Blueprint - The Weightroom

There's no question that Blueprint is one of the busiest MC's/Producers in the game right now. After dropping the dope Soul Position "Unlimited EP" last summer, Blueprint has come out with his solo joint, "The Weightroom." Although Blueprint could definitely hold down a full-length album by himself, he called on a lot of his friends to come through and bless tracks. He has the Greenhouse Effect rhyme on "The Proper Education," which is an ill combination of MC's. The Greenhouse Effect is composed of Blueprint, Inkwell, and Manifest. Adding to "The Proper Education" is the ill scratching complements of RJD2.
Blueprint produced the album, and his talent as a producer is evident throughout the album. "Time Management" is a nice track which is one of the only ones where Blueprint holds it down by himself. The ill piano and violin melodies make this one of the strongest instrumentals on the album, and of course Blueprint came through with the tight lyrics that makes this a good track.
I'm not feeling "Rags to Rugged," because of the hook, but "ICU" follows that track, which is probably the best track on the album. Vast Aire of Def Jux and Can Ox fame kills the track as Plead the Ph5th and Blueprint bless the track as well. Keeping rosters straight has become one of the most difficult tasks in professional sports, and now its getting that way in Hip Hop. For instance, the Greenhouse Effect is Blueprint, Inkwell, and Manifest, but the Iskabibbles is composed of the Greenhouse Effect with Illogic. The you have the Minor League, who rhyme on "That's What You Get," which is composed of Blueprint, Flip the Urban, and P.Dunbar. You can't forget Soul Position, which is Blueprint and RJD2. And then there's the Orphanage, which has Blueprint, Illogic, Slug, Aesop Rock, Eyedea. The Orphanage comes through on the track "Obsolete" which is a tight posse cut. One of the best beats is the instrumental for "Prison Workout" which features the unknown MC known as CJ the Cynic, who lives right by Blueprint.
The production on this album is very tight, and the lyrics are tight as well. What I really like about Blueprint on this album is how he brought along so many unknown MC's and got them exposure at the expense of his name. The loyalty he's showing unknown cats like CJ the Cynic is tight, because the unknowns of today will be the Vast Aire's and Aesop Rock's of tomorrow.

Tracklisting:
1. Intro
2. The Proper Education (Greenhouse Effect)
3. Time Management (Blueprint)
4. Paradise (the Iskabibbles)
5. Prison Workout (CJ the Cynic)
6. Lucky (Illogic)
7. Rags to Rugged (Bahdaddy Shabazz)
8. ICU (Vast Aire, Plead the Ph5th, and Blueprint)
9. Five Dollar Boy, Million Dollar Man (Bru Lei of Spitball)
10. That's What You Get (the Minor League)
11. Keep Movin (Blueprint)
12. Slave Songs (Drown, which is Plead the Ph5th and CJ the Cynic)
13. Obsolete (the Orphanage)
14. Before Freedom
15. Outro

By Brian Kayser