In a yr during which we’ve seen each formidable and lackluster our bodies of labor from each veterans and neophytes alike, ScHoolboy Q stakes a viable declare for album of the yr together with his sophomore main label launch, Clean Face LP.
Coming off his highly-praised main label debut, 2014’s Oxymoron, the plenty have been anticipating ScHoolBoy Q’s subsequent up-at-bat. Clean Face LP finds him at his most skeptical and introspective, and whereas that’s not out of the unusual for the 29-year-old Compton native, he delves deeper than we’ve seen beforehand with this new challenge.
The 17-track opus opens with “TorcH”—a 5 minute, 35 second observe—which cracks open the window of nostalgia via which the LP takes place, whereas setting its darkish, foreboding tone with assist from multi-faceted Hip Hop/R&B crooner, Anderson .Paak. The intro is adopted up by “Lord Have Mercy” that includes Swizz Beatz, a shorter, interlude-like observe, that may be a good breather following the 5 minute opening, which then leads into the album’s well-received two singles “THat Half” and “Groovy Tony/ Eddie Kane”. This speaks to Q’s skillful album sequencing and pacing, which has been a cut-above-average since his first album Setbacks, again in 2011, and has solely seen refinement over his previous 5 years of exercise.
That’s the factor about Q, self-awareness is the fulcrum of his content material and his profession. He is aware of what he will get proper and what he will get flawed, and at each outing as a substitute of fleeing from the issues he acquired “flawed,” he as a substitute perfects them. Take as an illustration, “Massive Physique,” a observe assisted by Tha Dogg Pound and produced by Tyler The Creator, serves as a extra uptempo and enjoyable observe in comparison with the remainder of the album. “Massive Physique” is a seamless, gratifying gear-switch, whereas, on the Setbacks observe “Rolling Stone,” one of many first entries by Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and Q as Black Hippy, went the same route however to extra of a detriment to the general sound of the album, which was largely disjointed, albeit gratifying. With every challenge Q improves at curating the sonic textures of his album and Clean Face LP is a testomony to that.
Whereas the “gangster rap” style—which he falls in by default—has had an identifiable sound in years previous, Q experiments with the musical panorama of his initiatives, with out it ever coming off as a attain. “Kno Ya Flawed,” for instance, a two-part observe that includes what was precisely described by Genius as Q’s “rendition of a bluesy/ODB-esque freeform movement,” is among the extra experimental tracks on the album. “Extra time” which options libidinous crooning by Miguel and Justine Skye comes towards the tip, lulling listeners into the songs outro. “Groovy Tony/Eddie Kane,” an extension of Q’s first single for album, provides a gravelly Jadakiss verse to the combination, over brooding base-heavy manufacturing earlier than switching to the tune’s percussion-driven, eclectic second half. ScHoolBoy Q is one in all few rappers whose initiatives can see these three completely different textures co-exist, with out shedding its cohesion.
BFLP boasts a weighty slew of options akin to Kanye West on the album’s second single “THat Half,” in addition to T.D.E.’s latest signee Lance Skiiwalker. Extra options embrace Lengthy Seashore stalwart Vince Staples, T.D.E. songstress SZA, E-40, Miguel, Justine Skye, and Candice Pillay. Newcomers Visitors and TF additionally seem on the album’s outro “Tookie Is aware of II” in addition to star within the album’s accompanying quick movie collection.
The absence of fellow Black Hippy members is evident, though Kendrick does have background vocals on “By Any Means,” “Black THougHts” and “Extra time.” It’s price noting, nevertheless, that they do seem collectively on a one-off remix of “THat Half” that, whereas not on the album, dropped on the identical day.
In a latest interview with Actual 92.3 he explains why we not often hear Black Hippy as a collective lately. “We don’t like rapping with one another no mo’ like that,” he defined. “Like that’s fairly previous now for us.” He went on to reveal that the “THat Half” remix was the manifestation of lobbying by T.D.E.’s commander in chief, High Dawg.
Clean Face portrays not solely the ills of life rising up within the gang-infested streets of Compton, however Q’s many private missteps as nicely. His narrative is acquired as much less of a glorification of gang banging and prison exercise, however extra of an try and edify his listeners. On “Black THougHts” Q spits:
Ain’t nothin’ modified however the change
Let’s put our brains away from gangs
Crips and Bloods the previous and new slaves
Sh*t we even modified our names
On “John Muir,” Q places the listener into the footwear of his youthful self, presenting an unvarnished actuality of his early life, and the pragmatic selections he made. He raps, “I used to be 13 with my mothaf*ckin’ warmth, y’all./N*gga caught instances tryna take your f*ckin’ display screen off.” Although his supply at occasions can come off boastful, in actuality it’s extra like Q giving his youthful self a smack to the again of the pinnacle. “Str8 Ballin” furthers the narrative depicting when Q lastly progressed from the impetuous South Central life-style and eventually took his life by the reigns:
Hiding from the reaper tryna’ dodge the cage
This sh*t I’ve executed to rhyme on this stage
I went from king of the the nook
To breaking down weed on my diploma
Straight ballin’ like a b*tch
Clean Face LP expounds on every part gratifying about Oxymoron, and tweaks the faults of that album making for the very best physique work we’ve seen from ScHoolBoy Q but. The private nature of the album creates a bond between the listener and Q, which is a rarity in an age the place polished “rap persona” archetypes are ever-present. Clean Face LP will probably be adored by avid ScHoolBoy Q followers, and also will be precisely what these ready for him to show himself have been ready for.
