Customer Reviews

Blaqprint

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

lets be for real here... blaq poet is an average mc but with premos fire on 92% of the album this is a street BANGER!! i mean premo has supplied pure fire on 13 of the 15 tracks on here! this is really hard i mean tough!! bp pulls off every song very well but i mean premo just blazes this cd. this cd is for the real hip hoppers not hip poppers! buy this people, support premo and his year round label!

Those of you who are fans of DJ Premier and/or Blaq Poet will not be disappointed when purchasing "The Blaqprint". Although many of the tracks here were released on mixtapes and previous LP's ("Hood Crazy", "Voices", "S.O.S.", etc) this is the first time they have been released in CD quality format. "Voices" in particular is a track I heard a couple years back, but it is extremely hard to find and I am glad Blaq Po decided to include it on the LP. Over a sinister Preemo-produced track, BLaq Poet summons the spirits and voices of old and dead MC's like Pac and Biggie to explain how they would perceive the rap game now. The intro track "I-Gettin" goes especially hard and is the perfect intro for the CD. DJ Premier supplies one of the hardest, toughest beats on the CD and Blaq Poet delivers with this classic hardcore lyrics. Poet's first single from the LP "Ain't Nuttin CHanged" meshes three samples together with a boom bap bass line typical of DJ Premier, and the results are phenomenal. Other standout tracks on the CD include "Hood Crazy" and the eulogy to Poet's former Screwball associate KL "Never Goodbye".
I first got into Blaq Poet because I was a huge fan of DJ Premier and they worked heavily together. However, Blaq Poet is an outstanding artist by himself, and he fills his second solo LP with the hardcore, grimey Queensbridge lyrics that he has become known for. Premier's ill beats defintley help the equation, which is clear when you hear the two non-produced Premier tracks ("U Phucc'd Up" and "Let The Guns Blow") and compare them to the rest of the LP. Overall, customers should def support this album because it brings to rap listeners some of that old school, back to basics hip hop that has been missing in the oversaturated market. PREEMO NEVER STOP MAKING BEATS!!!

Group Home's Livin' Proof is simultaneously notorious for its classic production and sub par lyricism. To be fair, Tha Blaqprint is far superior in both aspects, but still shares many of its similarities.

Production wise this is one of DJ Premier's finest full album efforts (sans 2 tracks). Opening with the slow pounding "I-Gittin" you know that he's on his "A" game. "Legendary Pt. 1" is one of my favorites: screeching guitars, thumping bass and the classic type Primo hook. From the chilling "Voices", the chopped "S.O.S", piano looped "Sichuwayshunz", or the pulsating "Rap Addiction" it has all the makings of a classic... just imagine what Jeru or Guru could do on the mic with this. At times I wonder if this should have been the next (or last) Gang Starr album. At best, the beats make Poet seem deceptively incredible at times... in fact they are so damn good they make Easy Mo Bee and Germcrates beats almost wack in comparison.

Certainly the supreme production also motivates Poet to bring it as well. Blaq Poet fares better than Lil Dap & Melachi Da Nutcracker; often showing moments of cleverness, building decent concepts, and overall basic simplistic rhyming. It's enough to keep things going, but not enough to really add a whole lot. Make no mistake, Poet has some decent talent and he manages to always flow well, he's just not that great. I never find myself wanting to rewind a track for his lyrics. Poet still servers a solid purpose: continuing to keep the album listenable and interesting. "Voices" is an interesting concept track where Poet hears the ghosts of Hip-Hop past (shades of his previous work "A Message from Poet"). The NY banger "Ain't Nuttin Changed" he sounds inspired by the killer Primo cut and ferociously blazes through street rhymes. My favorite performance of his comes on "Don't Give a Fu***" where he speeds up his flow and intensifies his delivery to match the menacing beat. While Primo clearly helped, he also at times further point out the gap between the two aspects of the record. Poet simply cannot live up to enormous potential available within the music.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoy the LP and I would highly recommend it for all DJ Premier fans. Poet holds enough of his own weight that he doesn't take away from anything. Die hards cannot afford to pass up on some of these classic cuts. However, it's no coincidence that the album is coupled with a full length disc of instrumentals. It just begs for a greater MC to get on and bless it. Maybe some of the legends will get inspired by what could have been a classic album on their resume. Primo proves here that he's still the best to ever do it on wax.
(6/10)

First of all if you haven't heard of Blaq Poet then you have some research to do. He is one of the illest rappers from Queensbridge. He has been around since the late part of the Bridge feud and has been torching the mic ever since. This album is his best though. Mostly DJ Premier beats and hardcore rhymes that are arguably some of the best out right now. Support real rap and buy this.

This is Hip Hop at it's finest, DJ Premier doing the production and Blaq Poet layin down the lyrics in RAW fashion that many of today rappers cannot begin to touch. The rawness start with the first track and get harder til the last track.Hands down this is the best "overall" rap cd of 2009,it's a shame its not getting more airplay...for that Listen to DJ.Premire show on Sirius(Fri.10pm-12:00am).

This is a dope album. Premier has an ability to make simple yet hard-hitting and incredible beats. Maybe he worked with guru for too long because his beats really deserve an mc like Blaq Poet.

Many may not know that Poet is a 18 year rap veteran and this is his 4th solo album (not to mention being part of 2 Screwball group albums). He dropped his first solo in 1991 under the name PHD (Poet & Hot Day, who produced the album), then didn't have another solo til 2006 (he was part of 2 Screwball albums from the early 2000's - one is a classic the other is worth 4.5 stars), then had a solo about 8 months ago, and follows that up with another hardcore street oriented solid 4.5 star album in "Tha Blaqprint", which is my favorie of his solo albums. With 15 songs on here, you get 1 classic, 2 almost classic, 3 ok songs, and the other 9 are good. Guests aren't too heavy, on 4 of the 15 songs. Production is nice as well, not surprising since DJ Premier did 13 of the 15 songs. the other 2 were handled by Easy Mo Bee and Gemcrtes. A nice album for fans of QB street rap to have in their collection.

#1 - 7.5
#2 - 7.5 (also on his "Rewind>> Deja Screw" album)
#3 - 9 (good beat)
#4 - 8.5
#5 - 8.5 (f/ NYGz & Nick Javas)
#6 - 8 (nice story)
#7 - 9.5 (tight beat)
#8 - 8.5 (f/ Noreaga -- good beat)
#9 - 9 (deeper song)
#10 - 8.5 (f/ NYGz & Imani Montana)
#11 - 7.5
#12 - 8.5
#13 - 8.5
#14 - 9.5 (f/ NYGz & Fizzy Womack of M.O.P -- tight beat)
#15 - 10 (Classic deeper song dedicated to fellow Screwball member KL)

William Bass -- QueensBridge, NY
Check all my reviews

Premier - you know the name, you know the game, you know the production, you know the skills; they have lost none - I mean none of their potency!!
PREMIER pushed me deeper into hip-hop when I was introduced to him & his style - I never looked back since!
Blaq Poet - since hearing him blow up on Trk 11 on the KRS album - Hip-Hop Lives (another excellent album!) I was blown away and that sent me on a deep hunt for this MC's material - I have not been disappointed!
This album is dope from beginning to end! Been bumping this since rls date til now - have NOT changed this CD in the car yet!
REAL HIP-HOP will always shine thru like the million dollar diamond that's hard to find!

This album is Banging, all but 2 tracks produced by the legendary DJ Premier, Blaq poet comes really hard on this, all the guest mc's come nice too, i would love for Jeru the damaja to do another whole album with preemo like he did on the classic 'Wrath of the Math' but doubt that will happen:-( anyway support real hiphop and buy this, cant wait for the next year round release 'NYG'z - Pros and cons fully produced by DJ Premier:-)

Since Guru seems to be on permanent Gang Starr hiatus, the other half of the legendary duo - Dj Premier - has no choice but to lace another dope MC with his hard, yet creative boom-bap beats. Blaq Poet is here! This album takes me back to 1994. A period in Hip Hop history that may have shined the brightest. From March to May of that year, I bought 'Hard To Earn', 'Illmatic', and 'The Sun Rises In The East'(...insane, huh???) And ALL of those albums had some of Dj Premier's greatest work! Well, it's 2009 now and to me, Premier still has the magic! The samples, the cuts, the drums...the classic Dj Premier sound is all the way here. Blaq Poet may not be as lyrical as Illmatic-era Nas, but he speaks the truth, and does so with true ghetto class & realness. Gotta respect that! So don't sleep! 1994 is dead, 2009 is here & so is dope Hip Hop music...forever...