RapStation

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Albert Shepard adopted his stage name, Blueprint, in 1996. "I wanted a name that implied that was I was doing musically was paying tribute to the original rules and attributes of the art form, so to speak," he explains. "My style was created from hip-hop's blueprint. It was all good before Google search and until Jay Z named his album The Blueprint [laughs]. It's not a good name for Google search, but I still roll with it!" As one of half of Soul Position, along with producer RJD2, and the rap group Greenhouse with fellow emcee Illogic, Blueprint's career has been on the upswing since the early Scribble Jam days. He appeared on RJD2's 2002 seminal album, Deadringer and around the same time released his solo debut, The Weightroom.

Last week, DJ Shadow and G Jones revealed their brand new duo Nite School Kilk in an exclusive interview with Billboard. Now having introduced listeners to two original singles, "Posse" and "Nice Nightmares," the duo have released their debut guest mix and interview for Nest HQ. This is Shadow's first guest mix in years, and really showcases the direction of the sound of NSK: "Most of the tracks are way underground, but theres a couple of more recognizable names in there as well. There's so much great stuff out there, these are the glory days for beats. New languages are being invented on a daily basis." -DJ Shadow   Please visit http://nesthq.com/interview-mix-nite-school-klik/ to check out the mix and interview.   The NestHQ guest mix is a culmination of the meeting o

Brooklyn's own Ferris Wheel Jay has just released a high-tech, glossy new video for "Soho," the new single from his forthcoming EP, House Of Hearts. The video is directed by New York’s Bravo Media and features several of Jay's affiliates as he takes a leisurely stroll through the eclectic Soho streets. Emceeing is just one faction of Jay's passion for the entertainment industry. He is also one-third of the production team Trakformaz, who produced "Soho" and also the new French Montana single "Off The Rip," among others. Never one to limit himself, Jay has an ever-growing list of television credits on MTV, FOX 5 News, "Ridiculousness," "Silent Library," and is currently working with the Oxygen Network. Check out what Jay had to tell us about all of his recent ventures. Please visit

Less than a week following the release of Alchemist's 20 track, Israeli music inspired, instrumental LP, Israeli Salad, Brooklyn's own, Saga, is pleased to present his artistic interpretation of the legendary producer's offering, with Saga Ghanoush. Comprised of seven hand picked instrumentals taken from, Israeli Salad, Saga showcases his silver tongued lyricism over ALC's use of middle-eastern sampled source material. By keeping Israeli themed delicacies as the focal point of the artwork, originally designed by the Haifa-based graf artist, Unga, of the Broken Fingaz crew, Saga swaps the avocado for an eggplant, to represent the key ingredient found in Baba Ghanoush…or in this case, Saga Ghanoush. *Please note that this project is available for stream on

One thing you can't say about Evansville, Indiana-based emcee Cas One (real name Jacob Snider) is that he doesn't have a sense of humor. His wit is a major component of his personality. However, on his debut album,The Monster and the Wishing Well, much of that humor was absent and in its place a lot of pain. His upcoming album with longtime friend and electronic artist Figure reveals the more comical side of Cas One. And don't think for a second this guy doesn't have any credentials. Even if you haven't heard of him, you've undoubtedly heard of some of the people he's worked with. From the late Eyedea and Fake Four's Ceschi Ramos to Sadistik and Kristoff Krane, he's been around for a minute. Here Cas One talks new music, life goals and his early fears of being murdered for his ta

Producer Gensu Dean has been quiet for a minute after Abrasions his collaborative album with Planet Asia and then his production work for 7evenThirty on The Problem. As summer starts he wanted to let his fans know where he's been musically by offering up an all new instrumental album for free. The 25 track record is meant to be a warm up to the new material Dean has coming late in 2015 and early in 2016. For those new to Gensu Dean, the analog producer has worked with some of the industry's greats including Large Professor, David Banner, Planet Asia, Brand Nubian and more. He gets the nod of approval on "Algorhythms" introduction from the legendary Diamond D (of D.I.T.C.), DJ Joc Max, and DJ Spinna. Please visit https://gensudean360.bandcamp.com/album/algorhythms t