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 they think rap music sales are in a slump and their solutions for how to fix it.  Hit the link to watch Super Duty Tough Work episode 320, Why Rap Sales Are Down…

As lifetime artists, we know that there are a lot of unfair and unrealistic expectations that unnecessarily add pressure to the creative process. In this week’s episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down what these unrealistic expectations are and why it’s ok if you don’t participate in them.  Hit the link to watch episode 319 of the Super Duty Tough Work podcast, A Message to Artists:

The popularity of music streaming services has created a situation where the average music listener can consume as much music as they want without paying anything for it.  As a result, sales of physical music aren’t what they used to be.  However, despite the abundance of free music, fans still buy music.  In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down why fans still buy music even though they don’t have to anymore.  Hit the link…

A few weeks ago, the internet was buzzing about two new challengers to twitter, Threads and Spill.  And while there were millions of people who signed up for the new apps, there were others who stayed where they were at because it just felt like too much.  It begs the question: are there too many social media platforms for artists to maintain nowadays? We dive deep into that exact question in this week’s episode.  Hit…

Although conversations about what artists need to do to be successful happen all the time, very rarely do they speak about the role that money (or the lack thereof) plays in an artists career.  This creates a situation where talking about money has largely become taboo, but we think it’s more important than ever to be honest about it.  In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down ten things artists consistently get wrong about money…

Over the last year, we’ve discussed Blueprint’s decision to get a driving job due to the fallout from covid shutting down the music industry, but things took a big turn this week when he announced that he had purchased his own semi-truck. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic discuss everything that went into his decision to purchase his own truck and become an owner-operator. And how that decision will ultimately give him more freedom to…

A recent survey found that 75% of artists lose money on their music releases. And while those numbers are pretty discouraging, you don’t have to be among the majority that lose money this way. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down eight strategies that will help you stop losing money on your releases.  Hit the link to watch/listen to Super Duty Tough Work episode 314, WHY MOST ALBUMS LOSE MONEY:

With this season’s NBA playoffs being more wild and unpredictable than ever, there has been a lot of action but more importantly, a lot of lessons.  In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic, break down five big lessons that artists could learn from the NBA playoffs.  Hit the link to watch episode 313 of Super Duty Tough Work, “What Artists Can Learn From The NBA Playoffs”:

The long-awaited results show for Blueprint and Illogic’s latest fitness challenge. Did they reach their goals? Tune in and find out.  Hit the link to watch/listen to episode 312 of the Super Duty Tough Work podcast, “The Fitness Results Show” out now:

For the last six months we’ve been bombarded with stories about the positive impact AI can have on our lives, with very little conversations about the downsides of it.  Things have changed a bit over the last few weeks as stories started to surface about the music and film industry’s fight against the rapid adoption of AI.  This week, Blueprint and Illogic break down three stories about different segments of the entertainment industry whose fight…

On your journey to be the best version of yourself, there comes a time when it seems like the more money you make, the less healthy you are.  This is what we like to call The Money Health Paradox.  In this week’s episode, Blueprint and Illogic break down why it’s so hard to have money and be healthy at the exact same time.  Hit the link to watch/listen to episode 310 of Super Duty Tough…

As artists who have been releasing music for over 20 years, Blueprint and Illogic are used to going against the grain.  In this episode, they take going against the grain further than ever by listing their most unpopular opinions about music production.   If you’ve ever made beats, there is a lot to laugh at and get pissed off about in this episode.  Hit the link to watch/listen to Super Duty Tough Work episode 309, Unpopular…

A recently published study has determined that it’s incredibly difficult for people to learn about new music as they get older, a grim diagnosis for music lovers. In this episode of Super Duty Tough Work, Blueprint and Illogic break down the results of the study and what you can do to ensure you remain as passionate about music in your later years as you were when you were younger.  Hit the link to watch/listen to…

An article recently surfaced that spoke about the impact that the emerging Artificial Intelligence tools are having on sampling, revealing how Google’s AI engine has been used to correctly identify sample sources.  And while this may not have an immediate impact on sampling producers, there may be a time when getting away with uncleared sampling becomes much more difficult. In this episode, we break down the article and give suggestions on how to approach sampling…

With the recent passing of Dave (aka Trugoy) and the streaming release of De La Soul’s catalog to streaming services, the group’s name has been abuzz for the several weeks. Since music fans are finally able to listen to their catalog again, we thought it would be a great time to discuss what makes De La Soul so great. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic breakdown the traits that made De La Soul a generational…

As more and more artists contemplate becoming full-time artists, they realize that it may difficult to pursue their craft fully and have a real professional career. However, there are many jobs that lend themselves to artists who are trying to make decent money but not have their jobs run their lives. In this episode, Blueprint and Illogic discuss ten jobs they think are ideal for people who are trying to pursue their artistic dreams.  Hit…