Arguably hip-hop’s finest emcee/producer, Ohio’s Blueprint has never actually fully committed both his trades to a solo LP. He’s done double duty on the Greenhouse Effect EP and LP, produced and rhymed on his compilation, rhymed over Rj’s beats on an EP and LP and went strictly instrumental late last year. A homage to hip-hop’s greatest year, “1988” is very much what you’d expect from Blueprint’s solo LP; equal parts dope beats and dope rhymes. The beats slide seamlessly from retro-fit boom bap to brand new 2005 shit. Lyrically ‘Print touches all the bases; police brutality, pitfalls of the industry, the splitting of his crew, tramps, fat girls, skinny girls, biters and boombox’s. Surely to be one of 05’s most acclaimed. Fresh for 2005, you suckas…The mighty Living Legends crew has carved quite a name for themselves in the Bay Area and beyond. Yet the 8 man crew has always made better records on their own, or within the sub-groups (not to mention they have a collection catalogue of some 70 plus albums). “Classic,” while it may not be one, is their finest crew effort to date. From the funky Madlib produced opener “Blast Your Radio” through “Brand New,” “It’s Us Again,” “Busted,” “Never Fallin” and “Tears & Pain,” there is plenty of material to bump. The only pitfall is their continued failure to establish everyone as individuals in the group setting. Sure, that is what their solo albums are for, but the lack of distinction doesn’t help their cause here. Nevertheless, really good stuff…Windy City producer Copperpot is looking to position himself in the Chi’s flourishing scene. He gets the right idea using the like of Pacewon, Akbar, Edo G and Diverse. But his solid, yet unspectacular beats to little to ask for repeated listenings. The most notable item here has to be “Outwork” for his slick flipping of Mac’s legendary training theme in Mike Tyson’s Punchout. Somebody go get my powerglove…19 year old Connecticut DJ/producer Cyrus the Great is continuing Tony Touch’s proud legacy of the “50 Emcee’s” mixtape. Featuring the likes of Little Brother, Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, Apathy, Royce Da 5’9, Grafh, Jean Grae and Ali Vegas, “50 Emcees 2004” is required listening for most heads. Most of the beats for the freestyles are nothing to write home about, but if his stand out “Memorial Day” track with the Perceptionists is any indication, he is going to earn that moniker in a hurry.