ScHoolboy Q

One Liner: Real deal new school gangster rapper, buddies with Kendrick

Poster Position: 3

Thoughts:  I've seen Schoolboy live more than any of the other artists in this year's lineup, so I have a pretty good idea of what we will see this fall.  I got to see him play first at Fun Fun Fun Fest a few years ago, right after the excellent Habits and Contradictions (2012) came out, and it was a blast.  A friend of a friend was being really weird about the fact that I knew all the lyrics to "Hands on the Wheel," the A$AP Rocky-assisted single from that album, but this was right when I'd discovered A$AP, loved him, and thereby discovered Schoolboy.  I dug it.  Whats the deal?  That track is down to #5 on the Popular list for Schoolboy, but at 65.5 million streams, its his third most listened to track.

I've also heard that track repeatedly at other people's shows, as the on-hold music before the show starts.  Bomb ass beat, great yell-along hook, and dumb lyrics you can chant as you think about how tough and awesome you are while you listen.  The other big song from that album, which you will almost certainly hear at the show, is "There He Go," which Schoolboy usually turns into a call and response with the crowd.  Maybe "Druggys Wit Hoes Again" as well, which features Ab Soul.

I saw him twice around the time he released 2014's Oxymoron, at SXSW shows, one of which was pretty damn small, over at the uphill stage at Stubbs.  Even with a tiny crowd (I didn't get there early but was still like 3 rows back), he was high energy, talking tough and bouncing around having fun.  He walked out in the crowd at one point and it was fun to just see him clowning around with people as he rapped.  The big hit from that one was "Collard Greens," which features Kendrick Lamar.  Again, this song won me props by knowing the lyrics, when I showed up at the old fraternity party for my college homecoming, and the stoner dorks in my old fraternity were amazed that an ancient alum: (a) knew what rap is; (b) knew who Schoolboy Q is; and (c) knew the majority of the lyrics to a brand new song from him.  I ran this school back in the 90's, suckers!  Bow down!

70.7 million streams, and another cool sounding beat that just breaks from the pack of other current rap sounds.  The bassline is bouncy and kind of playful.  And of course, it helps to have Kendrick on your track...  His most listened-to track overall is "Man of the Year," with 78.7 million streams, which also comes off of Oxymoron, but the track I'd rather feature is "Hell of a Night," which was featured on a Mr. Robot episode I watched just last night and it was perfect for that moment.

That smoothie he makes at the start!  Holy Hannah!  You're gonna die, holmes!  But the best part of this one is the build up and drop into a laid-back verse, which when seen live, works the crowd into a frenzy.  Kind of an EDM move.

Q came up with the Black Hippy crew, which included Kendrick Lamar, but before that he was apparently a Crip dealing Oxycontin and then other drugs until he got sent to prison for a felony charge he won't discuss.  The stage name apparently comes from "When I was in school, all the homies called me Schoolboy. I wore glasses and I had a 3.3 in high school, before fucking up my senior year gang-banging. My name's Quincy, so I just stick to Schoolboy Q."

In addition to his own albums, he has been featured on a lot of other rappers tracks - Macklemore, Anderson Paak, A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg, YG, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, Ab Soul, Childish Gambino, Mac Miller, Action Bronson, Vince Staples, The Game, The Weekend, even a remix of Disclosure's "Latch."

He just released a new album, 2016's Blank Face LP, that sounds good after my first few listens.  The big hit so far is "THat Part," (15.2 million streams) which features Kanye West on a kind of clever verse.  But I won't say that track has Schoolboy's strongest verse.  The other early single with some play is "Groovy Tony" (3.6 M), but the tracks that I am liking more are "JoHn Muir," "WHateva U Want," and "Big Body."  But none of those yet have a YouTube presence, so here is "Groovy Tony"

Back to that gangsta rap image right there.  The E-40-assisted "Dope Dealer" is pretty tight too.  This album, so far, has my head bobbing in a good way.  We'll see how it is once I really dig into the lyrics.  I'm a little surprised that none of the A$AP mob is on here, but so far I don't notice any dropoff.  

I'm sure you can tell that I'm interested in seeing him play again.  I'll try to make it happen, we'll just see how the schedule plays out.