SchoolBoy Q‘s Blank Face LP is on schedule to drop July 8 with 17 tracks, leaving us only days away from release.
Features include Kanye West as heard on Q’s lead single “THat Part,” as well as Jadakiss, Vince Staples, E-40, Anderson .Paak and Miguel. With the drop being so close, we decided to cook up a quick list of three things we can expect from Q and the album. We have a few aids to pull from including “THat Part” featuring Ye, and two parts of Q’s short film. Here’s our stab at it.
THe 1st Expectation: I’m from Hoover St.
The Blank Face LP will be extremely Hoover St, super California, Schoolboy Q in his most natural and gritty element. In two parts of his short film, “By Any Means” and “Tookie Knows II,” Q places himself back in the jungle, back in the field, and needless to say he looks like a natural. Why? There’s no secret that he really comes from that life, and Hip Hop has always been about delivering that feeling of closeness to certain lifestyles. Q giving his fans that inside look into that world, will continue to be why he always has a place in this game. “By Any Means” is funny because of the lingo, dialect, and story line, but it’s also relatable and transparent. When viewing, there’s instantly a feeling of how the album will sound, and it gives you a feeling of the mood Blank Face will ultimately put you in. Just don’t become a gang member over night—leave that to Q and the boys.
THe 2nd Expectation: Blank Face LP will be new age, 2016 Hip Hop.
If you aren’t a true Hip Hop fan, Blank Face LP may not be the project for you, because this will be West Coast, gang signs out the window Hip Hop. SchoolBoy Q has always possessed the ability to make authentic Hip Hop, but the feel of this newest effort is already ike it’s from a different planet. It’s the perfect blend of new age and old school feel, from the music and its taste to the amazing roll out job Top Dawg has done. Q has the chance to convert fans not only to him, but to 2016 new age Hip Hop as a whole. “Tookie Knows II” is so Snoop, Dre, Nate Dogg, etc West Coast, that it may represent this album potentially catapulting Schoolboy Q into another dimension in terms of where he ranks among classic artists from the Westside. That’s a huge possibility, but one Q is embracing.
THe 3rd Expectation: THat Part feat Kanye West.
Because of the huge possibility of the Blank Face LP catapulting SchoolBoy into another dimension, he’s taken his features and really gone top shelf. Having Kanye on the lead single, “THat Part” was huge, the video was exactly what it should have been. Q also taps E-40, who will provide a Bay Area presence necessary for a successful West Coast classic. Jadakiss is on there for the West Coast/East Coast collaboration, and a verse that will inevitably be problematic. Vince Staples will be a great touch to the tracklist and a good bridge to millennial Hip Hop heads. Anderson .Paak makes so much sense, being one of the hottest artists in 2016, and Miguel will do what Miguel does time in and time out, providing Q with that new age R&B vibe that can take any single over the top. To see Q take his features this seriously, and be this intentional with them, assures the Blank Face LP will be THat album.
