Schoolboy Q (feat. ASAP Rocky) - Hands On The Wheel (Top Dawg Entertainment, 2012)

Did you know that Schoolboy Q released the best gangsta rap album since Flockaveli? Go buy it, okay? 

Also, recent trend I’ve noticed between this and Future’s “Deeper Than The Ocean.” Vehicular suicide is so in right now. 

Gucci Mane - North Pole (Mixtape, 2011)

The unofficial sequel to Weird, Gucci focuses this whole song around the concept of being Santa Claus. It’s always refreshing to hear the playful Gucci of yore, but he’s seriously rapping about throwing pipe bombs down chimneys on this song. Maybe a late contender for rap song of the year? It definitely helps that Mike Will Made It. 

Mike Will’s Established in 1989 dropped yesterday. Featuring amazing songs from Future, Gucci, Schoolboy Q, Travis Porter Lil Boosie, Waka, Slim Dunkin and others. Mike Will is seriously producer of the year. 

Schoolboy Q - My Hatin’ Joint (Top Dawg Entertainment, 2011)

It’s the case of a once overlooked producer working with an overlooked (but not for long) rapper. Mike Will has been going hard since at least 2007, back when Gucci Mane slayed his beats regularly. He’s only recently come to prominence since Meek Mill’s breathrough hit of the summer, Tupac Back, a beat that was considered faux-Luger but sounded better than essentially anything Lex had done in half a year at the time. His work with Brick Squad helped shape his sound, and he helped shape the sound for the Luger’s and Southside’s who followed (contrary to popular belief). He’s been everywhere this year, producing for everyone from Ludacris, to Future, and now Schoolboy Q.

I first heard Q on Kendrick Lamar’s awesome Michael Jordan, and it was pretty much a wrap for me from that moment on. Q has more than a handful of flows, and even though I expected him to get his snarl on and tear this beat to shreds, he actually uses his laidback flow found throughout most of his underrated Setbacks, released all the way back in January. Mike Will changes up his style for this, with some Legend of Zelda flutes and an all around whimsical sound. Q on the other hand asks a brothel of women why they’re with their shitty boyfriends, showing signs of jealousy, but also some concern for the women he’s addressing (despite the fact that there’s, like, 12 of them). 

Schoolboy Q - #BETiGOTSOMEWEED (Top Dawg Ent., 2011)

Schoolboy Q hasn’t quite caught on yet - before Setbacks, he was pretty much the least noticeable Black Hippy, only recently having received some attentions thanks to being Kendrick Lamar’s right hand man - Kendrick himself slowly bubbling under the radar, seemingly ready to be the next big internet-to-mainstream transition. Q isn’t poised to ever receive that type of attention; strictly to play the AZ to Kendrick’s Nas, a role he’s upheld very well up until this point, his debut album, Setbacks.

Setbacks lived up to its name quite well, being pushed back a couple times before finally landing on iTunes on Tuesday. Top Dawg’s first release since catching some buzz for Kendrick Lamar’s outstanding OD last year, they seemingly hope to capitalize with Q’s album, as a free-version for this hasn’t even been offered yet, nor has it been ripped to the net yet (to my knowledge), two things that OD received not long after it hit. Setbacks isn’t quite the epic journey that OD was; Q isn’t quite the beast that Kendrick is. Don’t get it twisted; Q is a very talented, charismatic rapper with a great selection of beats here on Setbacks, but he doesn’t quite have the way with words that Kendrick does. Not many rappers do, though.

#BETiGOTSOMEWEED is bound to be Setback’s Michael Jordan (which Q not ironically featured on), as the undeniable highlight amidst other gems found throughout. There’s something about this beat that just grabs you from the start, and refuses to let go. It’s very similar to the Ski Beatz Pilot Talk formula; lush, and smooth with a bass line that’ll still make a trunk rattle no matter how hazy the instrumental maybe. Q, a far more blunted rapper than Kendrick, adapts a flow that’s less vicious than usual, allowing his cadence to slow down significantly to compliment the melody. The funny thing is, where as Michael Jordan was the banger among a slew of slower-material, things are essentially vice versa (no Troy) on Q’s album, as he leans more heavily on those brass, bold gangsta rap tracks, allowing this to be one the slower, and therefore interesting, records on the album.

While Kendrick struck the balance between being an everyman rapper who was still raised around the ghetto, Q is the more street-level rapper, the one who opted for Dr. Dre and Kurupt instead of The Pharcyde and Del. This isn’t all West Coast rider music, but on the tracks where that’s most prominent, Q shows his Killa-Cali roots, riding alongside his Black Hippy brethren on the Dr. Dre-esque What’s The Word and dropping bombs on Kamikaze. However, the playful style of the Hieroglyphics is still present on songs like the bonus-cut Rolling Stone, where everyone in Black Hippy kills the song and has a blast doing it.

Setbacks isn’t an early album of the year candidate, but it’s certainly worth it’s six-dollar selling price, and it’s a great introduction to a talented young emcee coming out of the Black Hippy crew. So yeah, check that shit out if you need some good music in the middle of January.

Kendrick Lamar - Look Out For Detox (Top Dawg Entertainment, 2010)

In Compton or Canada, I don’t care where you are/just blink twice and I’ll be there where you are

On the same day that Dr. Dre released the first video for rap’s Chinese Democracy (which will probably fair roughly the same), Kendrick Lamar decided to tape himself in blurry motion for his Detox tribute (which has little to nothing to do with Dre outside of Compton and the title). Schoolboy Q is a hell of a producer.

Kendrick Lamar (feat. Schoolboy Q) - Michael Jordan (Top Dawg, 2010)

Noz dickrider!

saves us both the hassle. Kendrick Lamar is the latest talent to come outta Compton, and he’s pretty much the best since, uh, those five guys who came Straight Outta Compton. I originally wrote-off Kendrick Lamar due to the acclaim he was getting on those blogs, despite the fact that I heard a couple tracks I kinda liked; the production on his latest project, O(verly) D(edicated) is easily some of the best to appear on any mixtape or album all year, and it’s incredibly varied, yet remains thoroughly consistent. There really are no misteps to be had on the artist formerly known as K. Dot’s second project; from the fake-Khalifa deriding oxy-stoner anthem, HOC, to the Cudi-esque Alien Girl, Kendrick shows that he has a multitude of styles, and he’s incredibly adept at all of them.

He has a style that’s vaguely similar to Lil Wayne’s, but somehow, even more endearing. Unlike Wayne, Kendrick hasn’t burnt his brain on drugs (I’m still unclear as to whether he actually does drugs after HOC or not), so his conceptual aspects, while similar, are far more clear-minded, not surrounded in a cloud of haze (literally). He baby-talks a lot, which leaves him with one of the cutest (PAUSE x10) adlibs ever in his high-pitched squeeky DON’T WOWWEH. Despite the fact that he has this slightly gimmicky little characteristic, this dude is just as dangerously serious as he is fun (and his music is as enjoyable as anything I’ve heard all year).

He derides critics who call him another Common or Kweli due to his affiliations (Ignorance Is Bliss), as he’s a far more complex rapper. Equally street and conscious, he balances both sides wonderfully, something few rappers can do anymore (and still manages to do it all with a tongue-in-cheek style more common in gangsta rap than the overly serious and wrought conscious genre). He’s lyrical enough to win over any head, with a flow that’s sometimes flawed, but merely adds to how endearing his music is. He’s gangsta enough to win over those street dudes who can’t bump that skinny jean bullshit floating around these days; more likely to leave you in a ditch than read you some poetry.

Michael Jordan is his homage to both Michael Jordan (duh) and more importantly, Lil’ Wayne. This song reminds me a lot of Wayne’s own banger this year, Bill Gates, and both are equally great. Including bounce bounce ho! in the chorus was a pretty fantastic idea, pushing this atypically Southern banger into even further territory, proving New Orleans still has a lotta influence on the West Coast rap scene even with Percy out of the scene. Also, this is probably the most exciting 6 minute rap song released all year that Mr. West didn’t create.

I hope my late pass is valid, because Kendrick Lamar gives me even more hope in the current West Coast rap scene.