[video]
Is it safe to say, now that all the reviews are in, Lana Del Rey has flopped?
(I would love to hear your replies)
Black Hippy
ScHoolboy Q
Click through picture for review.
RIP The Books
Black Keys, anyone?
[video]
[video]
Danny Brown.
2012; Top Dawg Entertainment
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So it’s finally here, the album that garners Black Hippy the attention they deserve. Everyone would figure Kendrick Lamar would offer that first breakthrough. Although Section.80 was one of last year’s best releases, it got overlooked a bit; it wasn’t “BNM”, despite making the Pitchfork year end list; the release was so close to a “Universal Acclaim” from Metacritic, only losing by 1 point. So it’s ScHoolboy Q, the resident weed rapper of Black Hippy? This comes as a surprise to me. Setbacks was strong, but it felt a lot like a token weed rap album from a collective that is the best thing to happen to underground music in quite some time. This is where we meet Habits & Contradictions. It seems like Q has moved from songs like “iBETiGOTSUMWEED” into songs along the line of surprising, stark album opener “Sacrilegious”. He is his strongest when he challenges the entire rap game, in a sweeping revelation of the true grind; “Nightmare on Figg St.” opens with an embracing “What’s fifty grand to a motherfucker? Can you please remind me?”, and it continues to challenge The Throne’s hit “Ni**as in Paris”, while revealing a aggressively morose tale of how the current street game is. Q even drops the now famous “cray”, throughout the track. With the recent BNM of “Hands on the Wheel” and Q’s feature stealing the thunder from the hosting A$AP Rocky on “Brand New Guy”, Habits & Contradictions looks to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back on Black Hippy’s big break; it already has the attention of Beats Per Minute. This is an unrelenting affront on popular rap, not unlike OF’s short-lived run last year. Habits & Contradictions will certainly please any underground rap fan, along with anyone who cannot take another rapper talking about rims or chains. This is a breath of fresh air and the door is open for the rest of Black Hippy.
Verdict: Excellent
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Done by BobbyMac
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