KoolHipHopScHoolboy Q is a part of Top Dawg Entertainment and Black Hippy which are based in Compton, California. They don’t make normal gangsta rap you would expect from Compton, say like Game, N.W.A. or MC Eiht. Black Hippy as a collective and as solo artists have that gangsta rap influence, especially Jay Rock, but they do it with an introspective view of the streets and where they’re from. However, ScHoolboy Q is very different from the gangsta rapper Jay Rock, or the 2 conscious rappers Kendrick Lam
ar & Ab-Soul. ScHoolboy’s subject matter is mostly drugs, having fun & fucking girls. Occasionally he touches on conscious matters. This is mostly what sets him apart from his Black Hippy peers Kendrick Lamar & Ab-Soul. This album definitely shows he can hang with Kendrick on Blessed and that he is one of the most diverse rappers in the game right now, shifting easily from drugs, hoes, to life in Compton, even to religious subjects. ScHoolboy got a lot more serious on this project and you can see his growth as an artist.
The production throughout the whole album is pretty good. The thing about TDE is that they get really good production, so if the lyrics/rapping is off, you can still enjoy the song. Although, the album doesn’t really blend together and sound like one album, maybe because of the 12 different producers used on it. That’s really the only flaw in the production, that it doesn’t blend well and isn’t cohesive at all. The best beat on the album is Hands on The Wheel produced by Best Kept Secret and Blessed produced by Dave Free.
The album starts off with Sacrilegious, a song with ScHoolboys point of view about life in Compton and what a regular guy from the streets sees and has to deal with in everyday life. “It’s no different from wars, it’s kill or be called upon” The album constantly switches sometimes in-song with subject matter such as life in Compton, death, religion, to subjects such as drugs, hoes, swag and killing. The next several songs on the album, 2 Raw, Oxy Music, My Hatin’ Joint, How We Feeling, Druggys With Hoes Again, Nightmare On Figg St. & There He Go have very forgettable rapping, mostly focusing on the non-conscious rap that I’d like to see a little less on this album from Q. Then Q comes back with My Homie and pulls off a storytelling song about his friend he grew up with, and eventually snitched on him. This makes me ask the question of why doesn’t Q tell stories and make more conscious songs? As you can see on My Homie he can pull it off almost flawlessly. Hands On The Wheel featuring A$AP Rocky is probably the best produced song on the LP, with Lissie’s cover of Pursuit Of Happiness flipped perfectly and fits ScHoolboy and A$AP’s flows.
The album keeps on moving with almost no standout tracks until we get to Blessed featuring Kendrick Lamar. This song was leaked a couple weeks before the album came out and still sounds fresh after being played over and over. Blessed ends the album on a great note and makes us want more from Q.
“You see, my nigga just lost his son while I’m here huggin’ on my daughter
I grip her harder
Kiss her on the head as I cry for a bit
Thinkin’ of some bullshit to tell him, like
‘It’ll be okay. You’ll be straight, it’ll be aight.’
Well, fuck that shit, whatever you need, yo, I got it!
Whether it’s money or some weed or puttin’ in work, fuck it, then I’m ridin’!
This album definitely moves him up there and proves he can hold his own with the rest of Black Hippy. Although I would’ve liked to have seen more conscious rapping on the album, after I listen to it I feel satisfied. The Compton native made a buzz for himself with Setbacks, his last album and he delivered exactly what we expected from him on this album and more. ScHoolboy got a lot more serious on this project and you can see his growth as an artist. Big things lie in the future for Q and the rest of Black Hippy.
Best Tracks: Blessed, Raymond 1969, Hands On The Wheel, My Homie, 2 Raw
Worst Tracks: There He Go, How We Feeling, Sex Drive, My Hatin’ Joint
Overall: 77/100
