Schoolboy Q nearly quit music after he made this album a year ago.
Let’s all be glad he didn’t, because “Blank Face LP” is what we need out of rap right now.
The album in its entirety is a piece of work based in the streets and dodgy neighborhoods of the rapper’s past, mirroring his struggles as he sees a rift between his music and his life with his young daughter, and as he faces getting older (he just turned 30). This isn’t the playful Schoolboy Q we know from “iBETiGOTSUMWEED,” nor is it the big-balling partier we know from “Man Of The Year.” He released a three-part group of music videos that again departs from the party mentality present in his earlier works, showing Schoolboy and his boys in the streets, in jail uniforms and in court. The last video ends with Schoolboy ruminating on life with his daughter outside of prison during “Black THougHts.”
The album itself can be described in Schoolboy’s own words in “TorcH:”
“This be the realest shit I wrote.”
Nothing less than detail oriented, “Blank Face” surprises at moments, bringing listeners into that kind of awe, or at least appreciation for these details, both in the album’s production and in Schoolboy’s verses. An example of this is in his duet with producer Kanye West, “THat Part. ” West’s signature flair is rampant throughout, but Schoolboy still owns the track, which has possibly the most lighthearted subject matter on the LP.
Just before the album dropped on July 8, a remix of “THat Part” surfaced featuring the members of the rap collective Black Hippy (made up of rappers Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q). This rare collaboration was to the appeasement of Top Dawg Entertainment CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, according to Schoolboy. In recent interviews, the members have tip-toed around any major collaborations. Schoolboy has gone as far to admit that they don’t rap together any more, citing that their time is devoted to individual projects.
The members of Black Hippy are — and have been — some of the strongest rappers in the game. We now have works like “Habits and Contradictions” and “To Pimp a Butterfly” because they’ve enveloped themselves with their solo careers. But together, they create rap magic. Let’s not forget “Collard Greens” in which Kendrick and Schoolboy combined to create one of their best collabs yet. Schoolboy’s music, like Ab-Soul’s and Kendrick’s, has always been open and raw about life in the streets of South Central L.A.
“Blank Face” is creepy. From Kendrick’s low-frequency hook in “Black Thoughts” to the dark and twisted beat in Kanye and Schoolboy’s collab and single. Schoolboy made heavy use of female vocalists, which has become more popular in a time in rap when we see a number of artists revisiting the styles of pioneers of the craft.
Schoolboy raises torches of respect for several of his own influences. In fact, the album name itself is a reference to Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah. And in the fourth track, “Groovy Tony, no face killa” is another reference to the rapper. Schoolboy recreates Tupac’s “Str8 Ballin’” in a deep and gritty version of the track looking back at his own road to success, from “From sleepin’ on Top’s couch to multiple bank accounts.”
There are some clear bangers on this album. But as he points out in an interview he recently gave on L.A. radio station Real 92.3, he revisits some intense images from gang life in almost every track. “Whatever You Want,” with its dance beat and psych-y drop, even goes deep lyrically.
Separate, the pieces of “Blank Face” are easily savored. Together, however, the album has the ability to transport the listener to the dark corners of the street where characters like “Groovy Tony” would hang out and slyly sling baggies filled with questionable substances for a living, or to a smoky bar circulating the scent of dancing bodies and malt liquor.
As Schoolboy Q wrestles with his personal life, social media and fame, he’s still respected, sought after and whether he likes it or not, just as gangster as ever.
