As we continue to soak in the essence of Isaiah Rashad’s Cilvia Demo album, Top Dawg Entertainment becomes two for two as far as label releases. ScHoolboy Q’s Oxymoron leaked sometime last week, and officially hit the shelves Tuesday.
Two days after it became available for pre-order on iTunes, it hit No. 1 on the charts. Despite it leaking, there are still two songs only available on hard copy. After having it on replay since it found it’s way to the Internet, I would say it’s definitely worth every dime spent.
This album may not be a classic, but I’d definitely give it 5/5 and name it Q’s best project. With his previous tapes, you can still hear the uncertainty in him as an artist. His flow wasn’t fully developed, and I’m not sure he knew exactly where he was trying to go with his music.
On this album, you hear his voice throughout the production as well as a matured sense of lyrical structure. It’s gangster rap at its finest with an upgraded wardrobe. He also finally decided to work outside of the TDE family, hitting the studio with 2 Chainz, Pharrell, Raekwon and more.
Oxymoron is composed around the idea of Q’s life being an oxymoron. He utilizes the voice of his daughter, Joy Hanley, to prove this point on the intro of a couple songs throughout the project. Despite him having sold narcotics, he believes all the bad that he does is for a good cause, which is his daughter. This is where we get the name of the album from.
Contrary to popular belief, we did not get a track with Ab Soul, and the only track he has with Kendrick Lamar is a commercial single, “Collard Greens.”
Q and Ab are known for delivering their “Druggies Wit H*es” record on each one of his projects, but we couldn’t even get one of those for this album due to troubles with getting the sample cleared. Nonetheless, I’d definitely say Oxymoron lived up to its hype. As one of the most anticipated albums of 2014, Q still remains at the top of the charts even with the leak. If you’re looking for something to relate to, this may not be the album for you.
ScHoolboy Q tends to make music for himself, it just so happens that his story is entertaining to the masses. A young gang banger who made it and still trying to adjust to this new lifestyle.