It took two years for Schoolboy Q to release his long awaited studio album, Oxymoron, and it was far from a disappointment. Although he did release several records prior to the albums Feb 25 release, there were still good songs waiting to be heard. A few stand out tracks that come to mind are “Man of the Year“, “Break the Bank”, “Hover Street”, and “What they Want”.

Schoolboy use’s a very dark approach to this album with excellent beats and dark rhymes. The production is phenomenal, Schoolboy defiantly has an ear for good production, and it was truly hard for me to find many average songs. The album has great unity and Schoolboy showed his excellent ability to diversify his flow and rhymes. The album also follows a good pattern of having enough diversity while also keeping a familiar dark and methodical sound, as well as, rhymes.

Overall, this album has a lot of great material and allows the listener to really get to know the artist. In “Prescription/Oxymoron” Schoolboy speaks on his experience with prescription drugs such as prescription cough syrup and pain killers. He reveals the dark and painful world of addiction with these drugs and what he personally, has gone through. In contrast, he also incorporates fast pace tunes such as “Man of the Year” and “Collard Greens”, showing the listener his versatility and ability to create blissful tracks, rather than darker atmospherical records.

It must also be understood though, that lyrically this album lacks depth and true substance (for the most part). However, Schoolboy Q’s delivery along with his flow cannot be overlooked. The album captures the 1990’s West Coast gangsta rap sound over progressive beats and Schoolboy’s delivery is always on point and intense. The mix between the beats and the classic sound of gangsta rap is what really makes this album unique and truly enticing.

To sum it up, Oxymoron is full of great songs, good variety, and the album, as a whole, has great unity. It’s the first studio album I have purchased on iTunes in years, and I don’t regret it. Look out for Schoolboy Q in the future, if he can deal with his drug problems and continue to make good music, who knows how far this young talented rapper can go.