Blueprint Respect The Architect
Albert Shepard AKA Blueprint has been off the radar for a while, but the Columbus-based rapper and frequent RJD2 collaborator is back on the scanner with a new LP. Respect the Architect is due to drop on April 22nd on Weightless Recordings and Okayplayer is very happy to bring you the exclusive premiere of the disc's first music video. "Respect The Architect," the title track and lead single off the LP is equal parts brooding and bombast and the visuals are a perfect fit. In the clip Blueprint plays a stealthy mugger whose weapon of choice is an MPC. Knocking out unlucky cratediggers with an Akai to the dome, the rapper prowls streets and dark alleys chasing down records for his own studio lab. Blueprint's audio production is on-point on the new cut--soaring strings collide with extra dry trip-hop drums to keep things spooky and cinematic and the hook's big horn hits give it all a crime caper vibe.
Blueprint's entire career has been a kind of left-of-center quest outside of rap's mainstream (the Weightless artist is a Rhymesayers alum), but Respect The Architect will give fans a much more classic flavor. The past work of RZA, Public Enemy, and Gang Starr all set the tone for the new disc, which is one of hip-hop's sly students paying homage to the old greats. The lyricism of "Respect The Architect" though is classic Blueprint. One verse has the MC waxing poetic about his own place in the hip-hop hierarchy:
You can find many rappers more complicated / but not many if any higher nominated / I'm at the top waitin, my album top rated / the brightest rap stars not in my constellation
After Respect The Architect drops next month Blueprint will take off on a massive tour that will hit over fifty cities with support from Count Bass D and DJ Rare Groove. Scope tour flyer and full dates below:
Saturday April 26th - Columbus, OH @ Double Happiness
Thursday May 1st - Evansville, IN @ PG
Friday May 2nd - Huntington, WV @ V Club
Saturday May 3rd - Asheville, NC @ Timo’s House
Sunday May 4th - Raleigh @ Deep South
Monday May 5th - Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
Tuesday May 6th - Nashville, TN @ Exit In
Wednesday May 7th - Atlanta, GA @ 529
Friday May 9th - Jacksonville, FL @ Burro Bar
Saturday May 10th – Miami Springs, FL @ The Catalyst
Sunday May 11th - Tampa/Dunedin, FL @ The Dunedin Brewery
Monday May 12th - St. Augustine, FL @ Shanghai Knobby’s
Wednesday May 14th - Winter Haven, FL @ Jesse’s Lounge
Thursday May 15th - Lake Worth, FL @ The Speak Easy
Friday May 16th - Orlando, FL @ The Peacock Room
Saturday, May 17th - Fort Myers Beach, FL @ Nervous Nellie’s
Tuesday May 20th - Fort Worth, TX @ Lola’s
Thursday May 22nd - San Antonio, TX @ Fitzgeralds
Friday May 23rd - Austin, TX @ Holy Mountain
Sunday May 25th - Sante Fe, NM @ Warehouse 21
Monday May 26th - Denver, CO @ The Roxy
Tuesday May 27th - Fort Collins, CO @ Hodi’s Half Note
Thursday May 29th - Flagstaff, AZ @ Flagstaff Brewing Company
Friday May 30th - Salt Lake City @ Bar Deluxe
Saturday May 31st - Ketchum, ID @ Whiskey Jacques
Tuesday June 3rd - Las Vegas, NV @ Beauty Bar
Weds June 4th - Fullerton, CA @ Slidebar
Thursday June 5th - Santa Cruz @ Moes
Friday June 6th - San Francisco, CA @ Milk Bar
Saturday June 7th - Berkeley, CA @ 924 Gilman
Weds June 11th - Eugene, OR @ Luckey’s
Thursday June 12th - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
Friday June 13th - Juneau, AK @ Rockwell
Saturday June 14th - Sitka, AK @ Bayview Pub
Sunday June 15th - Seattle, WA @ The Nectar Lounge
Tuesday June 17th - Whitefish, MT @ Crush Lounge
Wednesday June 18th - Missoula, MT @ Stage 112
Thursday June 19th - Great Falls, MT @ Machinery Row
Friday June 20th - Bozeman, MT @ Zebra Cocktail
Saturday June 21st - Minot, ND @ Souris River Brewery
Sunday June 22nd - Fargo, ND @ The Nestor
Tuesday June 24th - Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
Wednesday June 25th - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Thursday June 26th - Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
