Blue lips

Blue Lips is California rapper Schoolboy Q’s sixth album, his last record being Crash Talk which came out nearly five years ago. Crash Talk received mostly positive reviews from critics, but a lot of fans were divided on the album. It was a departure from his unique sound that was seen on his previous three albums Habits and Contradictions, Oxymoron, and Blank Face LP. I personally loved Oxymoron, and I’ve heard some great songs off of Habits and Contradictions, but how does Blue Lips stack up in comparison?

             A highlight of the album for me is “Blueslides,” which has a beautiful jazzy instrumental, in his verse, Schoolboy Q talks about how he lost his friend, rapper Mac Miller to drugs and his battle with addiction. “Man, I gotta shake this shit, wake up, and move with a purpose.” I like the break with Lauren Santi, with that beautiful trumpet harmonizing in the background. He also criticizes how people canceled Kanye West, instead of helping him get mental health treatment, “We was screamin’ ‘Mental health,’ and now we wanna kill ‘em all.” The trumpet and piano outro provide a melancholy backdrop to the seriousness of the track. It's one of my favorites on the record. 

   Some other favorite tracks of mine are “THank god 4 me,” which has a hard-hitting horn beat in the first half before transitioning into a more soulful flute beat. Q flows effortlessly on the track, and he sounds incredibly focused and driven after nearly five years of no new music. “Yeern 101,” is another solid track with features an energetic flow, where Q rhymes with speed and poise. “Love Birds,” has a lovely chorus from Lance Skiiiwalker in between Q and Devin Malik’s verses over an industrial synth beat. It feels like a mix of Yeezus era Kanye and TPAB-era Kendrick, and I appreciate it. I also like that the track has such a soothing outro. “Cooties,” has a great reversed piano beat where Q raps about being a father and how the disturbing trend of school shootings has made him scared as a parent. The beat on “Cooties,” sounds like the Majora’s Mask Song of Time theme was mixed in a bit.

    “oHio,” is another jazzy-sounding track and I like the harp plucking in the background paired with the guitar and piano in the intro. I like how it evolves into a swirly mix of sounds over an aggressive clapping drum beat. I’ve noticed that this album has a great mixture of different-sounding beats, and the production is one of the strongest parts of this album. The amount of beat changes on the album shows the versatility of Q’s producers and sets him apart from other rappers’ selection of beats. “Hella hoes like Prince,” is a nice reference to the late singer and his habit of always being surrounded by beautiful women. Freddie Gibbs comes in with another great guest verse after he stole the show on “Back to Me,” from that mostly awful album, Vultures 1. The beat on “oHio” goes through multiple phases going from a swirly clapping beat to a soulful piano and saxophone instrumental without drums, allowing the rappers to shine over the glistening production. 

      Another great thing about this album is the features, I really like the contributions from Freddie Gibbs, Ab-Soul, Devin Malik, and Lance Skiiiwalker the most, because I feel like they add a lot to the music. What bums me out is that Q’s former label mate, Kendrick Lamar, isn’t featured on the album. They always bring out the best in each other when they collaborate, like on “Collard Greens,” and “THat Part (Black Hippy Remix).” 

    While I mostly enjoy this album, some of the tracks feel like filler in my opinion, and “First”, while a solid track goes on a bit too long for me. I think the album could’ve cut at least two or three tracks. The tracks I’m not crazy about are “Movie,” featuring Az Chic, and “Smile" Another one I’m not a fan of is “Back n Love” featuring Devin Malik. That’s probably the track that’s my least favorite off of the album, it doesn’t flow as well when it comes to the continuity of the album. It’s by no means an awful track, but the synth bass instrumental doesn’t really change or evolve like the more jazzy cuts on the record, and it doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the album as a result. The album is at its best when the production is jazz and R&B infused. A good example of this is “Lost Times,” featuring Jozzy. I like the glossy electric piano and groovy bass riff on the track. “Germany ’86,” Schoolboy Q reflects on how rough it was growing up in south central LA, his deeply reflective verses make it another of my favorite tracks. My only complaint is that it’s too short. “My superhero’s a woman, you know she served for this country,” he proudly proclaims about his mom. 

    “Time Killers,” features an aggressive performance from the LA rapper over a growly bass lead beat. An aggressive harp beat with two impressive verses from Q makes “Pig feet,” another highlight of the album, however, Childish Major contributes very little to the track. Still, I love the vibe of the track and even though it isn’t jazzy I love how raw and angry Q sounds on the track. “Smile,” is a decent track but it’s very short and doesn’t add a whole lot to the album. It's one of my least favorites on the album. The “Kim K to my Kanye” line did elicit a smile from me though.

   In conclusion, after five years, Blue Lips, while not a perfect record, is a great return to form for the rapper, I love his manic energy, and the amazing work of his producers in making such phenomenal beats. I would recommend this album to any fan of hip-hop, and while the album does have a few skips, the highlights greatly outshine the lowlights.

Overall Score: 8/10

Favorite Tracks: “Blueslides,” “Germany ’86,” “oHio,” “Pig feet,” “THank god 4 me,”

Least Favorite Tracks: “Smile,” “Back n Love”

Listen to Blue Lips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7icwrDQjdGM

Genre: Hip Hop