Former frontman for Weightless and Soul Position cohort with RJD2, Blueprint goes solo with 1988—and I’m not quite sure…
This starts out with some old-school beats and an onslaught of “one-two one-two keepin’ on” kinda stuff. Sounds like another attempt at a modern day classic, but I can’t tell that it’s intentional, except that he keeps chiming in “1988.”
The title track pulls out some cool beats and things stay interesting, but weird: battle rap about boom boxes and an obligatory track for fat (and skinny) girls—complete with Humpty samplage. Yeah, this is intended as a modern classic.
Things warm up with Aesop Rock on “Lo-Fi Funk,” and awesome beat-box on “Fresh” is just that. The stomping bass and sax on “Where’s Your Girl At” prove the disc’s worth, and things carry out solid from there, including an appearance by CJ the Cynic on “Kill Me First.”
All-in-all, a record worth pulling a track from here and there; but it takes enduring a few to find a few.
Come to think about it, that is what 1988 was like.
