The Oxymoron artist finally dropped an album after 5 years.
"Blue Lips" by ScHoolboy Q was released just a few weeks ago and I must say, after a few listens, there’s a lot of shit going on. In its entirety, it sounds like a rebellion fueled by crack. I know you probably read that sentence and was like "well, what the fuck does that mean? Is that a good thing?"
Well, let’s just say, this was the type of music our parents would not let us listen to; this is the type of music you might have to change or lower the sound when certain people walk by, but in my opinion, that’s what made the album great.
ScHoolboy Q freely did whatever he wanted and gave zero space for any censorship or fear. Not only did he challenge himself with his sound, he made sure to show us true creativity by blending multiple genres, to make something refreshing, new and somehow nostalgic at the same time. This may be his best project, and I’m going to tell you why.
I’m going to be honest, ScHoolboy Q was always cool to me because I knew he was going to make something catchy and play with sounds, but I never knew what the hell he was saying. I knew "Collard Greens" because it was being played everywhere; anything by Kendrick Lamar or ScHoolboy Q was going crazy that Fall in 2014. In general, he made rhythmic short phrases about sex, drugs, women, money and success.
I can say with "Blue Lips", we are seeing him actually rap. He essentially still refers to the previously listed subjects, but he also talks about his transition from childhood to adulthood, the untimely death of Mac Miller, his mental health, references to God and more. You can hear these topics on songs such as "THank god 4 me", "Blueslides", "Yeern 101", "Ohio" and more.
Let me further explain the blending of genres; we can hear influences of hard rock, punk, jazz, boom rap, etc. If you listen to "Love Birds" you can hear the instrumental pulling you back-and-forth between genres, while they still somehow blend at the same time; you can imagine the ups-and-downs of a rollercoaster. You can also hear how industrial and rock influenced "Pop" was, and can very quickly understand why Rico Nasty was the perfect choice for a feature. Nothing screams fever dream like this song. These artists were truly creating something unique to them.
Don’t get me started about what was going on in "Pig Feet". If you are a fan of ScHoolboy Q, you have to admit the progression he has made musically was significant, compared to his older albums. I believe we witnessed a true transition of ScHoolboy Q from an artist trying to make a name for himself, to an artist who made a name for himself. I can say for myself that I’m excited for him and what he’ll do next as an artist. I think for who ScHoolboy Q is, this is a great album; it's challenging, it’s daring and filled with defiance, it’s confident, it’s alternative. If you’re into any genre of rap, or can come to appreciate good vocalists like Devin Malik and Lance Skiiiwater, this is definitely an album to tune into. Similarly to the album’s name, I’m having blue lips myself as I don’t know what else to mention, so with that being said, until next time…
Rating: 8.4/10