Is ScHoolboy Q’s ‘Blue Lips’ The Most Necessary Album of His Profession?

The tempo and quantity of rap albums that drop per 12 months have elevated drastically from the Nineties, which has helped the style turn out to be as large as it’s. On the flip facet, albums don’t actually really feel like main occasions anymore, however ScHoolboy Q, a key a part of the West Coast mainstay rap label High Dawg Leisure (aka TDE), is altering that as we converse. With the forthcoming Blue Lips, his first album since 2019’s CrasH Discuss, that is probably the most highly-anticipated TDE album since Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Large Steppers and SZA’s SOS, each of which dropped in 2022. Each albums have been runaway successes, however the make-up of the label modified drastically as soon as Kendrick Lamar left to kind PgLang with former TDE co-president Mike Free. The ball is now in Q’s courtroom, as he’s now far and away the preferred rapper in TDE.

ScHoolboy Q – Yeern 101 (Official Music Video)www.youtube.com

TDE has entered a crossroads, with ScHoolboy Q on the forefront of it. The label nonetheless has momentum, with SZA turning into an R&B famous person, Isaiah Rashad nonetheless having a dedicated fanbase and Jay Rock onerous at work on a follow-up to his finest album but, Redemption.

Add in a number of well-received releases from Ab-Soul and Motive and intriguing newer signees like Doechii and Ray Vaughn, and the sky is actually the restrict.

ScHoolboy Q – Again n Love feat. Devin Malikwww.youtube.com

But, ScHoolboy Q operates in a really particular area; he’s the one with platinum and gold albums and large hit singles. Along with that, he is likely one of the 4 core rappers instrumental to TDE’s rise, alongside Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar. The reception of Blue Lips, each critically and commercially, will dictate the route of TDE, in each how the label is perceived, and the way they transition from their authentic lineup to their new period. Blue Lips is a significant second throughout the TDE story, and if Q reaches the heights of his previous, TDE’s spot amongst hyper-competitive rap labels can change in a single day. The next questions will in the end be answered: “Can Q re-establish TDE’s grip on rap?” — “Is Q nonetheless rapping at peak kind?”

ScHoolboy Q – Cootieswww.youtube.com

Regardless of how issues play out, ScHoolboy Q stays a really proficient rapper, a star that’s the good mixture of down-to-earth dude and high-school lunchroom humorous. He’s simple to cheer for, and that’s as a result of the music really issues to him. Curiously sufficient, Blue Lips releases 10 years after Q’s debut album, Oxymoron. He has come a good distance within the final decade, each as an artist and as an individual adjusting to stardom. Because it stands ScHoolboy Q has by no means appeared happier and looser, and if the songs he’s shared from Blue Lips are any indication, he simply may rise to the event, but once more.