Way back when, Greenhouse Effect was Inwell, Blueprint, and Manifest. These days, they are just Greenhouse, and it’s a collaboration between two of Columbus, Ohio’s finest, Blueprint and Illogic. Blueprint handles the production duties, and brings his usual fare of spaced out down tempo beats. Both Illogic and Blueprint share a similar delivery that is slightly slow but clear and strong that gives an extra emphasis to their lyrics.
The only glaring misstep on this EP is the use of auto-tune R&B hook on “The Next Generation,” which just seems strange and out of place. Outside of that, this is a solid promise of what the two collaborating can sound like. “Boys To Men” features some of Illogic and Blueprint’s best battle raps, which don’t fall into easy traps but stay smart and challenging. “Cold Out Here” continues the stream and raises the game to challenge everyone else to be better than they are. It’s inspirational and challenging without being cheesy, which is a difficult accomplishment.
And while this is a shorter release (just six songs), Blueprint was nice enough to add the instrumental versions of all the songs onto the release, which is a bonus. It’s also nice for my cat, who loves some down-tempo music to chill out to. I just hope it’s not too long for a follow up and they can continue to challenge each other and release an album that really changes the game up. I think they have it in them.