Operation: Doomsday at The Whirling Tiger (1335 Story Ave.) on Friday, April 11; at Carmichael’s Bookstore (2720 Frankfort Ave.) on Thursday, April 17; and at The Monarch Music and Arts Community (1318 Bardstown Rd.) on Saturday, April 26. Follow the series at doomsdayky.com for details and updates.
This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 3, 2025.
