4/5 stars
Lately, much of the mainstream hip-hop community is determined to deliver meaningful, overarching social messages. Artists from Kendrick to Chance to Mac Miller have put out tracks with introspective production and heavy-handed themes. Ironically, this structure lets them brag about how tough and cool they were in their rough, dark past, while also showing their gratitude for being able to leave that life for a more mature and fulfilling one.
With his major label debut, “Oxymoron,” ScHoolboy Q acknowledges that while he regrets some of his actions, he is not ashamed of his past. Instead, it empowers him. While most of ScHoolboy’s verses center around being the original gangster, his production and sampling suggest a complex portrait of the street life rather than just a series of boasts.
Now 27, ScHoolboy started rapping at 16. In 2009, he joined the label Top Dawg Entertainment and helped form the group Black Hippy with Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar. ScHoolboy’s music is distinctly west coast. While his beats are reminiscent of G-funk legends Dre and Snoop, they contain a more modern spatial depth. They shine on songs like ‘Break The Bank’ and ‘Man of the Year,’ where the eerie synthesizers and samples keep Q sounding interesting and sophisticated.
The album's lyrics range from Q’s struggles with prescription drugs to tales of his tough, streetwise grandma. Although not really stretching himself thematically, ScHoolboy does put together some pretty entertaining verses. In one, he even takes a stab at Kendrick, telling him to “move from the throne.” It’s shots fired between friends, though, and both Kendrick and Jay Rock are featured on different songs on the album.
Numerous rappers are featured throughout “Oxymoron.” On ‘Blind Threats,’ the legendary Raekwon makes an appearance. ScHoolboy pays his respects to the past by letting Raekwon close the track, even though he delivers only a few lines, making the verse seem like more of an outro. Tyler, the Creator also delivers a solid hook on ‘The Purge,’ and Odd Future fans will recognize an OF sample used in the song.
In the title track, Schoolboy explains the oxymoron he faced when selling prescription drugs to make enough money to raise his newborn daughter. Ironically, these are the same drugs that kept him from taking care of his daughter while he was addicted to them. The contradiction in the album goes a little deeper, though. Unlike many other modern rap albums, “Oxymoron” at no point gives any hints of delivering a socially conscious message about life in the streets. As a result, it paints a harshly realistic, darkly cynical picture of Los Angeles that is actually more powerful than most other heavy-handed, self-pitying lines about the past.
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