Blueprint speaks with HipHopSite.Com’s DJ Pizzo, about his new album, Deleted Scenes. He also reveals plans for 2013, which include a new collaborative album with RJD2 as Soul Position, as well as his next solo album and new material from his Greenhouse Effect crew.

Stoli Music teams with Orgnl.TV to produce this unofficial Soul Position reunion, suggesting “The Good Life starts now”…. It also suggests we need another Soul Position LP, STAT!

     Blueprint doesn’t have to tap RJ as a producer, as 1988 proved he is fully capable of producing his own records, but Soul Position teams the two up once again, delivering the same excellent results found on their last project together. The album begins with the inspiring “No Gimmicks”, as RJ’s minimalist production builds to a climax, as Print delivers a “Stakes Is High”-like list of what this album isn’t, concluding with “just the best producer and the best emcee”. A bold claim, but Print and RJ almost make you believe it with the scary levels of consistency that run throughout this record (and their respective careers). 

      “Hand-Me-Downs” continues Print’s pro-hip-hop message, over chopped up horns and RJ’s trademark hard-hitting funk drums, where Print delivers poignant ups and downs of the industry, lamenting “no longer young, gifted, and black / just guns, bitches, and crack”. “The Extra Mile” is the kind of song that makes other rappers jealous, finding Print demonstrating his skill with a non-stop stream of consciousness freestyle over a ridiculous 4-bar soul loop, dug up by RJ.  “I’m Free” finds Print showing his lyrical prowess off again, building entire verses on different uses of the word “free”, exploring the various concepts of freedom. “The Cool Thing To Do” finds Blueprint giving his eight-year old niece words of wisdom over a ridiculous RJ discovery, yielding classic results, while “Drugs, Sex, Alcohol, Rock-N-Roll” warns of the harsh realities behind your favorite vices. The 70′s swagger of “Priceless” finds Print clowning his contemporary rap counterparts that parade rented vehicles and fake chains, as RJ’s beat is rich with change-ups and style. The autobiographical “Things Go Better” is perhaps the crown jewel of the record, breaking down the history of Soul Position, as both Blueprint and RJD2 bring some of their best work to the table. 

     Print isn’t always preaching, as he lightens up a bit for the truthful “Blame It On The Jager”, club-hopping and waking up next to women that “look like Dave Letterman”. The same can be said on “I Need My Minutes”, where Print warns friends not to call his mobile phone and run up his bill. Meanwhile, “Keep It Hot For Daddy” finds Print again in mack mode, looking for the perfect chick. These songs show the more lighthearted side of Print, and while they aren’t RJ’s best beats on the album, they help balance the record out.

      Soul Position show remarkable consistency with their third release, safely christening them as the heir apparent to Gang Starr - and this isn’t even their best material. It’s rare that we find a producer and emcee duo that has a track record this consistent, but together or separate, Things Go Better With RJ and Al.

        While the title of this LP suggests that this would be an LP of nothing but Slick Rick  inspired storytelling, Blueprint catches wreck in many different fashions, proving his versatility as an emcee. He kicks the door down with his own personal anthem “Printmatic”, where he introduces himself while simultaneously spitting funny battle raps at bitch made emcees such as “You write raps with feathers / in a school of hard knocks / you majored in mascara / with a minor in black leather / a nightclub swinger / tryin’ to get your sister act together,” as RJ’s rolling bassline and heavy horn stabs propel Print’s anthem to cinematic perfection. Blueprint further invites you to “Inhale” his flow on the third track over RJ’s mystifying organs and heavy Congo drums. But Print is most amusing when the elements of his personality seep into tracks like “Jerry Springer Episode”, where he humorously examines his relationship with his boo, who constantly does him wrong, or “Fuckajob”, where he interpolates KRS-ONE’s classic “Outta Here” hook into some humorous regular-guy-rap about the dismay of working a 9-to-5, and the fear of getting replaced by a computer. 

     On the serious tip, when RJ’s production gets deeper, so do Print’s rhymes, eliminating any chance of being labeled a one-trick pony. On “Look Of Pain” and “Survival”, Print examines the plight of inner-city youth (without sensationalizing it), as RJ packs hard hitting beats (peep that well-timed “C.R.E.A.M.” sample). Even better, RJ really gets loose on “Share This”, where he produces his ass off (“June” style), with an ever-evolving track that Blueprint grows with vocally (“One Mic” style), into a ridiculous classic horn section. The production gets even heavier on “Right Place, Wrong Time”, as Print weaves an ill-fated tale over moody production that is so dope in itself that it could stand alone as an instrumental somewhere on Dead Ringer. 

     There’s not really much to analyze or go on and on about with 8 Million Stories, except that this is a damn fine album, where RJD2 further defines himself as one of the greatest producers in hip-hop today, and Blueprint better defines his own character, as we get to know him a little better on this album, than we did on his crew effort, The Weightroom. What’s excellent about this album - and you realize it at about the third track in - is since the production is handled fully by one person, and the rhymes handled by one other, it has that tightly knit, classic hip-hop LP feeling that albums like Gang Starr’s Daily Operation or A Tribe Called Quest’s Low End Theory had. From the pulse-pounding piano intro to the “1 Love” outro, the chemistry between emcee and producer is felt incredibly throughout, from start to finish.

What separates this from RJD2′s Dead Ringer, obviously, is that this is a traditional hip-hop record, rather than pure instrumentals. But at just 6 tracks, it shows the diversity of RJ’s production skills and style, setting us up nicely for the EP. And not to let Blueprint get overshadowed, while he’s not Rakim (yet), he’s definitely a nice emcee, packing a humor, wit, insight, and enough deeply rooted soul to affirm his position.

“Unlimited” starts things off nicely, introducing us to the concept of The Soul Position, but the real meat of the EP is in the middle. “Mic Control” plays beautifully with RJ’s rolling pianos and lost & found vocal samples, while Blueprint gets condescending with rival emcees. With “Night To Remember”, the duo also pulls off a strong track “for everyone to dance to”, with a phat little loop that RJ builds off of with trademark beeps and a flavorful horn section, while Blueprint tells two entertaining stories, departing from the usual club drivel. “Take Your Time” is another well crafted joint, as Blueprint delivers battle-raps in the disguise of advice, over yet another wonderful RJ track, composed of a few layers of gorgeous, somber samples. And as a bonus, we get the solo instrumental “Oxford You Really Owe Me”.

Now here’s the clincher, while this EP deserves placement between other classic EP’s from Jurassic 5, Beatnuts, Siah & Yeshua Da Poed, Show & AG, and others, it’s only a snack before the main course. So if this EP is made up of the tracks that didn’t make the full-length, 8 Million Stories, just imagine what they’ve got in store for us. Like whoa. Do yourself a favor and grab this EP, even if you haven’t peeped these cats on anything else yet. Mark our words, 20 minutes later you’ll be asking for more.