St. Louis, Missouri emcee Stevie Stone is back with his 8th studio LP. Garnering attention attention as one of the very last 2 artists to ever sign with Ruthless Records alongside Hopsin, both of their full-length debuts New Kid Comin’ & Gazing at the Moonlight received little to no promotion leading both artists to leave the crumbling label. Hopsin went on to form Funk Volume shortly after before closing shop in 2016 whereas Stevie signed to Strange Music in 2012. He eventually became one of the label’s flagship artists up until he left last spring to form his own label Ahdasee Records following his previous album Black Lion. It’s been over 3 years since Raising the Bar & had expectations of No Blueprints improving on its predecessor to become the best thing he’s done since leaving Strange & doing entrance music for the likes of former Evolve Champion, WWE United States Champion & WWE Tag Team Champion Austin Theory as well as 5-time WWE tag team champions The Street Profits and former 2-time WWE Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, WWE World Tag Team Champion, 2-time IWGPヘビー級王座, PWG World Champion, the inaugural ROH Pure Champion, former ROH World Tag Team Champion, 3-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, 4-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, 2-time TNA World Champion, the inaugural 6-time TNA X Division Champion, 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion & RPW British Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles.
“Big Steppa” opens with a dark trap instrumental suggesting to bundle up with him up in the function whereas “Booty Quake” moves forward with a decent strip club anthem. “In Too Deep” featuring Spaide R.I.P.P.E.R. finds the 2 teaming up for a trap/gangsta rap crossover talking about real ones being around them while “Like They Used To” featuring Swisher Sleep addresses the people who want to see them stop.
Ant Bomb makes the first of 3 appearances on “Rebels” talking about their rebellious tendencies leading into “Ferris Bueller” referencing former WWE United States Champion & NXT North American Champion Solo Sikoa. “2 the Sky” featuring Ant Bomb reunites for a cloudy weed smoker’s anthem prior to “Audience for 2” fusing trap & pop rap getting seductive lyrically.
“Merry Go” featuring Bacon the General & Spaide R.I.P.P.E.R. finds the trio talking about how they’d make bodies roll just before “When We Link” gets back on the pop rap/trap vibes. “Slow Down” featuring Rittz takes a more serious tone discussing losing their lives if they don’t pump the brakes while “Awake” takes a few minutes to get conscious. The title track ends Stevie’s return by passionately talking about there never being a plan.
All that I wanted out of No Blueprints was for it to be an improvement above Raising the Bar & that’s pretty much what I got, simultaneously making it the best of the 2 albums we’ve gotten from Stevie Stone since he started up Ahdasee Records. It represents where he’s at in his career currently from in-house producer MixedByBlitz’ production to the guests showcasing some of the artists he’s already signed besides Rittz.
Score: 7/10