Columbus, Ohio's very own Blueprint gained the attention of hip-hop fans with his collaboration on RJD2's song "Final Frontier" in 2002. After joining RJD2 for a couple of albums, they joined forces in Soul Position. The restless Blueprint is also a member of The Greenhouse Effect, which consists of himself and Illogic. Racking up a number of solo albums with Weightless Records and Rhymesayers he's been a staple of the underground hip-hop scene for well over ten years. While he's not producing albums for himself or other artists he's touring heavily. Traveling in Europe with the Family Values Tour, MOVEMENT got the chance to shoot him some questions...You've been on tour for quite some time now with "The Family Vacation Tour", clearly staying very busy. What do you do in your spare time when you have a day off?
In my spare time I've been working on a lot of video projects. Last year I started messing around with video editing and I've been learning a lot about it and experimenting with it. I've got a few small video projects I try to work on to keep myself busy during down time out here. Either that or writing stuff for my blog at printmatic.net, but mostly video stuff.
I know with the Rhymesayers label you took a six year break between the 1988 album and the new one, Adventures In Counter-Culture, was there a reason for this? Do you still plan on releasing things on Weightless Recordings? You were rocking with Greenhouse Effect for a while back in the day, and then decided to do your solo thing, do you think you will do another collaborative in that vein anytime soon?
The main reason for the break in between albums was that I was unsatisfied with what I was doing artistically and wanted to something way more ambitious, but before I could do something more ambitious I had to have a better understanding of music. Unfortunately, it takes years to really learn about music and learn to write songs that aren't just rap songs. I was happy with the straightforward hip-hop stuff I was doing, but I felt like I had to have talent to do more, and the only way to do that was to take a break from releasing new records and really dedicate my life to learning about music, and following it wherever it took me.
I still plan on releasing things on Weightless Recordings, but last winter when I saw how much time I was going to be touring I decided that I needed to take a step back from my role in running the label. I talked with all the artists and slowly started shifting my focus to my solo career. Everybody involved was really understanding when they realized how long I had been putting out records but had never truly been dedicated to my solo career. I'd done many Greenhouse and Soul Position albums, as well as produced a ton of albums for other Weightless artists like Zero Star, Illogic, and Envelope, but I never really made myself or my career a priority. But with Adventures in Counter-Culture coming out I decided that I needed to change that and shift my focus, or else I would go my whole career not knowing what would've happened had I really pushed it as a solo artist. There were other roles I had to give up as well that were preventing me from concentrating on myself, so it was a gradual process of coming into my own and realizing that for me to be successful long-term I had to put myself first. I do plan on doing more Greenhouse albums this winter with Illogic though. I really enjoy working with him and it doesn't interfere with what I'm already working on.
I do plan on doing more Greenhouse and Soul Positions, hopefully next year.
Watching you perform live recently there was a definite branching out of the hip hop realm a bit, what influenced that and have you gotten any negative feedback from it?
I felt I had to change the live show to really do the album justice. Because Adventures In Counter-Culture is such an eclectic and progressive album, I felt like I had to do something really different and innovative onstage to match that, which meant that all the standard nuances of a hip-hop show had to go out the window as well. Not because I feel like don't love those things, but because I feel like I'm in a different place and I want to push boundaries and challenge people. All the people who come out to shows expecting me to do what I've been doing for years are taken aback by the new performance style, but overall it re-energizes them, and the way people view me now has completely changed. Before I was just a dope rapper, now people view me more as an artist who can and will do whatever the fuck he wants to do, which is what I feel better about. I hate feeling like I'm being safe, and the only way to ensure that doesn't happen is to constantly challenge myself in every area of my art.
I have been heavily influenced by rock performances more than hip-hop performances over the past few years, so that influence comes out a lot in how I set up the live show.
How are the dynamics of playing with a live band different from just having a DJ onstage? I noticed there were a lot of instrumental jams during the show and that isn't something you hear often during hip-hop sets. How did you meet your bassist Bobby Silver?
They dynamics of playing with a band are really different, mostly because whenever you do something live you introduce the potential for error. There are nights where I hit bad notes and although it sucks, it makes me feel more alive because I know I'm actually taking risks and that it's not programmed. The biggest advantage is that you can put together something really unique and one of a kind onstage. I can throw in instrumental jams and blend them into the vocal stuff and it feels like one cohesive piece--not just thrown together. It's really hard to create a set that's one cohesive, continuous piece of music with just a DJ, but adding instruments has allowed us to do that. At heart I'm a hip-hop dude, and always will be, so that mentality will be present in what I do, but now we can do so much more with it.
I met Bobby through the rock scene in Columbus, and from spending many nights drinking with him until four or five in the morning, back before I stopped drinking. He was in a band called Brainbow an incredible band that I've been a fan of forever. Me and his band collaborated a couple times so we've all been friends for awhile, and he always said that whenever I start incorporating live musicians into my show to hit him up. So when I started planning out the live set, he was the first cat I reached out to.
I gotta ask, what’s up with the keytar?
The keytar is my secret weapon! It was always something that I used to joke about bringing onstage for a hip-hop show, but they were always too expensive until the latest one came out with the Rock Band video game. I did some research on it and found out it could be adapted for my show and I brought it on tour with me immediately, without even really practicing that much at home with it. I just felt like it gave me something completely different on stage that kind of bugged people out when they saw it because it’s the last thing they’d expect at a hip-hop show.
Do you still write your rhymes shorthand? Like in a notebook or do you mostly just jot’em down on a smartphone or computer?
I still write all my rhymes in my phone. I used to do it on my Sidekick but now I've got a Blackberry. I haven't had an actual notepad in almost 10 years. It helps to be able to do it on the phone when you're touring a lot.
Growing up, did your parents play a lot of music in the household? Do you remember that first song that you heard that made you go, "Damn! This is awesome"?
Definitely. My parents played a lot of gospel and R&B in the house when I was growing up. I think the first song I really repeated over and over again was "Boogie On Reggae Woman" by Stevie Wonder. We had the 45 and I would sneak off into my room and listen to it on repeat over and over.
Who are some other lyricists that you look up to?
Always looked up to guys like Rakim and Saul Williams the most. I think they're both incredible writers but in completely different ways.
Anyone out there that you are looking forward to working with or want to? What albums or books are you into right now?
Not so much right now. I've been doing so much touring that collaborating with people would probably be very difficult. Hopefully I will do some music with DJ Therapy while I'm in town. He and I have been talking about it for a while, so once I get the beat from him it's gonna be on. Lately I've been reading a bunch of technical books about filmmaking and trying to learn Ableton Live so I can start incorporating it into my live show more. I would like to read more fiction but it's hard to find the time because I've been so busy reading all the manuals lately, trying to stay sharp and aware of the newer technology that’s out there as far as beat-making goes.
Knowing that you have played in Jacksonville a couple times, how
have your experiences been so far in this city? Jacksonville has a very
deep-rooted hip-hop scene and I’m always curious to hear about people’s
opinion and experiences... And word on the street is that you have plans
on coming back soon?
So far my experiences in Jacksonville have been great. It reminds me of Columbus in the way that it's a smaller market and how the acts in the city have great camaraderie. I already knew DJ Therapy (Paten Locke) from touring with him back in 2007 and we have been friends since, and I just met Willie Evans Jr, and I think he's a really dope artist too. It’s awesome that they come out and support me when I'm in town or just shoot through to say what’s up. I like the people in the city as well. Can’t wait to play there again. I'll be back Saturday Dec 17th @ The Phoenix Taproom.
Interview by Jessica Whittington
Photos by Max Michaels
