From my first time listening to ScHoolboy Q in 2012, on his second album Habits & Contradictions, I knew that TDE had yet another star and great emcee to go with Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar, and Jay Rock. Oxymoron, the follow up to that album, went platinum and was one of the top albums to come out of 2014 and TDE as a whole. But now two years later fans have finally received the long awaited album, the Blank Face LP.
With Blank Face first being announced I already had high expectations due to Q being one of my favorite rappers out right now. After listening to this project over and over again since the night it was released, I can easily say this is one of if not THE, best album of 2016.
The 17 track LP is some of the most hard hitting and grittiest rap you will here to come out of the west coast right now, the only one who comes close to this is Vince Staples in my opinion. It's a very dark and violent album, to me sounding like a hard soundtrack to go with a slasher flick. Like if Michael Meyers came from the West Coast streets and was gunning for everyone who crossed him.
The beats on Blank Face are amazing. They are hard hitting and will just force you to blast them out your speakers. With producers like Tae Beatz, Sounwave, DJ Dahi, Alchemist, and Metro Boomin that really comes as no surprise. And ScHoolboy Q just does his thing on these beats. Songs like "JoHn Muir" and "Groovy Tony/Eddie Kane" Featuring Jadakiss are great examples of just aggressive raps with just as aggressive delivery and hard booming production.They make you feel like you want someone to just try and get in your face.
Even the intro track "TorcH" sets up the stage for the album perfectly even though personally it's not my favorite track. But you can't help but hear what he's saying "Underage, smokin' weed and alcohol . Grandma sweeped shells out the driveway . One of the homies got slayed so we bang at the King parade." Just a great way to paint the picture of where this project is gonna go right out the get and letting whoever is listening know exactly what to expect.
But It's not just a hard hitting no substance album with someone threatening people to not mess with them. Tracks like "Neva CHange" with SZA and "Black THougHts" touch on the negatives of the streets associated with gang violence and police brutality. Songs that were written a year ago and still ring true all the way up to the date when Blank Face finally released. Even the more aggressive songs speak volumes of showing you the aspects of gang life and culture that take part in the west coast.
In a time where short albums and EPs are the norm, the long track list doesn't halter it. It's so concise that it doesn't drag on. He has the hard hitting tracks and switches it up every few songs so the album doesn't sound like it abruptly changes nor does it become too stagnant or sound too much like one continuos song.
However there were a few songs that I personally didn't enjoy. I had high expectations with the song "Ride Out" with Vince Staples. The beat just stops me from getting into it even though the two get busy on the track. The song "Big Body" with the legendary duo The Dogg Pound is also the same. Tyler The Creator gets production credits on that song with a beat that sounds like it should have been on Cherry Bomb. I think two different beats on those songs would have made them better but again that's me personally and it doesn't really take away from the album at all. The only last gripe I had was the song "Overtime" with Miguel. I liked the song "Studio" the song in which this can be seen as a follow up to, but this song just seems too out of place. The not as aggressive songs are great on this album. But this one just does not mesh well when in comparison to the other songs on the project. Even though "Studio" was the same on Oxymoron in terms of more commercially friendly. But this sounds too much like a radio record and just does not fit no matter how many times I listen. But those are only 3 songs that I personally couldn't get into.
ScHoolboy Q did it again. He has an album coming out with high expectations and yet again he delivers. The album has everything you need; it's hard hitting, great production, incredible lyrics, and you can really feel all of Q's effort into this. When I listen to one song I find myself just going back and listening to the whole album almost every time I go back to them. If we have to wait every two years for an album like he said he's going to keep doing, I'm perfectly happy being patient if we continue to get great music like this.
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