Super Duty Tough Work Podcast

Although make money from your art is one of the best feelings in the world, along the way you will realize that you have probably missed out on just as much as you have made for various reasons. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down the top reasons artists miss out money and give the solutions for each. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As artists, coming up with great ideas is fairly common. But why is it that so few of the ideas we come up with get executed? In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down why so many great creative ideas never come to fruition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While have a twenty year career in the music industry is a blessing, it's not without its drawbacks. One of those is the constant changing of technology and how that impacts your ability to store and archive your oldest material. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down the challenges of keeping their catalog intact and give advice for artists who may want to avoid some of the problems they're dealing with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's episode, Blueprint and Illogic review brand new albums from Shrapknel, Common & Pete Rock, Slum Village, and Ghostface Killah. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While many artists tell themselves that being involved in art after the age of 40 doesn't make sense because believe they can never make a living from it, there are many studies suggesting that it is actually worth it whether you make money or not. In this episode, we discuss the physical, mental, and social benefits of being involved in art as you get older. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, Redman and Method Man made news by saying this would be their last time playing the Hot 97 Summer fest because they felt the generation gap was too wide. While some younger fans were offended by their comments, other older hip-hop fans understood what they meant. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down what went wrong and why it's little more complicated than it seems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After finishing his first tour in six years, The Falling Down tour, Blueprint returns to the podcast to reflect on how touring has changed and to share some of his biggest lessons from getting back on the road. Hit the link to watch/listen to episode 333, The Biggest Lessons from the Falling Down Tour: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Spotify's CEO landed himself in hot water for saying that the cost of creating content is "close to zero." In response, many artists and creatives, called him out on it. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down some of the real costs of creating content that nobody speaks about and why it's nowhere near close to zero. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once you reach a certain number of releases in your catalog, people tend to judge you by those projects and how successful they were. But most artists know that they had several projects that they never released because they were too scared to share them. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down three projects that they never released due to fear but wish they would have. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since we speak about the pros and cons of making sample-based music on this show quite often, it's only right that we invite a producer on the show who has been on both sides. Aside for producing tracks for Conway, Murs, Ras Kass, and Brother Ali, Texas producer Rob Viktum is a composer and sound designer who makes samples that are used by other producers. In this episode, we speak to him about his start in music and his journey into being sampled by other artists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once upon a time, you couldn't go to any live event without seeing flyers all over the place. But nowadays the majority of people rely exclusively on online promotion like facebook events. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down how this change has created a huge opportunity for artists who want to employ this strategy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everybody can talk about success, but not many can talk about dealing with failure. This week Blueprint discusses the events that led him to shut down his trucking company to focus on music again and how he's been dealing with the feeling of failure associated with not achieving his end goal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The long-awaited return of album reviews by the Super Duty Tough Work crew. In this episode, they review recent albums from Dibiase & Raz Fresco, Planet Asia & Midaz the Beast, Blockhead, and Larry June & The Alchemist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last couple of months, Hip-hop fans have been talking about how the brand new documentary about hip-hop group Little Brother, "May the Lord Watch." The documentary tells the story of Little Brother and goes deep into what broke the group up and what brought them back together. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic review the film and break down six big lessons that every artist should take away from it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent story surfaced about a Japanese ambient musician who spent two years creating and uploading one album a day for two years straight. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic dive into why his approach worked and break down four lessons that any artist can apply. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the new year comes time to reflect on the previous year and make plans for the next. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down what they did wrong in 2023 and how they plan on fixing it in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although many people were happy to see the Grammys pay tribute to hip-hop turn 50 years old, not all artists were on the same page. Most notably, hip-hop pioneer and icon KRS-ONE was very public about why I turned down his invitation to participate in the tribute, sparking debates in hip-hop circles worldwide. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic debate whether or not KRS-ONE made the right decision to boycott the event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there is one factor that influences every facet of American life, it's inflation. Things that were once cheap become expensive and things that were already expensive become even more expensive. These increasing costs impact artists and force them to evaluate what they're charging for their art. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic dive deep into why so many artists struggle with raising their prices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Blueprint and Illogic both putting the finishing touches on their next set of albums to be released next year, they've been knee deep in the post-production process. This week, they talk about how they evaluate songs their on the fence about and the process the follow to fix a song that isn't quite working. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rapper Juicy J made news this week when he pointed out that sales of rap music have dropped 40% in the last year, calling for a meeting of the minds to fix it. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down why we think rap music sales are in a slump and our solutions for how to fix it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices