BLUEPRINT, AKA PRINTMATIC, AT GREEN DOOR STUDIO IN BURLINGTON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16:
I’d be lying if I said I listen to a lot of hip-hop. But the enthusiasm among the artists at Burlington’s Green Door Studio for last week’s 3rd Thursdays Hip-Hop night made me add the show to my calendar without question, even though I’d never heard of the headliner. The MC in question goes by Blueprint or Printmatic or his given name, Albert Andrew Shepard, and I’d be lying again if I said he didn’t blow me away. The Columbus, Ohio, rapper has been at it since the late ’90s and is still out there making music for the right reasons. His song “Dedicated” has been on a constant loop in my head since the show; the lyrics “I make art because it’s who I am” and “I know the worst day working for myself beats the best day working for somebody else” are essentially the ethos I live by. Blueprint made me proud to do what I do, and I walked away from the show feeling equally proud of our art and music community.
This article appears in The Tech Issue 2025.
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