(Vessel)

With this new release, I’m reminded of a legend in this game. One who has gone severely under the radar and one I associate most with the underground legend Illogic, helping in making some of the best albums of his discography, and yet his own career is one full of gems and underrated classics that can content with anyone in the game before or the present day, and with this new record, he reminds everyone what ‘Real Hip Hop’ sounds like. Let’s talk about it!

This is the brand new album by Columbus, Ohio MC and Producer Blueprint. The man who has decades to his name and one who has undoubtedly helped create what the underground is today and one who has become your favourite artist, favourite artist for his level of craftsmanship, skill, and quality control across all his projects, and this one is no different! We have 11 tracks with 40 minutes and the likes of 

– Shepard Albertson

– E-Turn

– Angelica Lee on the album to help elevate this record!  And boy is this absolutely incredible, and here’s why!

Let’s start with the production. As someone who has been incredibly familiar with his beats for albums that are at least a decade old at this point, he’s renowned for his creative and artistic approach to the ‘underground/art rap’ genres and putting his specific spin on beats that make all his production feel recognisable by sound alone! 

Across this album, we see his trademark originality across the beats, with elements such as 

– Soul

– Soft Rock

– Jazz

– Experimental

– Neo Soul

– Avant Garde

– Funk

– Traditional Hip Hop

And with these various sounds and inspirations, he makes magic. He makes sure each track has its own unique and structured score and set combination of instruments to make it both distinctive from the other tracks and to flow smoothly within the context of the album. 

He makes sure not to overload his album with too many elements to jumble the listening experience, but instead isolates a select few things and works and evolves said choices until he delivers masterful music that sounds more like a cinematic experience than an album!

For example, that opening track ‘God’s Plan’ with those electric guitar strings powerful in the background, that infectious drum pattern, light piano keys, and that sweet and delicate vocal harmony that wraps the track up in a beautiful sonic bow!

And then look at the outro track ‘Back To Church’ with what sounds like sticky church organ keys, heavy bass lines with a subtle drum pattern, and what sounds like a maraca lightly in the mix!

He’s set the tone for the opening and the outro, and within those two tracks, you have a palette of various styles, themes, and characteristics that, as I said, makes each song feel like its own and not a repeat of any other track on the album!

It’s the masterclass in discipline, structure, and creativity that makes this and all his previous albums such gems to listen to. He’s a man who makes each second of the music as surreal, sharp, and lively as one can and makes the music itself run throughout your whole body and make you feel it unlike any other producer can! It’s something you have to listen to experience!

As the MC work goes, not just a dope producer but a prolific and highly respected writer in his own right, he puts down some of the best-written verses across this album!

He carries with him his trademark smooth and elegant flow, delivery, and intricate and intellectual bars that make him sound like a Harvard teacher, giving a lesson to his students on how to write the perfect verse.

He’s always a special level of charisma, passion, and enthusiasm on the songs to make each word he spits feel like bars of knowledge full of insight, wisdom, and grace! Like the words of a preacher trying to enlighten the rest of us!

When he drops his verses, they feel so in depth and detailed that I feel like I was there In person witnessing what he went through and saw right next to him!

The track that stands out most to me is the finale track ‘Back To Church’ as he describes the painful situation with his sister and his trials and tribulations with his faith and an event that happened after that incident with him! The way he describes the situation and the amount of context, description and emotion is absolutely unreal and definitely a deep and profound way to close the record!

That’s the thing about Blueprint. Whether it be with his beats or his words, he always speaks volumes on levels that most couldn’t touch! He’s been one of a kind his whole career an this album further proves why he’s one of the greatest in the industry, period. This is an album you can’t sleep on! 

 https://open.spotify.com/album/1AmxMaRN4A5EIZpMEAE4rh?si=BtDxF9RcQSWe9RY8kzLAxQ