If you caught Blueprint’s underground 2005 solo debut, 1988, you’ve probably bumped along with him in his other Hip-Hop ventures in Soul Position (along with RJD2) and Greenhouse Effect (with Illogic) to see how innovative this plainspoken, freestyling cat can get. But six years later he returns with the totally self-produced Adventures in Counter-Culture, which shows off the Columbus native’s range by genre-dropping in techno, electropop, and synth-fueled poetry. Peep “Fly Away” for affirmation of the direction Print’s taking things.

This new album from Printnificent is destined to alienate as many listeners as it converts, but it’s Blueprint’s most daring and cohesive album to date and is well worth listening to many times over in great detail. Rather than rehashing the same old rap formulas that he used on his Rhymesayers debut 1988 or on his Soul Position albums with RJD2, Blueprint steps outside of his comfort zone and branches into a diverse palette of musical genres. Soulful electronic tunes are paired with pop rock radio anthems, which give ‘Print’s honest and powerful rap verses more room to breathe. This approach could have easily resulted in a disjointed mess of an album, but instead the songs feel wholly unified under Blueprint’s excellent '80s-inspired electronic production. Combine this with some of the best rap verses of Blueprint’s long and illustrious career (peep “The Clouds” or “Radio-Inactive”) and you’ve got one hell of a counter-cultural adventure on your hands. Heck, even the uses of auto-tune made me smile. - E. Lit, Berkeley

Delivering an adventurous push of sound and fury, the Columbus, OH native ain’t playin’. The album fuses Rock, Electronica, Soul, and Hip-Hop to form a colorful eargasm of social commentary and downright creative artistry. Even the CD and LP packaging gives the music a perfect visual representation of what you’ll find inside. Songs like "Go Hard or Go Home," "Automatic," and "My Culture" are great examples of this creativity. And songs like "Wanna Be Like You" and "The Rise & Fall" dress social and life commentary with a backdrop of inventive musical production. Like electric waves washing over parts of your brain. A solid album with moving compositions and intelligent lyrics, this has been one of my rotating favorites this year (especially after seeing his in-store performance at Amoeba Berkeley!). The vinyl is 2xLP picture discs with a CD booklet insert and a digital download code. They are currently on sale at Amoeba Berkeley. Go get it. Do it. Trust me. Or obey me. Either one. Highly Recommended. - Ramo, Berkeley

Mostly what I read about this record (double-LP picture disc, nice!) is regarding the retro-futuristic sound of the production. It's true this record sounds great; like it's from another planet way more advanced than ours that existed thousands of years ago. For me, it's the inspiring lyrics that make the record warrant the repeat listens. You get to follow Blueprint (it took him five years to make this record) while he hits new lows in his life and crawls his way out of them with new intensity, perspective and focus. I dig it. - Tom O., Berkeley

Also available on LP.