Listen Now

Whether we like it or not, classic movies like Good Fellas and Scarface have had a heavy impact on hip-hop culture. So much so that dozens of artists have borrowed their names, look, and slang from the drug dealing street characters in these movies. Unfortunately, most artists have ignored some of the most important aspects of these characters. In this episode, we break down ten things that artists can learn from drug dealers that will make them more successful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the podcast we are joined by hip-hop artist and toy designer, Rocom. He and Blueprint sit down to talk about his journey from doing graphic design to designing his own toy line Rocom Toys that has seen massive support. He also breaks down the keys to launching several successful kickstarter campaigns where he far exceeded his goals. His story truly illustrates that anything is possible when you set your mind to it. Lots of jewels in this one folks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As artists we often tell ourselves that the solution to our problems is money. And while money would definitely help us reach many of our goals faster, viewing things that way causes us to overlook the simple and cheap things that are right under our noses and can help us perform our jobs better. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down 10 cheap things that every artist needs to have. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the more common questions we get from our listeners is about dealing with the press. Whether it's how to get the press to cover their release, or how to prepare their releases for coverage, there isn't a lot of clear cut information. In this episode, we invite hip-hop journalist, publicist, and label manager Big Sto onto the podcast to help clarify what artists should be doing to get the press to cover them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While we may speak often on this show about achieving goals and pushing forward, we rarely speak about what happens after you achieve those goals. Most people relax and get comfortable. In fact, the more success you have, the more opportunities you will have to get comfortable, which works against your future success. In this episode, we break down the unspoken downside of success and how you can make sure you don't get too comfortable after you've reached your goals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hip-hop community was dealt a big blow with the passing of iconic rapper MF DOOM last week. And while MF DOOM was one of the dopest rappers and lyricists of his era, there was a lot more that went into his success than his talent. In fact, his marketing was one of the biggest factors in his success. In this episode of the most infamous podcast on planet earth, Blueprint and Illogic break down the genius marketing behind the amazing career of MF DOOM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you've been paying attention to the show, then you know we started another 90 Days of Discipline Challenge to ourselves in October. We also invited our listeners to join in on this challenge, where we choose a goal and focus on it for 90 days to see how far along we can get. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic play the calls from our listeners who participated as well as go over our results. Happy New Year to all of our listeners! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While we often speak about the need to be as ambitious as possible when it comes to achieving your goals, we've rarely spoken about what happens after you do. One unfortunate thing that can happen is feeling burnt out and that is where we find ourselves this week as we push into the final few weeks of our 90-Days of Discipline Challenge. In this episode, we break down how easy it is to feel artistically burned out after you achieve a goal and what to do when you feel that way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there's one thing that this year has shown us, it's that the future is uncertain and unpredictable. Along with that unpredictable nature comes a lot of ups and downs. Good situations and bad situations. But how we view to those bad situations plays a big part in how we handle them. In this episode of the most infamous podcast on planet earth, Blueprint and Illogic breakdown how certain bad situations can actually be good for your art. Let's go! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of our most popular episodes in the last two years was one titled "Dating Uncreative People." In that episode, we laid out all the challenges that creative people face when dating people who aren't involved in the creative arts. This time around we're speaking about what it's like to date ambitious people, why it's so different from dating regular people, and how to make it work! If you're a super-ambitious person you might want to play this one for your significant other! Let's go! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although we've had legendary underground MC Mr. Lif appear on the show before during our real estate episode, we haven't had a chance to chop it up with him about music. That changes this week, when Blueprint and Mr Lif sit down to speak about his brand new collaborative album Vangarde with producer Stu Bangas. It's been a long time since we've done an interview so get ready because when two artists chop it up about the creative process it's guaranteed to get deep! Let's go!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For most artists, one of the things we look the most forward to is releasing our creations to the public. As a result, release day is right up there with birthdays and holidays for us. Unfortunately, the excitement of that day doesn't last forever. Eventually, the buzz that we had around our project starts to fade. And when it does the inevitable question becomes how do we keep the buzz going? In this episode of the most infamous podcast on planet earth, Blueprint and Illogic dive deep into why the buzz dies down and how to keep it. Let's go! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most difficult things artists struggle with is setting their price. Half the time we feel like we are charging too much and half the time we feel like we're not charging enough. In this episode of the most infamous podcast on planet earth, we break down six guidelines that should help you the next time you're trying to figure out what to charge for your product or service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While attention to detail is a positive trait for an artist to have, it isn't without it's drawbacks. One of the biggest being the constant need to chase perfection in everything we create. Many of us put incredible amounts of time and resources into creating full productions that we hope have a big impact. But other artists aren't so hung up on perfection, instead choosing to make content quickly that is timely but might not be the highest quality. In this episode we dive deep into both approaches to figure out what's the best way to stay productive and move forward with some balance in everything we do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One year ago, we challenged ourselves to lock in on our art and commit more heavily for 30 days. At the end of that challenge, which we invited our listeners to participate in, we reported back with our results and played voice messages from other people who participated in the challenge. It's been a year since then and we are now releasing the projects that we finished during that first challenge. So we decided to do it again. In this episode, we breakdown what our new 90-days of discipline goals are, what the obstacles are, and invite you to join us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a while since we've done album reviews, so we figured it was time to bring them back. In this episode we get back to it and talk about the new albums from Oddissee, Elzhi, Buckwild, and Conway the Machine. Let's go!!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As two independent hip-hop artists, the topic of investing in yourself frequently comes up on this podcast. And while we have spoken about how important it is, we have never gotten into the specific numbers. In this week's episode, we dive deep into the actual costs associated with producing and releasing an album independently, using Illogic's upcoming album Auto-Pilot as a case-study. If you've ever wondered what was behind the curtain, then this episode's for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Because we do speak about ownership quite often on this podcast, it is always refreshing to see the conversation happen on bigger platforms. This week that happened courtesy of some viral tweets by Kanye West, who took to twitter to voice his dissatisfaction with his recording contract. He posted his contract for all to see, pointing out that even though he is now a billionaire, there is no way for him to ever get ownership of his music due to the nature of his contract. As with most things, Kanye was a little over the top in his presentation, but the truth couldn't be ignored: record labels have deals in place that are highly in their favor and should be talked about. In this episode, we have a discussion about fame versus ownership, why Kanye is in the position he is in, and why an artists like the late Nipsey Hussle went the opposite route. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While we've done our fair share of criticizing Nas for his hit-or-miss albums, it always comes from a place of love because we know what he's capable of making some great music. With the release of his latest album King's Disease, Nas has once again got our attention, but this time for the right reasons. In one album, it appears that Nas has addressed all of our past criticisms and finally gotten it right. In this episode, we talk about the album and whether Nas finally got it right. Let's go! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While it's very common for hip-hop fans to debate about who the best rapper or producer are, it's very rare for them to restrict those debates to only the artists catalogs. In this episode, we decided to debate which artist has the better catalog--Pharaohe Monch or O.C.? But instead of making it a barbershop debate where there is no score and no winner, we break down the competition into four categories, assign points to each, and determine a winner at the end. As fans of both artists, this was one of the more fun episodes we've done in a while. Let's go!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices