“Shake it for the man of the year,” boasts Schoolboy Q in “Man of the Year,” one of the hit singles off his second LP, Oxymoron. As part of the posse/label TDE (Top Dawg Entertainment), Schoolboy Q has to constantly show his hip-hop prowess alongside such artists as Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and rising star Isaiah Rashad. Entering 2014 with a dominating swagger, tighter production and an overall sense of maturity in lyrics, Schoolboy Q’s Oxymoron demands to be taken seriously, but wants to have reckless fun along the way.
The album begins with his daughter saying, “fuck rap, my daddy a gangsta.” A mixture of humor and self-acclamation sets the general tone of this record. Listeners know to expect the same hood-inspired braggadocio and 4-20 shrouded silliness. Opening tracks “Gangsta” and “Los Awesome” sounds like opposites, with the former a more down-tempo trap beat and the latter a louder, bass-injected club banger. Schoolboy Q totes his genre-span when it comes to choosing diverse beats.
A-List producers and featuring rappers come and go throughout the album, accenting the songs, almost always for the better. An unusual combo of an ominous, slow Mike WiLL beat and a 2 Chainz verse in “What They Want” create, well, an oxymoron. Q proves that he’s capable of trying new, daring decisions when it comes to crafting songs. “Man of the Year”'s beat samples a short loop from electronic group Chromatics’ “Cherry” and makes it into a hypnotic and addictive single. Tyler, the Creator stops by on “The Purge,” offering his standard dark, angry hook and beat that came straight out of one of his own albums.
Oxymoron doesn’t run out of gas, a chronic issue for many hip-hop albums. Latter-half songs “Hell of a Night,” “Man of the Year,” and "Fuck LA” keep the energy alive between serious, confessional-style songs “Blind Threats,” “Break the Bank,” and “Grooveline Pt. 2.” Mixing the two styles of hype and storytelling empower the album, showing Q’s knowledge on hip-hop and maturity as an artist.
With few flaws and impressive execution, Oxymoron sets a precedent to all following hip-hop albums planning to drop this year. While he may not be at the caliber of Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar or Drake, Schoolboy Q teaches us in Oxymoron that he wants to make it there, and will work as hard he can to make sure he does.
Rating: B+
