Off The Record #3 - "Two-Headed Monster" by Blueprint

Welcome to Off The Record! A Fresh Weekly Album Review segment brought to you by @stickykeys!

3rd Edition

June 5th 2018

Blueprint

"Two-Headed Monster"

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Blueprint started his career in the late 90’s, however he first attained attention in the underground community when he joined the group Greenhouse Effect with Manifest and Inkwel (currently known solely as Greenhouse consisting of Blueprint and Illogic). He later gained further recognition as a feature on RJD2’s song ‘Final Frontier’ on the debut album ‘Deadringer’ in 2002. He has since released two albums with RJD2 under the name Soul Position.

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‘Two-Headed Monster’ is Blueprint’s tenth solo studio album released under his own label, Weightless Records and was released on 22 May 2018. The album was also entirely produced by Blueprint and features rappers Slug (from Atmosphere), Wordsworth, Supastition, Mr. Lif, Aceyalone and Has-Lo. ‘Two-Headed Monster’ has thirteen tracks including an intro skit totaling to 40 minutes. The first single for the album, entitled ‘Two-Headed Monster’ was released 3 weeks prior on 27 March.

Music video for ‘Two-Headed Monster’ by Blueprint

The albums opens with an opening skit accompanied by a horror-inspired beat in the background. The following track, ‘Set It Off’ has Blueprint taking on a flow similar to Method Man and a suitably raw-sounding beat to go along with it. ‘Be Like Water’ has a creepy piano and strings arrangement, while ‘A Hero Dies Once’ has a very classic boom-bap beat and the title track holds an old school vibe on both beats and rhymes.

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I’m going to be honest with you, I haven’t heard any Blueprint songs in his twenty-something year career besides the track he’s featured in on RJD2’s debut album, however, ‘Two-Headed Monster’ did not disappoint for me as he creates nostalgic music evocative of 90’s alternative or Jazz-Hip Hop. I look forward to checking out his extensive back catalogue especially his Soul Position projects with RJD2, the producer who helped bring him into the limelight in the first place.

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Stay tuned for the next edition coming next Tuesday and be sure to follow me at @stickykeys! Also if there are any albums you would like me to review, drop a comment below.