As many of my friends know, I’m a pretty big fan of Mixed-Martial Arts (MMA).  I think I started watching it about four or five years ago, and have been into it pretty heavily ever since, as proven by my MMA-related tweets whenever there’s a big event on.  Hell, a lot of my time in the studio is spent watching classic fights that I missed before I was a fan of the sport.

Well today I get to take my obsession with MMA to a new level because I was invited to call in and talk MMA on the internet show MMA Uncensored, which will be on from 7-9pm Mountain Time.  I will be on there at 8pm Mountain time (10pm Eastern time), talking about the upcoming UFC on FX show that’s going down tomorrow night, previewing the matchups and just talking about the fighters.

As a person who’s definitely a nerd about the sport, but doesn’t really get to chop it up with people about it to often, I’m pretty excited.

So, if you’re a fan of MMA (or just curious about my thoughts and knowledge of the topic) and free at 10pm Eastern Time / 8pm Mountain Time, please tune in.

Here’s are the details:

Date: Thurs Jan 19th
Time: 8pm Mountain Time / 10pm Eastern Time (the show actually starts at 7pm Mountain time. I’ll be on the 2nd half)
Website: http://www.gomilehigh.com/home.cfm (click on the “Listen Live” button)
Twitter: @printmatic and @mm_uncensored

UPDATE: Here is the audio of the interview:

Word!

Please check it out here: http://orlandoweekly.com/music/under-the-radar-1.1245038

Here’s an exerpt:

In 2005, Al Shepard stopped by the headquarters of Power 107.5 FM, a radio station in his hometown, Columbus, Ohio. Shepard had ties to hip-hop, and so did the station, but each had a vastly different idea of what makes the genre great. Traditionally, Shepard raps over self-made beats as Blueprint, keeping his work low on coolness and flash, and heavy on honesty. Slang doesn’t play into his verses much and he’s consistently willing to experiment with different moods and sounds in his beats. (He’s had albums issued by stately indie hip-hop label Rhymesayers.)

On the flip side, Power 107.5 FM’s tastes lean toward bombastic hooks and larger-than-life characters; a cursory look at the station’s recently played tracks turns up Beyoncé, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Wale and Drake. Around the time Blueprint’s 1988 was released, according to Shepard, the two entities butted heads (CON’T).

Word is Blog

A fresh “keep bouncing” remix done several months ago.  If you’re on Soundcloud, follow the kid.  Enjoy.

KEEP-BOUNCING-REMIX by printmatic

Alternate link: http://soundcloud.com/printmatic/keep-bouncing-remix

I realized the other day that while the people who hang around with me know that my taste in music is extremely varied, the people who listen to my music may not, so I always thought it would be cool to actually write about artist or songs that influenced and inspired me.

The first artist I would like to talk about is Bjork.

I think I first heard of Bjork back when I was still working as a Computer Programmer and one of my coworkers told me to check out her music.  I had just starting to dig heavily into old records and other genres of music at the time , but I wasn’t really ready for Bjork, so I didn’t follow-up.

Then one day there was a documentary on PBS about her, so I video taped it, thinking it might be cool to record to get some quotes for my own albums.  This was the point that I recognized that Bjork was everything that being a real artist is about; passionate about her music, writing songs for herself, extremely progressive musically & visually, and a real visionary who doesn’t make records for the status quo.  As an artist, you can either make records for what music is, or what you want music to be; and bjork makes music for what it should be.  This means that she can at times be hard to pin down: electronic, classical, ballads, ambient, futuristic, and apocalyptic–Bjork manages to be all these things at the once.

After watching the documentary, and seeing her process for creating her music I immediately bought her album Post.  The first song that really grabbed me was “Possibly Maybe”, and at the time I think it was mostly because I recognized DJ Shadow sampled it on his debut album Endtroducing.  But once that bit of novelty wore off I was able to appreciate the song for what it was, and was it was to me was amazing.  The remix is even crazier.

After that I bought all of her albums and created my own best of bjork mix, that to this day I still listen to.  I’m always amazed that records she put out 15 years ago still sound futuristic and progressive today.

Bjorks music has influenced me in the best way that artists should influence people: by challenging them. I wasn’t a fan of electronic music but thru her music I began to appreciate it. The same for dance, or any of the other styles of music her albums encompass.  And what’s fresh about her is that she just does it without any pretension.  It’s obvious by listening to her music that she sees music with a much wider scope than most people do, but she never makes you feel like she’s trying or reaching–she’s just doing whatever she wants to do and the results are usually pretty damn good.

Word is Blog

Hey Friends.  It’s been a while since I’ve written so I figured I would write one post that summarizes all the stuff that’s been going on.  This will also be my first newsletter that I’m sending to those that subscribe to my mailing list as well. 

Family Vacation Tour
The first leg of the Family Vacation tour has officially ended, and I’m back home for about a week off, before the second leg starts.  The first leg was great, and I would like to thank everybody that came out to a show, shook my hand, picked up some merch, and supported me.  Doing music at home is one thing but going on the road is when you actually get to see the people your music is touching and reaching.   The tour itself was one of most complete and diverse shows that I’ve been a part of, where everybody on it sounded completely different, and brought something fresh to the table.  It’s wild to think that back before I ever considered putting out my own music I was listening to Dilated Peoples 12″ records, and then years later I’m in a van touring with Evidence and DJ Babu.  It’s pretty damn fresh.  The second leg of the Family Vacation tour starts on September the 13th in Madison Wisconsin and takes us through a lot of Southern states that I haven’t been to in a quite a while.   Here are the dates:

09.13 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theatre
09.14 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall
09.15 – Athens, GA @ New Earth Music Hall
09.16 – Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore
09.18 – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham
09.20 – Jacksonville Beach, FL @ Freebird Live
09.21 – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
09.22 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
09.23 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
09.24 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
09.26 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
09.27 – Omaha, NE @ The Slowdown

Ohio Shows
Back in 2003-2005 me and Illogic used to play a ton of shows in the smaller markets of Ohio, what we used to call the Weightless Invasion Tours.  We would go to places that nobody was going like Toledo, Kent, Youngstown, Athens, Dayton, Fairborn, Akron, and try to build up there since most people who come through Ohio only play Columbus, Cincy, and Cleveland.  Well, we’re going to start doing that again.  We played Kent on Thursday night, we play Cleveland this Sunday night at the Beachland Ballroom & Tavern, and we play in Athens Ohio at Casa Cantina this coming Thursday.  Hope you can make it out to the shows:

9.4.2011 – Cleveland, OH @ The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern – (Blueprint & Illogic)
9.8.2011 – Athens, OH @ Casa Cantina – (Blueprint & Illogic)

Minneapolis & Fargo Shows
Friday Sept 9th – Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave w/ Prof & SoulCrate
Saturday Sept 10th – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium w/ Kipp G & Tony The Butcher (9pm, 21+)

More Music Videos
Adventures in Counter-Culture is out now, but I’ve still got a couple more music videos coming soon.  The first is the music video for “Go Hard or Go Home”, which I directed.  It’s in the editing stages now, but it should hit right around the time the Family Vacation tour starts, so be on the lookout for that.  I’ve also got an animated video for the song “Wanna Be Like You” being finished right now that will also be coming at you soon.  Keep an eye out!

Rhymesayers tour Europe in November
This one is gonna be great. The entire Rhymesayers crew (Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Evidence, Blueprint, Grieves & Budo) invade Europe this November.  I haven’t been to Europe since summer 2008 I believe, so it will be good to return there.  For the details please check out this post: I’m going back to Europe, Europe, Europe.

Here’s the dates:
07.11 – London, UK @ The Electric Ballroom: Buy Tickets | RSVP
08.11 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg | RSVP
09.11 – Paris, FR @ La Machine du Moulin Rouge | RSVP
11.11 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique | RSVP
12.11 – Zurich, CH @ Rote Fabrik | RSVP
13.11 – Fribourg, CH @ Fri-Son | RSVP
15.11 – Berlin, DE @ Festal Kreuzberg | RSVP
16.11 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefahrlich | RSVP
18.11 – Stockholm , SE @ Nalen | RSVP
19.11 – Oslo, NO @ Spikerboks | RSVP
20.11 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Musikkenshus: Buy Tickets | RSVP

Blueprint October Tour Dates in the Midwest
Tuesday Oct 4 – Fairborn, OH @ One Eyed Jacks (w/ Copywrite)
Weds Oct 5th – Peoria, IL @ SOP’s on Main
Thurs Oct 6th – Iowa City, IA @ Gabes (w/ Toki Wright)
Friday Oct 7th – St. Louis, MO @ Grammaphone
Sat Oct 8th – Columbus, OH @ Skullys (w/ Envelope and RJD2)

New Blueprint Music
While it’s true that it took me 5 years to complete Adventures in Counter-Culture, I don’t plan on taking that long on my next album. In fact, I’ve started working on new music already and have a great jump-start on things.  I don’t have a name for it, or a release date, or anything like that–I’m just going with the flow and doing whatever feels natural at this point–but I do plan on trying to release a new project next year this time.  I’ve got enough good material done now to where i think it’s completely possible, depending on how hard i bust my ass this winter.

That being said, the first thing that should drop will be a new Greenhouse EP and the long awaited Greenhouse album “Bend But Don’t Break”.  If you’ve been following Greenhouse then you know we like to keep it wintery and this winter will be no exception.  More music.  Stay tuned.

That’s about all I’ve got for now.

As always, thanks for the continued support.  I wouldn’t be doing this without the people who support me and allow me to do so.

Blueprint
http://printmatic.net

p.s. For those of you that told me you missed out on t-shirts or vinyl while I was on the road, you can pick them up on the store page at http://printmatic.net

You didn’t think the tour was only a few weeks long, did you? Just announced, Atmosphere has added MORE dates to The Family Vacation Tour. On the second leg of this tour, labelmates Evidence and Blueprint will be joining once again. The tour starts in Madison, Wisconsin and ends in Omaha, Nebraska and will travel throughout much of the South and Midwest of the United States.

Fan Pre-sale begins TOMORROW, Wednesday, July 27th at 3pm local time at ArtistArena.

09.13 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theatre
09.14 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall
09.15 – Athens, GA @ New Earth Music Hall
09.16 – Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore
09.18 – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham
09.20 – Jacksonville Beach, FL @ Freebird Live
09.21 – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
09.22 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
09.23 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
09.24 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
09.26 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
09.27 – Omaha, NE @ The Slowdown

Few of their contemporaries have dedicated such a large percentage of their professional lives to touring, and this statement rings truer with each additional outing. Atmosphere, originally a 2-piece consisting of a touring DJ and rapper Slug, have augmented their battery with the addition of producer Ant, guitarist Nate Collis and keyboardist Erick Anderson, reinvigorating expected classics with live instrumentation and performing songs from the latest albums with absolute, heartfelt accuracy.

Columbus, Ohio’s Blueprint will be supporting the dates with a set drawn largely from his April release Adventures In Counter-Culture, a self-produced gem that straddles rock and pop while remaining steadfastly hip-hop. Representing Rhymesayers’ western contingent, Evidence will be supporting his highly anticipated Rhymesayers debut Cats & Dogs dropping on September 27th!

Evidence‘s new album Cats & Dogs drops September 27th! More info
Buy the new album from Atmosphere - The Family Sign : Fifth Element | iTunes | Amazon | Best Buy | Hot Topic
Buy Blueprint‘s new album Adventures In Counter-Culture : Fifth Element | iTunes | Amazon | Best Buy | Hot Topic

Atmosphere: Facebook | Twitter | Myspace | Ping
Blueprint: Printmatic.net | Twitter | Facebook | Myspace | Ping
Evidence: Twitter | Facebook | Myspace | Ping
Rhymesayers: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Flickr | Myspace | Soundcloud

word is blog

Several years ago I used to live in Cincinnati, OH. At the time I was working as a computer programmer and was just starting to get my feet wet in the local hip-hop scene.  There were some one-of-a-kind characters in the hip-hop scene then, and while most of them never made it out of the Cincinnati hip-hop scene, they contributed in a big way to what made the scene special at that time.  There was a weekly hip-hop night at Topcats that was the spot that pretty much the entire scene congregated to back then, and battling was how you earned your stripes and respect, so I was there pretty much every Wednesday night.  I didn’t battle as often as other cats but I definitely did my part to hold it down.

Well, one of the cats that was the most popular was a cat named Unseen.  Unseen was from Dayton but moved to Cincy right around the time i moved there and was a part of the crew that hosted the night, the Animal Crackers.  He would host the battles and battle pretty frequently, especially when new heads would come there from out of town and think they could run thru everybody; it was customary for one of the regulars to show them what time it was.  At any rate, Unseen was a great host and a pretty dope rapper that pretty much everybody loved.  He was a sweetheart that as far as I could tell was probably incapable of having enemies.

Unfortunately, Unseen was a troubled kid.  His problems with drugs and depression were well known among those that knew him, but he always seemed to manage it and keep his head up.  There would be periods where you saw him all the time for several months, and then he would kind of disappear for a couple months.  But he was such an honest and good-hearted dude that you would always be happy to see him again.

Well, in 2006 while I was on the road I got word that in Unseen had died.  I remember it feeling kind of fake, like most deaths do when you first hear them, particularly because dude had disappeared many times but always managed to come back.  Then after you accepted he was gone, I think most people assumed it was from drug related overdose.  At least I thought as much.  Then I remember talking to a mutual friend on the phone and they told me that Unseen hadn’t died of an overdose, he had actually committed suicide.

It kind of blew my mind at first but then I remember saying something like “damn well, i guess if he wasn’t happy here, that’s his choice i guess.” My friend, on the other hand, wasn’t as forgiving about it and said “no fuck that. i’m pissed. he’s a coward for that. he’s got a kid”

It kind of fucked me up then.

See, back then my perspective on suicide was way different.  I felt like if somebody wanted to end a life that they consider to be not worth living then that’s their right, and who am I to stop them?  I felt like it was silly how people saved people from Jumping off bridges and buildings, and that in many instances the people doing the saving are doing it more for their self-interest and need to become a hero than the interest of the person being saved.  This was the first time that my philosphy was challenged and it kind of fucked me up, because for the first time I had to admit that there’s a real downside to giving up on yourself that’s often overlooked, and maybe my view was shortsighted.

Once I took a step back and admitted that Unseen’s suicide wasn’t just about him, i then had to admit that while committing suicide seems like an act that only hurts the person doing it, the damage is just as bad if not worse to those left behind, with nothing but unanswered questions and pain in their hearts.  In this case, a daughter without a father, but it’s different for every case.

The problem is that while you may give up on yourself, the people around you haven’t, and because they haven’t given up on you, they will automatically be brought along to the depths of your depression and self-destruction.

I remember thinking this in 2006 but kind of putting it to the back of my mind, as I hadn’t really encountered anything like it until recently.

One of the scariest thoughts when I was drinking and driving home drunk, wasn’t the thought of getting caught for a DUI or going to jail.  At the time i had assessed the risk, and was ok with the consequences.  The scariest thought for me was having to tell my mother about it, and have her throw herself at the situation to fix it, even if i didn’t want any help or felt like I didn’t need any help.  That was the scariest thought, because at that point it’s beyond your control.  You may have given up, but your loved ones haven’t.

The whole thing made me realize that giving up on yourself isn’t just about giving up on your dreams, ambitions, and your potential to do something great with your life; it’s really about shitting on the love and investment that others have made into those dreams and ambitions, and in that way it seems to be way more selfish that I originally thought.

That situation was far from my last reminder of this reality.  This past spring my older brother suffered a stroke, and has been living with me the past couple months.  I try not to speak about it too much because as anybody who has a sick or disabled loved one in their family knows, it’s a very trying situation that requires sacrifice on everybody’s part.  To that effect, me and my family are still knee-deep in picking up the pieces.  But I only mention this up to bring up a conversation that me and my brother had shortly after he suffered the stroke in which he said something to the effect of “i was doing fine on my own” and my reply was “No you weren’t. if you were then I wouldn’t be here right now. you need to understand that whether you choose it or not, we’re a part of this now because we’re your family and we’re who the hospital calls when this happens”

My brother later admitted to neglecting his health and medicine because he was depressed about other things going on in his life.  I don’t know if he had given up or not, but by his own admission he certainly hadn’t done the things he was supposed to do about his health–things that fall under the umbrella of “giving a fuck”.   When he admitted this to me, the first thing I thought about was Unseen, and his child that will never see her father again.  How they had both given up at some point, even if it was just a momentary weakness, and failed to understand that just because you’ve given up on yourself–others around you haven’t, and you can’t make your loved ones let go of you just because you’ve let go of you.

It’s the price of admission for the love we receive.

And truthfully, that’s how it should be.  Think of the heights we soar when the winds of our family and friends is beneath our wings.  Think about how much we can accomplish when we know people expect excellence from us.  Think about how just knowing somebody cares about them is enough to give a sick person a reason to fight for their life.  It’s amazing, and should never be taken lightly.

Just something to think about the next time you’re thinking about giving up.  I know I will.

Thank you for letting me share.

Word is blog

(NOTE: I have since learned from talking to Unseen’s mother that he in fact does not have a child.  my apologies for the confusion.  I was told this by a person that was a good friend of his and assumed it to be true.  I did not mean to be disrespectful about Unseen or hurt his loved ones.)

http://youtu.be/zbtAqLjdOVk

Adventures in Counter-Culture is out NOW!

CD + Poster: $12 Add to Cart
Limited Vinyl (picture disc) + Poster: $30 Add to Cart
Digital Version: I-Tunes

===

Alright folks.  Today is the day.  My new album is in stores right now.  You can get it from itunes, pretty much any mom & pop store, on-line at fifthelementonline.com as well as chains like Best Buy.  I’m gonna spare you the sales pitch and just say that I’ve put a lot of time into it so obviously it would be great it you picked it up.  I’m going to be flying back to Columbus to do an in-store at Magnolia Thunderpussy at 7pm today, so I’m not going to be online a much until later, but feel free to hit this post up and let me know what you think of it if you’ve got it already.

Pre-order Adventures In Counter-Culture now from Fifth Element Online! You can still pre-order today and get the bonus materials! Every pre-order will receive a bonus Weightless Radio CD for FREE, a 27 track instrumental album of previously unreleased beats produced by Blueprint and only available at Fifth Element. The vinyl features a custom limited and numbered double LP picture disc in a full color printed jacket. It also includes an 8 page booklet with lyrics, liner notes, and digital download card. You don’t want to miss out on this exclusive deal, only from Fifth Element!

Pre-Order today: Fifth Element (with exclusive bonus instrumental disc) | iTunes |  Amazon

Here’s the information on the inst0re today:

+04.05.11+
Magnolia Thunderpussy
1155 N. High St.
Columbus, OH
All Ages
Free!
Starts at 7pm
RSVP on Facebook

Blueprint: Printmatic.net | Twitter | Facebook | Myspace
Rhymesayers: Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | Myspace | Soundcloud

1.25.11 Blueprint drops “Keep Bouncing” single and video, and album pre-order information!

Here’s the second single off of Adventures In Counter-Culture! Watch the video below, buy the song!

Shot, edited, & directed by Optical Alchemists

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bnR6qEPVDE

Buy “Keep Bouncing” now! iTunes: Explicit | Clean | Instrumental or from Amazon