“When it comes to music, I don’t think, ‘Oh, you have to give up every year,'” ScHoolboy Q said in an interview last year. “As an artist, if I’m not bringing anything out of my life, I feel like I shouldn’t be putting it out there.”
Luckily, a lot has changed in the Los Angeles native’s life lately, and thankfully, it’s all for the better. In hindsight, the infamous bucket hat, a symbol of a lifestyle he never wanted to return to, has now been replaced indefinitely by a golf hat. This real-life metaphor perfectly illustrates the many different roles he currently plays as an artist, drawing on the past while deftly negotiating his own future.
In this case, it took the top Dawg Entertainment MC a full month to regain the center stage after being dormant for almost five years. While most people succumb to the reset of trends during this time as excess remains one of the last remaining formulas for capturing public attention, Q announced his next full-length project on the first day of February 2024 program and previewed it by playing two segments once a week until the entire hip-hop community stared in his direction.
One of the most effective launches in recent history has already worked in his favor, with the 18 tracks that make up Blue Lips fully unfolding on March 1, revealing an anatomy sustained by old habits, contradictions, clarity and insight. That said, it’s not regretful, as if the rapper’s past instability was the impetus for his progress. Rather than running away from his demons, Golfer Q seems to be actively shutting them out – memories that apparently still exist and now remind him of his progress in comparison.
LP’s optimism and confident transparency are fueled by a controlled theatrics that allowed the West Coast bartender to maintain the enthusiasm that made him a key figure in the game throughout the 2010s, while also giving him room to look cautiously forward. Despite not having a clear theme, the project is held together by a patterned cohesion that sets it apart from collections of singles that are bundled together and pass off as albums.
The hypnotic and carnival-like intro “Funny Guy” represents the dominant aspect of the set, guided by meditative lamentation and awareness. With some cuts, the metaphor takes on a fuller form in the symphony “Blueslides,” in which Q reflects on the death of Mac Miller in 2018 and how it prompted him to clean up his act: “Because of drugs And losing a family boy, man, I don’t want to go back.”
Likewise, the record culminates with another tune that’s on the same wavelength as the 37-year-old, with bars like “Death and Beauty Are the Same” and “First We Gotta Learn How to Fail/We’ve All Seen It” shares the lessons he has learned in recent years. Inferno from Lost Time – sure enough, it was made by an alchemist. Other songs like “Cooties,” “Nunu” and “Germany 86′” add a whimsical and soul-stirring glow to the Blue Lips’ most laudable moments.
On the other hand, a few select numbers build on the trap energy that made ScHoolboy Q one of the brand ambassadors on the hip-hop party circuit a decade ago. Considering the depths this record traverses, “Yeern 101,” “Back n Love” and “Pig foot” are its most avoidable joints, though they’re not without purpose.
Add some hiss and soot to those templates, and you get “Pop,” which not only has one of the most catchy beats on the record, but is also a Rico Nasty award-winning hit (later tied with Ab-Soul for a few songs ). It’s worth noting that her verse only appears in the last 15 seconds, setting an important precedent for the rest of the album early on: make sure to see the end of each section from beginning to end, as it’s rare for any section to stay the same from front to back. same. , which is what makes this project so addictive throughout its 56-minute runtime.
It’s filled with one curveball after another, such that certain cuts consist of two or more songs, like mashups that shouldn’t theoretically work but still work — “Thank God 4 Me,” “Lovebirds ”, “movie” and “first” all fit this description. Most notably, the Freddie Gibbs-assisted “oHio” features three separate sections that flow into each other, transitioning from ’70s porn themes to trembling basslines to noir The end credits of the movie.
In other cases, the contrast is even broader, but Q’s flexibility combined with his Pusha T-like ability to make every word count, and to constantly charge his voice in a way that’s reminiscent of Yasiin Bey, Make every paragraph harmonious.
An orderly combination of sunshine, cloudy days, rainy days and starry skies, “Blue Lips” goes from lively to calm, from bright to pensive, with a consistency that makes people unconsciously succumb to its charming erratic rhythm. Rare instances of production lulls are made up for by lyrical content and vocal merit, with Lance Skiiiwalker, Jozzy, Devin Malik and Childish Major ) guest appearance; vice versa.
While many listeners may be tempted to ask themselves whether ScHoolboy Q’s latest offering is worth the wait, his impressive growth also shows that years of experience may breed the richest music, especially in a word-heavy genre like rap middle.
Release date: March 1, 2024
Record label: Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope
Listen to “Blue Lips” below:
