The Oxymoron of a ScHoolboy

             My first exposure to ScHoolboy Q was in 2012, which was my freshman year of high school. There was a song called “Hands on the Wheel” floating around by an upcoming artist that was named ScHoolboy Q. I am always open to new music so I decided to see if this song would be a track that I could add to my playlist. This song was not only added to the playlist, but it also made me listen to Habits & Contradictions, the whole album which “Hands on the Wheel” was released under. I loved the entire record and it made me very excited to see what ScHoolboy would evolve into. 

 

            ScHoolboy Q’s first official album release came in 2014 and it was called Oxymoron. This album was absolutely spectacular and it was a true moment in time, both in regards to rap music and popular music. I remember going to school on the Friday morning once this album was dropped, and everyone was buzzing about it. The album was a tremendous piece of work because it had quality production along with thought-provoking lyrics. I will never forget the feeling I felt after my first listen to the album, and it truly was a piece of art that stood out amongst every other in the year of 2014. 

 

            The greatness of Oxymoron came from ScHoolboy Q’s rapping abilities, and the way that he was able to paint a picture with just merely his words. The production for this debut album was also amazing, because it was very experimental at many moments while always matching the subject matter that ScHoolboy Q was rapping about. The songs that were meant to be hits have a very energetic beat with ScHoolboy Q celebrating the lifestyle involved with partying and the late night. The songs that explore his addictions with prescription medication have a very dark and somber production associated with them. My favorite moments from the album are these dark explorations into his psyche and the amount of struggles that he has faced while using prescription medication. The lyrics that have stood out to me the most from the album are “My mommy call, I hit ignore, my daughter call, I press ignore, my chin press on my chest, my knees press the floor, I’m blanking out, woke up on the couch, dinner on my shirt, my stomach hurts”. These set of lyrics are the perfect analysis of what being addicted to opioids is, and to perfectly outline the difficulties involved with a dependency on Percocet and Hydrocodone in just a few lines is an amazing feat. 

 

             ScHoolboy Q was an impressive artist on his first mixtape, Setbacks, but then to continue growing and release a debut album that subverts all expectations is tremendous. Oxymoron has gone on to age like fine wine, and it has gone on to be a highly regarded album from the 2010 decade. It is an album that possesses songs that are still played at clubs and it will continue to grow in importance as more time passes.

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