WERS 88.9 fm - Album Review: Blaq Poet - The Blaqprint

 September 1^st, 2009

            Every once in a while, there comes an MC that isn't always lyrically magnificent, but has the character, voice, and flow that will straight up blow you away. Blaq Poet is one of those MC's. He has the in your face, gangsta, I'll break your neck attitude of Big L, mixed with the rough charisma of Notorious BIG. While he isn't quite at either of their level, the man delivers an exceptionally good hip-hop album.

            The highlight of The Blaqprint, almost more than Blaq Poet himself, is DJ Premier's production. Throughout this album, tracks like "I Getitin," and "S.O.S," give Poet a backdrop of re-sampled, re-arranged horns and tremendous basslines that Premier makes all his own.

            When Poet speaks, he's one of those guys where you can tell he means it. If he says he's going to break your face, chances are if you dissed him right after he recorded that line, he will actually do it. The album is full of the average, street life oriented content, but thankfully, this is one of those kinds of albums where that is executed in the right way. It isn't quite your Lloyd Banks album, but rather something you can tell is more true to life from the second you throw on the first track.

            That doesn't mean Blaq Poet can't rhyme, though. One thing the listener will notice very quickly is that he's really good with concepts. Probably the most profound statement on the album is "Voices," a track that finds large amounts of weed and alcohol convincing Poet that dead rappers are talking to him. Some of the responses from the dead MC's are humorous, not to mention down to earth and things most hip-hop fans would agree with. When he speaks Biggie's part, he says "Y'all need to try harder / and F.Y.I, I'm pissed at Sean Carter." On tracks like "S.O.S," not only does he set the track up for a double meaning of that acronym (you have to listen to get it), but he also has his own story about how he is trapped in his house, police waiting outside his door, waiting to arrest him under a warrant. He's not as lyrically out there as Eminem, per say, but he has his own kind of cleverness built into every track in some way.

            The only flaw of this album are the two beats not done by Premier. Not to say they're bad, but these tracks just ruin the overall flow of the album. The first pressing of the album comes with a bonus instrumental CD, and let's face it, you don't want it for those 2 instrumentals. Overall, The Blaqprint is a very solid listen. Premier's beats alone, not to mention some of Poet's concepts, assure you will be blasting this album for quite some time.

-Ben Appell