“Probably the best rap album ever” according to ScHoolboy Q
ScHoolboy Q is an often overlooked emcee. The West Coast rapper rose out of the California hip-hop scene in the mid-2000s and, with the help of Anthony Tiffith at Top Dawg Entertainment, released impactful such as including ScHoolboy Turned Hustla and Gangsta & Soul.
Akin to his longtime collaborator and friend Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q is a lyricist who takes pride in his penmanship. However, before his rise to fame, he had to hone his craft and wrote some pretty poor lyrics before he reached a high level.
Earlier this year, the South Central emcee released his sixth studio album, Blue Lips, to critical acclaim. Blue Lips debuted at number 13 on the Billboard 200 and received widespread critical acclaim for its production from The Alchemist and Cardo as well as its lyricism. The project saw appearances from the likes of Freddie Gibbs, Ab-Soul and even Rico Nasty.
Since the release of Blue Lips, it has become evident that ScHoolboy Q can create a quality, cohesive rap album. However, the rhymer learnt from some of the best growing up. In an interview, Q unveiled the projects that shaped him as a youngster and provided the blueprint for what an album should be.
Staying true to his West Coast roots, ScHoolboy Q revealed that Dr Dre’s epic debut album, The Chronic, was the body of work that inspired his 2014 award-winning LP Oxymoron.
Recalling his first time hearing the 1992 gem, the lyricist detailed, “I heard it when I was younger. That’s what anybody was playing. Any car you get into, you’d hear it. But as I got older I started really understanding what he was saying. He was saying some wild shit. Calling bitches bitches. Fucking noises all in the background. That shit went platinum, that’s crazy.”
He continued, “That’s the kind of music that should be appreciated more. Somebody do that, people are like, ‘This dude’s an idiot.’ or ‘This song where the girl’s getting fucked, that’s wack!’ Niggas don’t appreciate that type of shit no more, so that’s why I’m so unhappy, why I made Oxymoron a little different, to get that whole feel back.”
However, the G-Funk bible wasn’t the emcee’s favourite project of all time. In fact, ScHoolboy Q admitted that his most cherished album of all time is the East Coast classic Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt. Showing his love for the 1996 classic, ScHoolboy Q unveiled, “That’s probably the best rap album ever, in history. That nigga was flawless. The singles were some of the hardest shit. ‘Can’t Knock Hustle’ was so hard. How your singles so hard? I mean…I don’t get it.”