Send "Schoolboy Q " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Hiphopdx |
 There's no shortage of the requisite Hip Hop fare - drugs, crime, hustling - on "Habits & Contradictions," and Q does a fine job of espousing it as his own.As one-fourth of Black Hippy - along with Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul - ScHoolboy Q’s position in the cadre has always been a bit nebulous. Not quite the frenzied lyrical gymnast Kendrick is or as gritty as Jay Rock, Q floats somewhere in the middle of the gamut and that’s exactly where his sophomore solo effort Habits & Contradictions lies. There’s no shortage of the requisite Hip Hop fare - drugs, crime, hustling - on Habits, and Q does a fine job of espousing it as his own. The grimy “Oxy Music” oozes with tales of peddling pills and heroin while the standout “Hands on the Wheel” with Hip Hop’s reigning king of the ‘purp A$AP Rocky is a delicious mess of weed, shrooms and getting all-around fucked up; the stuff frat boy anthems are made of. Produced by Best Kept Secret and featuring a sample of Lissie’s rendition of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness," “Hands on the Wheel” is folksy Hip Hop eclecticism. “Life for me is just weed and brews/see the hos flock to you when you’re name is Q,” Q raps while ASAP adds in his two cents “Got the purple drink/ got the yellow drink/ and we mix it up / Call it Pikachu." Hilarious, or just plain faded? These two make an entertaining pair. “Raymond 1969” is a dark, downright scary ode on Q’s life of crime while “NigHmare on Figg St.” produced by ASAP TY Beats flips an interpolation Jay-Z and Kanye’s “Niggas in Paris” into a menacing gangster cut. “What’s 50 grand to a motherfucker like you / You still need a reminder?” Q asks his prey. “Yeah I thought so.” There’s a lot going on here and at 18 tracks, oversaturation is the album’s key malaise. The lackluster “Sex Drive” featuring whispery crooner Jhene Aiko falls flat and compared to the duo’s sexy previous collaboration “Fantasy” on Q’s debut Setbacks, it’s doubly disappointing. “Grooveline Pt. 1” featuring Curren$y and Dom Kennedy is another hackneyed love cut further torpedoed by a slowed down Lex Luger beat....full text |
| Xxlmag |
| There’s an eclectic new outfit of MCs in the works. They’ve been operating on the fringes of the mainstream, ignoring the conventions of what was supposedly needed to make it in hip-hop. Major label deals? Maybe later. Debut studio albums? Let’s release a free mixtape instead. Capitalizing on the emergence of this new breed, indie label Top Dawg Entertainment has slowly put together a potential powerhouse in the making. Their roster is good. Scary good. There’s Kendrick Lamar, the introspective poet, crowned the heir apparent to the West Coast throne by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg in a passing of the torch moment. There’s Jay Rock, a hard-nosed voice of the streets. And then there’s ScHoolboy Q—somewhat of an oddball within an oddball crew, dabbling in recreational drug use, sporadic mayhem, and the occasional foray into socially conscious rap. (And don’t forget Ab-Soul—he’s next on deck). Self-aware of his own inconsistencies, ScHoolboy makes his 2012 debut with Habits & Contradictions. Contradictions, indeed. The tone of the project is ever-changing throughout. The somber opener “Sacrilegious” is a far cry from the weed and brews anthem “Hands on the Wheel” that follows soon after. There’s a woodgrain tinge to the record, underscored by an H-town influence that the track’s featured guest, A$AP Rocky, also made integral to his debut release LiveLoveA$AP. The same influence is evident on the drugged out “How We Feeling,” where syrupy slow drums remind of a Chopped and Screwed record. Then there’s the sinister ravings of a madman, showcased on the claustrophobic interlude “Tookie Knows” and the Crip-inspired “Raymond 1969.” On the latter, ScHoolboy sounds almost Odd Future-esque, with mentions of over the top violence, while simultaneously claiming “I’m not on my Odd Future tip” (Remember the whole contradictions thing?). Then carefree chill artists Curren$y and Dom Kennedy show up on “Grooveline Pt 1,” one of the album’s more relaxing cuts. The final contradiction of the night appears on the last cut, “Blessed.” Kicking street wisdom alongside Black Hibby groupmate Kendrick, Q’s self-aware reflection is a deviation from the hedonistic anecdotes featured throughout. K. Dot’s verse is something to marvel at, another gem from the Compton MC who’s looking like a rap legend in the early stages of development....full text |
| Goodfellamedia |
| After a recent explosion of underground talent along the West Coast and Bay area, the success of Black Hippy/T.D.E. label mate Kendrick Lamar, and arguably verse of the year on ASAP Rocky’s “Brand New Guy,” it’s safe to say that all eyes and ears are set on Schoolboy Q now in 2012. On the day of its release, Habits and Contradictions reached #1 on the iTunes album chart and marked the Compton native’s second full-length album to crack Billboard’s top 200. Active members of the hip-hop community wasted no time to show their support of HnC when it dropped on midnight last Saturday, but did Schoolboy’s project ultimately live up to the hype?...full text |
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