Blueprint - 1988

Genre hip hop Publisher Rhymesayers Entertainment External Links Official Website

It's hard to believe that 1988 is Ohio MC Blueprint's first proper solo LP. After instrumental roles in Weightless and Soul Position, and producing countless tracks for fellow Ohio brethren Illogic, 2005 finds Blueprint reaching back to hip hop's Golden Age for inspiration in creating a new identity, independent of his past projects, to present to the world.

With 1988 Blueprint puts one of my favorite trends in hip hop today to work; paying homage to the artists and sounds of old (see Nas and Ludacris' "Virgo" or The Roots' "Web" for examples). He raps, "My catalog is analog, dog / all cassette tapes." However, the artist doesn't simply borrow "Microphone Fiend's" famous kick-kick-snare-snare-kick-snare for his musical backdrops. With a subtle and sophisticated ear, Blueprint layers his tracks with melodic samples that shed new light on the classic and frequently minimalist breaks of that age. Check out the piano fills, vocal sample and use of strings on "Big Girls Need Love Too," (a track Dr. Dre would have killed to use on The Chronic: 2001), or the use of guitar on the Doug E.-influenced "Fresh" for further evidence.

A gifted MC, Blueprint exhibits his inner grit on songs like "Trouble On My Mind" and especially "Inner City Native Son," a stellar piece of storytelling with an ending that is ultimately more surprising and effective than R. Kelly's latest five part opus. Equally strong is the rapper's sense of humor, as heard on the nostalgic "Boom-Box" ("This cat tried to battle / he didn't know me / I drowned him out with my tapes on Dolby / plus I only had the volume on five / God forbid he really woulda tried to get live") and the aforementioned "Big Girls Need Love Too.")

The disc only drags when Blueprint falls victim to whiny, "woe-is-me" subject matter, especially when that tonal quality plagues so much of underground hip hop today. Look at the work of fellow Rhymesayers labelmate Slug, sometimes this aesthetic works (The Lucy Ford LP), but usually it doesn't (his projects with Anticon). 1988 closes on a particularly weaker note with "Liberated," a track that sinks into the melodramatic theatrics of Atmosphere's "Fuck You Lucy" and would raise the eyebrows of more than one Golden Age legend.

1988 is a compelling listen. While never quite rising to the highs of Soul Position's 8 Million Stories, Blueprint's honest and loving tribute to the past should help keep hip hop heads' eyes on future releases from this rising artist.