Blood Orange and the Artistry of Devonté Hynes

Maddie Bogan

Rap/Hip-Hop Journalist

Many people recognize Blood Orange’s style without even realizing it. With his dreamy instrumentals and meaningful lyricism, he has been able to make a name for himself for many years. Formally known as Devonté Hynes, Blood Orange was born in 1985 in a big town called Ilford, which is located in East London. His first year active in music was 2004, in which he was a member of Test Icicles, a band that mainly focused on the punk genre. In 2005, they released an album entitled For Screening Purposes Only, but they broke up the following year. 

The name Blood Orange comes from a separate project that Devonté Hynes created because he had a desire to make music that was more alternative and utilized more synth and electronics. He started doing shows as Blood Orange at the end of 2009 in New York and London. A couple of years later, he put out his debut single, Dinner, which consisted of the titular song and another track called “Bad Girls.” Additionally, he released an album known as Coastal Grooves that featured songs like “Champagne Coast”, “The Complete Knock”, and “Sutphin Boulevard.” The third track mentioned was incorporated in the pilot episode of Skins, the British drama series. This was the first of many times that his work was used for the screen. In 2012, Blood Orange started producing music for other artists such as Solange and her EP named True, and Sky Ferreira’s EP, Ghost. 

Blood Orange released his second album, Cupid Deluxe, in 2013. This album had several features, like Caroline Polachek and David Longstreth. 2013 was also the year that he produced the score for Palo Alto, a film directed by Gia Coppola that starred Emma Roberts. He had his principal performance at Coachella in 2014. At this point in his career, an increasing number of people were discovering Blood Orange’s creative sound. 

Freetown Sound was his third album, which dropped in 2016. Popular songs from this album are “Better Than Me” and “Desirée,” which have samples from the documentary Paris Is Burning. This project was nominated for an Independent Music Companies Association award due to its wide success. Following this, Blood Orange released his fourth studio album, Negro Swan, further expanding his musical library. One of his most-streamed tracks is included in this album. “Charcoal Baby” has almost 150 million plays on Spotify. 

In 2022, he dropped an EP titled Four Songs, featuring another highly played work of his, “Jesus Freak Lighter.” He only became more recognized once his Cupid Deluxe song “Uncle ACE” was used in the Zendaya-led movie Challengers. Blood Orange’s most recent addition to his discography is Essex Honey. Unveiled in August of last year, he used this album to help launch his tour, which made its way through North America and Europe. 

Ultimately, Blood Orange/Devonté Hynes has had a prominent place in the industry for quite some time. He has shown his strengths in the music scene by uplifting other artists and, in turn, uplifting himself. For years, he has provided the soundtrack for not just movies, but people’s lives.