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Greenhouse w/ Prince Paul on March 6th
February 16th, 2010
Sorry i haven’t been blogging much lately. Wanted to announce the next Greenhouse show in Columbus. Saturday March 6th @ Skullys playing with the legendary Prince Paul. Hope to see everybody out!
Thanks for the support!
There’s No Such Thing As Coincidence
February 2nd, 2010
I just got in from having some drinks and i feel like reflecting tonight. I feel a great deal of gratitude for everything that i have been given and the friends i have, as well as the experiences that have been granted me on this path i have chosen. And i want everybody who has ever supported or encouraged me to continue this thing because it means a lot. Tonight i realized that there are so many things that i wouldnt have been able to see had it not been for this gift i have been given; no matter how big or small that gift is, it is a gift nonetheless, and i dont take it for granted anymore.
I now look at everyday i am fortunate to wake up and do something i love as a blessing, not something i earned, or something that is a quick phase in my life. it is what i make it, and if i choose to do nothing with it, then it will be nothing. but if i choose to love it and nurture it then it will grow and blossom–and i dont mean monetarily or in terms of shit like that. i mean in terms of what it is and the joy it brings to myself and others.
We don’t love flowers because of what they can do for us. We love them because of what they are. It would be selfish to do otherwise. so whatever role that my path plays in the role of others joy i fully accept and embrace. not because it makes me money or because otherse need me, but because that is simply what i am to them, and what i am to be.
This may sound like some drunken rambling, and i admit that i’ve been drinking tonight but feel my sincerity on this. Read the rest of this entry “
In Memory of Teddy Pendergrass
January 14th, 2010
While i usually try to keep this blog/website pretty positive and upbeat, i couldn’t help but write something in memory of Teddy Pendergrass who died tonight/last night at the age of 59. For those who dont know, Teddy Pendergrass was a serious, serious, soul singer. He had one of those rare voices that could go from real smooth to real grizzly in a heartbeat, but right when you needed it to be.
When i heard he died tonight I was at the bar and his song “turn off the lights” immediately popped into my head. I will always have great memories of him and this song. I remember buying the tape that “turn off the lights” was on just to get that one song. Hell, i cant remember any other songs on the record, but “turn off the lights” was like 6-8 minutes long and made the purchase well worth it by itself. The wildest part about this song is that it wasn’t even a song i grew up on. My parents actually got busy to it. I just remember it being on around the house sometimes, and when i went thru my exploratory phase of R&B that song just took me there.
At any rate, I will admit that Teddy Pendergrass may be the first (of many) R&B singers that I actually stole lyrics from and used them on a girl:
Blast from the past: the Blueprint vs Funkadelic EP
January 13th, 2010
After I posted about the upcoming Blueprint Who EP, I was informed that the link i had to Blueprint vs Funkadelic wasn’t working for everybody so I decided to fix it (so that i wouldnt have to worry about it going down again), and also so that the people who may have missed it the first time around can actually get up on it before i put out the next release in the series. If you already downloaded it when it came out in 2008 this version I’ve uploaded is at CD quality, as opposed to the lower quality mp3s that were previously available.
http://greenhousecrew.bandcamp.com/album/blueprint-vs-funkadelic
Please take a listen and if you like it please spread the word. The delux version of the release is available HERE and ships with an 11×17 poster (see above image) and all instrumentals for $7.99. Listening is great but supporting is even better.
Thanks!
New Blueprint EP in February
January 12th, 2010
A couple years back i released a free ep called Blueprint vs Funkadelic. It was something i did for fun in the studio and to kind of pay tribute to a band who i had recently rediscovered thru the wonders of vinyl. A lot of artists and producers do “mashups”, where they take existing vocals and put them over something else, but i try to do this series of record differently, by writing original material and not recycling rhymes. If you haven’t checked out Blueprint vs Funkadelic before please check it out and get ready for the next installment.
I’ve decided to do this again, but using music from The Who. Blueprint Who will be released sometime in February. The promo version will be free to download, and the delux version will come with a free poster, sticker, as well as the instrumentals. Stay tuned for more specific details.
Thanks for the support!
An example of why it’s so hard to sample anymore
January 11th, 2010
So last week i turned in the CD master of the Columbus or Bust album to this pressing plant that we take a lot of CD duplication jobs too. They start processing the order and then the sales rep calls me and is like “i have a question about this master”
I say “sure, what is it?”, and she says “are all the samples on this cleared and do you have permission to use everything on this record”. I say “nah, not really, but what are you referring to”, and she says “i think i heard a vocal sample from an Officer and A Gentlemen on there”. I’m kind of off guard but I’m like “hmmm, well there are samples but that’s not what its from”, and she says that she thinks there’s going to be a problem with their “licensing department” with the samples and they might not be able to press the record. I basically say hey whatever y’all decide to do just let me know. I didn’t tell her any of the samples because really its none of her business and also if somebody is gonna catch me then they’re gonna have to do their homework. I’m not gonna do their job for them and narc on myself.
Read the rest of this entry “
Radiohead Kid-A Documentary
January 9th, 2010
This is something that i peeped a few months ago, and wondered why it didnt have that many views, but then i came to the realization that if it had more views it would have been pulled from youtube already. But as many of you know i’m a big fan of Radiohead (hence the Greenhouse Effect vs Radiohead CD), so it was cool to see this documentary that chronicled what they were going through around the time they released Kid A, which was a huge departure from their previous album which had almost universal critical acclaim. If you’re bored at work or a Radiohead fan like me peep it:
Upcoming Greenhouse (Blueprint & Illogic) Tour Dates
January 8th, 2010
Saturday January 30th – Columbus, OH @ Carabar – FREE SHOW
Thursday February 25 – Champaign, IL – venue tba
Friday February 26th – Minneapolis, MN @ The Triple Rock
Saturday February 27th – Madison, WI @ The Annex
Bitch, its Greenhouse! Hope to see you all out!
p.s. as always if you havent peeped the free greenhouse ep yet, download it here
Electric Purgatory Pt 1 voted best local hip-hop release of 2009
January 7th, 2010In last weeks issue of the Columbus Alive, The Electric Purgatory EP was chosen as the best local hip-hop release of 2009. If you’re reading this and haven’t heard it yet DOWNLOAD IT NOW you lazy bastard!! If you’ve already heard it and would like to help us spread the music to friends of yours please use the share button on the player to post it up on your facebook, myspace, twitter, etc. We do what we can, but its no secret that we can reach a lot more people if those who already know about it help us.
Thanks for the support. Part two coming soon.
p.s. If you would like to order the delux version of the CD, go HERE
Imagine
January 6th, 2010Imagine that you love flowers.
You love gardening as well.
Imagine enjoying nothing more than spending your free time amazed at how flowers look, how much joy your garden brings to you. Imagine the beauty that flowers bring to your life.
Imagine buying seeds, shovels, and all types of gardening tools. It’s nothing to you because you love flowers.
Imagine not wanting to see them die because they bring such joy to your life.
It’s beautiful, right?
Right.
Now, imagine that you love music…help me fill in the rest.
Flavor Flav- I’ll Never Let You Go
December 30th, 2009I’m only posting this because it’s hilarious. Get up on that hot new Flavor Flav joint:
T-Pain better watch his back. Flav is coming for him.
Word is blog.
Little Things That Bug Me
December 14th, 2009
I hate when I’m in an almost empty restaurant and somebody sits at a table that’s not at least two tables away from me.
Even worse is when they sit at a table that’s one table away from me and sit in a direction facing me. It makes me feel like they’re watching me eat, or that every-time I look up I look like I’m watching them eat.
If I go to see a movie at a time when its not busy it bugs me when people sit anywhere near me. I’m a firm believer that if there are less people in the movie than rows in the theater, everybody should have their own row, and one row apart preferably so nobody has to hear anybody Else’s dumb ass comments or have somebody kicking the back of
their chair in an empty ass movie.
The above theory also applies to any form of public transit. Read the rest of this entry “
Blueprint Video Blog – Episode #3
December 9th, 2009
SHAPOW!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wblToK27Nrg
Say word.
It’s Purgatorious
December 7th, 2009Just in case you’re still sleeping, download this shit. It’s purgatorious.
Word is blog
Columbus Alive feature on Greenhouse
December 2nd, 2009Here’s the link to the Columbus Alive feature on Greenhouse for those that missed it:
http://www.columbusalive.com/live/content/features/stories/2009/11/26/ca_m_greenhouse.html?sid=108
In the decade-plus since Weightless Recordings began as a street-level hip-hop enterprise, Greenhouse (formerly Greenhouse Effect) has been the label’s flagship group, comprising label head/rapper/producer Blueprint and various other rappers. For Blueprint, aka Al Shepard, it was often an exhausting ordeal.
“Creatively, I had to drive so much of the Greenhouse thing, whereas I think a lot of people just sat back,” Blueprint said. “I couldn’t get dudes to do anything.”
Last winter, after a falling out with last remaining group member Manifest, Blueprint took a step he’d been eyeing for some time, bringing longtime collaborator Illogic into the Greenhouse fold.
Though they had never recorded together as Greenhouse, the pair has a long history. Blueprint produced Illogic’s first two albums, and the rappers have guested on some of each other’s best tracks. It only seemed natural to establish a more permanent partnership.
“He and I have a real similar work ethic in terms of our output,” Blueprint said. “I could sit around and do the production for a whole EP in a week or two. He could sit there and write all his rhymes in a week at work. When we come together, it’s really fast.”
The fruitful collaboration spun out into unforeseen directions last winter while the duo was working on forthcoming full-length Bend But Don’t Break.
“We were getting into the album heavily, and I think I just had a period where everything I was doing sounded really dark and wintry,” Blueprint said. “Usually when I get to that point, I won’t let anybody hear the beats because I’ll feel like, ‘Oh man, this weather’s affecting my sound too much.’ But this time around we just kind of embraced it.”
The artistic detour resulted in the first in a series of new EPs, Electric Purgatory, Vol. 1, to be released Saturday with a show at Skully’s.
They plan to crank out a second volume of seasonal-affective jams this winter and may drop more similar releases in the future rather than expand the concept into one self-contained album. They said they prefer to work in short, focused blasts.
“Most classic albums are short,” Illogic said. “You look at most of the classic albums and they have 12 songs max, usually. EPs are perfect for that. You don’t have time for filler.”
This six-song set is built on ominous strings, gnarly synth blurts and cold, heartless drum machine patterns, a foreboding musical climate that sent the MCs to some of the more shadowy corners of their brains. There’s a distinct feeling of unrest throughout these 28 minutes.
In particular, Electric Purgatory addresses a trusty meta-theme so prevalent in hip-hop: the artist’s struggle to endure and create in the face of hardship.
The Greenhouse guys wisely don’t beat the dead horse of me-versus-the-world martyrdom, but the EP is littered with references to the obstacles facing aspiring artists and the glories of going it alone – consider lyrics like “Waiting on a record deal is like waiting for FEMA,” track titles such as “Never Gonna Make It” and an interlude that declares “99.9 percent of bands never get paid.”
In light of their lyrical subject matter, the rappers had a laugh about how much the hip-hop landscape has changed since they started hawking self-released albums at a grassroots level in the late 1990s.
“When we first started selling tapes, people kind of looked down at us because you could still get signed in that era,” Blueprint said.
Illogic chimed in: “Now people looking at you crazy if you trying to get a deal.”
word is blog
Felt “Chewed Up” Video
November 30th, 2009This video is probably the freshest video I’ve seen in a long time.
Pick up the Felt record if you haven’t already:
Word is Blog
Thanksgiving Thanks
November 27th, 2009
In light of it being thanksgiving and all that, I wanna say thanks to everybody who has checked out the Greenhouse EP, Electric Purgatory Part One. It’s been a while since Illogic and I have done anything together so we just want to get the music that we’ve been working on for the past year out there, but the response has been very good overall and very encouraging in terms of what we have planned in the future.
I also want to thank everybody that reposted it on their facebook or twitter pages and helped spread it out. That shit means a lot and you didn’t have to do it. A lot of times its easy to get overwhelmed by all this technology and social networking we’ve got at our fingertips, but I guess the good side is that it can be a good tool to bring people together and spread the word about things. I haven’t really blogged much this week because this week has been so damn busy, but i expect to be back on it next week in full force. Right now its all about filling these mail orders, rehearsing for the show on Saturday, and passing out flyers to hopefully get people out.
That’s about all i got. Have a good weekend.
Word is Blog.
Download Greenhouse (Blueprint & Illogic) EP NOW! Spread the word
November 24th, 2009Sorry about the delays. Here it is:
If the above player doesn’t work, use this direct link:
http://greenhousecrew.bandcamp.com/album/electric-purgatory-part-one-promo
As always, please use the share button to help us spread this out on twitter, myspace, facebook, etc.
Thanks for the support!
p.s. this saturday in Columbus. If you like the EP and live in the Columbus area, we would love to see you out.
FREE Greenhouse song “Damn”
November 20th, 2009Ok. Here is the latest leak off the upcoming Greenhouse EP, titled “Damn”. Futuristic, rugged hip-hop, brought to you by Blueprint & Illogic.
After you download, please, please, please help us spread the word about song by hitting the “share” button above. A drop-down menu will let you select where you want to share it (facebook, myspace, twitter, wordpress,etc.), you select the one you want, and bam! its done. Any help you give us in spreading this music is greatly appreciated. Even if it’s just one of your friends learning about us, that’s great. The more the better.
The full free version of the EP will be available on Tuesday November 24th, and the delux-cd (with instrumentals & 11×17 poster) will Ship on nov 27th. Please visit http://www.weightless.net to order the CD.
Word is blog
Public Enemy & Their Fan-Funded Album
November 19th, 2009
I came across this a few days ago and wanted to get everybody’s thoughts on it. Here’s the article:
http://musically.com/blog/2009/10/06/public-enemy-to-fan-fund-new-album-with-sellaband/#tb
Public Enemy to fan-fund new album with SellaBand
Hip-hop pioneers Public Enemy have announced plans for fans to fund their new album – but also take a share of the revenues. The band are working with SellaBand to raise $250,000 in individual donations of $25. Fans chipping in will get a numbered copy of the album, but also a share of the profits – although exactly how this will work hasn’t been announced at the time of writing.
“SellaBand’s financial engine model goes about restructuring the music business in reverse,” says Public Enemy’s Chuck D. “It starts with fans first, then the artists create from there. The music business is built on searching for fans and this is a brand new way for acts to coming to create a new album with fans first, already on board.”
Public Enemy are the first established act to benefit from SellaBand’s new business model, which now allows artists to hold onto their publishing rights, and raise money in different ways to the scheme originally proposed by the site when it was targeting just unsigned artists. The band are one of the more experienced when it comes to digital, having been one of the first to release music as MP3 files.
“Working with Public Enemy is an incredibly exciting way to take the European success we’ve built over the past three years and offer it to stateside bands,” says SellaBand CEO Johan Vosmeijer.
And then part two of the story this:
Caption: Chuck D of ‘ Public Enemy ‘ performs Coachella Music Festival 2009 – Day 3 Indio, California …. Rap legends PUBLIC ENEMY are on their way to achieving a fan-funded album - they have pulled in donations of $50,000 . Last month , the group agreed a deal with SellaBand, an online fan funding engine, which gives devotees the chance to …
This is part of the new era we live in, where major labels are getting pushed away (and rightfully so), and artists are working directly with the fans that supported them from day one. I think it’s pretty fresh, but I would like to see what you all think about an artist going directly to their fans to fund their album. Is it here to stay? Will it only work for certain acts? Would you ever help your favorite band like this?
Let me know what you’re thinking.
Word is blog.
Blueprint Video Blog #2
November 18th, 2009
Sorry about the delay. Episode #2…
Word is video-blog.
A jewel from the Prince “Purple Rain” bonus DVD
November 13th, 2009
I’m gonna admit right off top that I’m a big fan of Prince. Musically, I think he’s one of the geniuses of our era, and business-wise I think he’s done some amazing things that struck big against the major-labels and also set himself up to be a real powerplayer as an idependent artist (which is he is right now).
But all that aside, I finally bought the Purple Rain DVD the other day, and I’ve gotta say it was well worth the purchase because of the 2nd DVD that comes with it. There’s a few behind-the-scenes type of extras on the DVD that really shed light on some of the process and making of that album and movie that I would have never thought of. If you’re a fan of his, definitely cop it. I’ve watched the bonus DVD twice already.
Now, onto what I thought was the most interesting bit of information about the making of the album:
First, there were over 100 songs recorded for the album, and if i remember correctly there are only 9 or 10 songs on the actual album. This in itself i find very interesting, particularly because when it comes to classic albums we always tend to think that the artist just did 10 songs and all of them were great, but this is hardly the case. In fact, the more i research older albums, the more i find the opposite to be true. It seems like almost every truly great album has a story about a ridiculous amount of songs being recorded for it, as opposed to that artist just being “on fire” at that point in time, did 10 amazing songs, then turned into the label like “here’s this classic, let me know when it goes 10x platinum“, lol. Read the rest of this entry “
QUICK ANNOUNCEMENTS: Site Relocation
November 11th, 20091. Website Relocation
printmtaticmusic.com is now printmatic.net.
When I first had the idea to create this site, my ideal domain would have been something that actually had the word “blueprint” in it, but i soon found out that these domains are all snatched up by companies that actually make blueprint. so i then moved on to “printmatic” and found out that pretty much every domain name involving the word printmatic was snatched up as well by printing companies. fuck. so i chose printmatic.net, just because it was pretty much the only option at the time. fortunately, I check back every month or so to see if any of the domain names I really wanted came available and i was FINALLY able to come up on printmatic.net, so i reserved the domain name now its officially on!
At any rate, for those of you who subscribe via RSS feed, I dont have any way of transfering your subscriptions so please go to printmatic.net and subscribe to the feed again.
2. Youtube address change
Fuck it, might as well do it as well. My youtube address which was http://www.youtube.com/printmaticmusic is now http://youtube.com/printmatictv. I figure since i’m going to be putting content on there regularly I might as well give it a name that fits it, as well as the renamed version of this site. If you happen to be one of my subscribers, please hit up the new page and subscribe! If you’re not a subscriber, make it happen.
3. Message Board/Forum -
I’m considering bringing the forum back. I had a problem with it a couple months ago where it wouldnt let me have access to the admin section of it, so i removed it. But that problem has been fixed. Also, I wasn’t completely sure we had enough people on here using it, but let me know if any of you are interested in it returning and I’ll get it up sooner than later.
Word is blog.
This chick is the coldest
November 9th, 2009She’s like the Bill Lambier of womens soccer, yo.
Word is Blog
More details on the upcoming Greenhouse EP
November 4th, 2009
And there you have it.
Blueprint video blog #1
November 2nd, 2009Weekend Picks in Columbus – October 30th & 31st
October 30th, 2009No real hip-hop going on this weekend in Columbus, but definitely some good rock shows to check out. Although it’s Halloween weekend and I’m sure there are a ton of things going on that involve costumes, I’m gonna recommend two shows that i think will be fresh because of the line-ups:
Friday Oct 30th – The Receiver & Brainbow @ Skullys
My first time hearing The Receiver was a couple years back when i first started getting into Brainbow, but i havent been able to see them play live since. I actually did go to their CD release party to buy their album, but i ended up having to leave because i was playing a show somewhere else the same night. But stylistically this show makes a lot of sense. I will probably be at this one early in the night on Friday passing out flyers, as i don’t expect it to run particularly late. If you get a chance check out both of their music because they’re easily two of my favorite bands in columbus. Unfortunately, I dont know who else is playing on this bill, but the two bands alone make it worth it.
Friday October 30th – El Jesus De Magico & Necropolis @ Carabar
El Jesus De Magico is the shit. If you’ve never checked them out please do yourself a favor and check them out. I’ve even sampled their music before and they always put on a good show. They will be doing the halloween throwdown with their Columbus Discount Records label-mates Necropolis on friday as well. It sucks that both of these shows are going on the same night, because my guess is that there wont be anything worth checking out on saturday, or at least nothing to this level. Carabar is always free, and this show will run later than the skully show so this is probably a cool way to end the night. I think I’m gonna try to get to this one around 1230 or so.
Have a good weekend. See yall monday for episode one of the video blog.
Word is blog.
Quick Announcements
October 29th, 20091. Show in Norfolk, VA with Lupe Fiasco on Nov 5th
This just popped up a couple days ago and was confirmed today. I will be playing in Norfolk, VA with Lupe Fiasco on Thursday November 5th. Doors are at 8pm, and I think i play 30-45 minutes before him. I don’t have all the details of it right now but its on the Old Dominion University campus (odu.edu might have some info on it) so if you live out that way then fall through. Its been a pretty long time since i’ve played out that way and I’ve actually never played Norfolk. Me and DJ Rare Groove will be doing our thing.
2. Pre-orders for the new Greenhouse EP “Electric Purgatory” have started.
There was a problem with our shopping cart where it wasnt letting people buy the cd by itself, but that’s been fixed. At any rate, the CD is $4.99 and ships with a free poster and the instrumentals. Please support the movement. Artists got bills too! If you want to order click on the below banner or go to my store page and order.
If you haven’t already, download the song “Gettin There” HERE
3. Video Blog –
I’m going to start doing some video blogs, since things are starting to get really busy and i think there’s some interesting things going on right now, but i would like to add a section where i answer peoples questions. Lord knows it makes absolutely no sense trying to answer questions on twitter within the 140 character limit, so hit me up at questions@printmatic.net and shoot me your questions. It can be the most technical stuff about production (which i encourage), to the most random questions, or even relationship advice, whatever. But send me some shit so i can get it crackin. First Video Blog will premier this upcoming monday, so make sure you stop back here to check it out.
4. Press/Writers/Bloggers
If you’re in the press, or a write a blog, and would be interested in hearing some music before everybody else and writing about it let me know. I would like to get it to you. Hit me at info@printmatic.net
Thats all i got. As you were.
Word is blog.
Dres of Blacksheep talks about Krs One vs PM Dawn Incident
October 28th, 2009
For those that have been into hip-hop as long as I have, the “KRS-ONE vs PM Dawn” incident is one that will always be near and dear to our hearts. For those that may have never heard of this incident, basically KRS-One didn’t appreciate the super-soft, pop stylings of PM Dawn (who was set to perform his #1 hit at the time) and emerged at one of their shows to a) push them off stage and b) commence to rocking said show in their spot. No matter how you look at either party, this story is legendary and honestly the type of thing I wish emcees of my generation had the balls to do. Unfortunately, if this happened today KRS would be labeled a “hater”, and ridiculed for not lettin PM Dawn “get money”. Funny how things change, huh?
Well at any rate, apparently Blacksheep was also playing on the show that this incident happened at, and in this interview Dres talks about the events leading up to it and the actual incident. His entire recount of the incident is priceless and definitely worth checking out.
Also, if you’ve got the time here’s a great interview from Kenny Parker of Boogie Down Productions about the incident from uncut.com.
word is blog
What happened to Myspace?
October 21st, 2009
A few weeks back i saw a fellow-artist post a status update on his facebook page saying something to the effect of “wait,you mean to tell me that i spent all this time getting my myspace page looking good and now its a dead?!” and as an artist i feel his pain.
So, I figure that instead of blogging and trying to share my perspective I would ask everybody a question, and see if you all can give me your thoughts on what happened to myspace? Or better yet, what your personal story is as to why you don’t visit it as much anymore? It doesn’t have to be anything long, a couple sentences or paragraphs would work. I’m just curious about everybody’s experience.
Add on!
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