Many artists find the music industry to be one of the most annoying places to work due to the way people inside of it conduct business. While many of their complaints are valid, some of these problems are created because they don't know how the music industry works. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down the unspoken rules that have to be understood if you want to have any success in the music industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jul 07, 2025•58 min•Ep. 355
In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down their history and experience with DJing and how much their time behind the turntables has helped them become better artists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 23, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 354
The music streaming platform Spotify has become a very polarizing entity in the music industry, with music fans loving it and many artists complaining about the unfair financial deal. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down why Spotify is the best and worst thing to ever happen to music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 09, 2025•1 hr 8 min
After realizing that they have both fallen off their fitness routines, Blueprint and Illogic decide it's time to get back in shape. In this episode, they issue their annual 90-Days of Discipline challenge and invite their listeners to participate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 02, 2025•53 min
Most people who have attended concerts in the last couple of years have noticed that the prices have increased. In this episode, we break down a study by Berklee Music Business Journal that breaks down exactly why ticket prices have increased so much and the answers may surprise you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 12, 2025•51 min
Last week an djbooth.com posted an interview with hip-hop group Little Brother where rapper Big Pooh had a lot of negative things to say about the current state of touring. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down their issues and debate whether they're legitimate or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 21, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 350
One of the toughest traits to cultivate in life is grit, which according to author Angela Duckworth is the combination of passion and perseverance. As artists who have been releasing music for over twenty years, Blueprint and Illogic break down how having enough grit to stay in the game helped them with their recent endeavors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 14, 2025•55 min•Ep. 349
A recent study that was released that examined the suicide rates among all professions, and found that people working in the music industry had some of the highest rates. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down the report and take a deep dive into the issue of mental health in the music industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 24, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 348
This week we sit down with long-time friend of the show and dope MC, Brother Ali. In this week's episode, Blueprint and Brother Ali have an open honest conversation about Brother Ali's decision to depart from Rhymesayers and how he went about building his team to help him release his own music and the hard lessons he's learned along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 17, 2025•2 hr 34 min•Ep. 347
One of the most important relationships an artist has is with their producer, yet the current trend in the music industry is to always work with multiple producers on a project. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down why it's so important for an artist to have a produce they can trust in their corner and how to build and maintain that trust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 17, 2025•55 min•Ep. 346
Is it ever too late to pursue a career in the arts? In this week's episode, Blueprint interviews his friend, former rhyme partner, and illustrator Southside Frank what it was like being in art school at 40 years old. The two friends and collaborators break down what went into his decision, how his life has changed since graduating, and his advice for anyone else thinking about doing it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Feb 03, 2025•49 min•Ep. 345
When people hear hit songs like "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar, they don't really think about what went on behind-the-scenes to make it happen. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down an interview with the songs producer, DJ Mustard, where he reveals how being consistent with his output and humble in his approach were the keys to getting the opportunity that changed his career trajectory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jan 20, 2025•43 min•Ep. 344
Many artists complain about not getting the opportunities they think they deserve, but don't understand the role that public perception plays in this or how to change it. Simply put, the people around them don't see them as they see themselves. In this episode, we do a case study on bay area rapper LaRussel and break how he was able to change how people view him and create opportunities for himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jan 13, 2025•55 min•Ep. 343
Instead of doing our normal New Years episode where we look forward, we decided to pause for a second and talk about the goals we accomplished in 2024. We also play calls from listeners about their biggest wins of 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 30, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 342
Blueprint returns to the United States after his month long excursion to Southeast Asia to talk about his adventures and answer fan questions about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 16, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 341
With Blueprint's Southeast Asia tour in full-swing, we figured it would be a good time to discuss how the tour came together and how he was able to tour in a place most artists rarely go. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 18, 2024•27 min•Ep. 341
Although make money from your art is one of the best feelings in the world, along the way you will realize that you have probably missed out on just as much as you have made for various reasons. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down the top reasons artists miss out money and give the solutions for each. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 04, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 339
As artists, coming up with great ideas is fairly common. But why is it that so few of the ideas we come up with get executed? In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down why so many great creative ideas never come to fruition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 21, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 338
While have a twenty year career in the music industry is a blessing, it's not without its drawbacks. One of those is the constant changing of technology and how that impacts your ability to store and archive your oldest material. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down the challenges of keeping their catalog intact and give advice for artists who may want to avoid some of the problems they're dealing with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Sep 23, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 337
In this week's episode, Blueprint and Illogic review brand new albums from Shrapknel, Common & Pete Rock, Slum Village, and Ghostface Killah. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 12, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 336
While many artists tell themselves that being involved in art after the age of 40 doesn't make sense because believe they can never make a living from it, there are many studies suggesting that it is actually worth it whether you make money or not. In this episode, we discuss the physical, mental, and social benefits of being involved in art as you get older. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 29, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 335
Earlier this month, Redman and Method Man made news by saying this would be their last time playing the Hot 97 Summer fest because they felt the generation gap was too wide. While some younger fans were offended by their comments, other older hip-hop fans understood what they meant. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down what went wrong and why it's little more complicated than it seems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jul 01, 2024•44 min•Ep. 334
After finishing his first tour in six years, The Falling Down tour, Blueprint returns to the podcast to reflect on how touring has changed and to share some of his biggest lessons from getting back on the road. Hit the link to watch/listen to episode 333, The Biggest Lessons from the Falling Down Tour: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 17, 2024•54 min•Ep. 333
Last week, Spotify's CEO landed himself in hot water for saying that the cost of creating content is "close to zero." In response, many artists and creatives, called him out on it. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down some of the real costs of creating content that nobody speaks about and why it's nowhere near close to zero. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 10, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 332
Once you reach a certain number of releases in your catalog, people tend to judge you by those projects and how successful they were. But most artists know that they had several projects that they never released because they were too scared to share them. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down three projects that they never released due to fear but wish they would have. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Apr 08, 2024•59 min•Ep. 331
Since we speak about the pros and cons of making sample-based music on this show quite often, it's only right that we invite a producer on the show who has been on both sides. Aside for producing tracks for Conway, Murs, Ras Kass, and Brother Ali, Texas producer Rob Viktum is a composer and sound designer who makes samples that are used by other producers. In this episode, we speak to him about his start in music and his journey into being sampled by other artists. Learn more about your ad choic...
Mar 18, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 330
Once upon a time, you couldn't go to any live event without seeing flyers all over the place. But nowadays the majority of people rely exclusively on online promotion like facebook events. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down how this change has created a huge opportunity for artists who want to employ this strategy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 26, 2024•46 min•Ep. 329
Everybody can talk about success, but not many can talk about dealing with failure. This week Blueprint discusses the events that led him to shut down his trucking company to focus on music again and how he's been dealing with the feeling of failure associated with not achieving his end goal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 12, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 328
The long-awaited return of album reviews by the Super Duty Tough Work crew. In this episode, they review recent albums from Dibiase & Raz Fresco, Planet Asia & Midaz the Beast, Blockhead, and Larry June & The Alchemist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 29, 2024•52 min•Ep. 327
Over the last couple of months, Hip-hop fans have been talking about how the brand new documentary about hip-hop group Little Brother, "May the Lord Watch." The documentary tells the story of Little Brother and goes deep into what broke the group up and what brought them back together. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic review the film and break down six big lessons that every artist should take away from it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jan 15, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 326
