Image courtesy of ICM Partners
[LOS AWESOME] It’s not a big stretch that Los Angeles rapper Schoolboy Q decided to title his major-label debut Oxymoron.
Schoolboy, who rolls as part of the Top Dawg Entertainment empire with
fellow Black Hippy members Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul, lays
out a seemingly never-ending series of contradictions—one minute he’s
the life of the party, the next he’s contemplative and bashful, lost in a
cloud of marijuana smoke and riding the shuffling beat of the
slow-burning single “Collard Greens.” His flow is a wondrous, twisting
thing, able to volley off an impressive list of collaborators, from
Tyler the Creator to Raekwon to the ever-ubiquitous Pharrell, who gives
“Los Awesome” the type of spare, futuristic bounce he usually reserves
for a Clipse joint. “Hell of a Night” is even a convincing facsimile of
Kanye’s “Hell of a Life.” Despite Oxymoron’s juxtaposition of
current trends and cloud-rap leanings (“Man of the Year” samples
Chromatics’ end-of-the-party anthem “Cherry”), it’s still a weird,
pill-fueled beast that never forgets its place in L.A.’s gangsta rap
hierarchy. You know the drill: I am a sinner, who’s probably going to
sin again.
Crystal Ballroom,
1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 5 and 9 pm Sunday, April 13. $25 advance,
$30 day of show, $100 meet and greet package. Late show sold out. All
ages.
