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Monday 17 February 2014

Nearly tHere; countdown to OXYMORON is almost up..

On the night the world is getting its first listen to ScHoolboy Q's major debut, I'm sat here, waiting on OXYMORON, alone in a dark room - taking in his last effort 'Habits & Contradictions' one last time before one of the most anticipated drops in a minute.

'Habits & Contradictions' hit iTunes in
 Jan 2012 and has sold 3.9k copies first week
Even after the opening few records, the two years or so since Q - real name Quincy Hanley - has most definitely rounded him musically.

Whilst in his promo that led up to his real breakthrough piece, H&C, the Cali spitter admitted it provided a good insight into his life pre-music, positives and negatives.

That's definitely relevant, you only have to notice the jump from the opening jam 'Sacrilegious' to '2 Raw', the former, Q revealed, were the worst kind of people in the world.

One thing that always stuck from memory was Q's lack of sticking himself in one box, the piece could go from his typically smooth, lingering rhymes over synthetic beats to an up-temp 'Druggys Wit Hoes Again' - an ode to his real debut, 'Setback'.

Apparently, according to 'niggaHs.already.know.davers.flow', listeners already know Q and what he's all
Oxymoron's art features Q's daughter; Joy. Whilst
deluxe is far more dark.
about. They most definitely want to know more.  They are hanging on the anticipation of learning about his family life, his daughter - in true Hailie, Alaina and Whitney style.

There was never a sense of lack of belief, or lack of any care that he wasn't an instantly branded rapper.  Q was not afraid to play the horror genre in 'Nightmare on Figg Street' while 'Raymond 1969' ain't for the faint hearted.

He never let his attachment to TDE distort the direction of H&C, and one can hope the same lays within Oxymoron.

He never kept the fellow upandcoming of his independent piece, A$AP Rocky and Dom Kennedy both laid into memorable inputs.

Oxy will contain joints with Tyler, 2 Chainz and BJ The Chicago Kid.  Sure, it may change the sound up, but Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar are never far away.

K. Dot is certainly someone Q hopes he won't be far away from, in terms of his own major debut - we're talking in ability and critical response.

The whole attention has been taken away for the West Coast king, even after a year out of the release game during 2013 following GKMC, Top Dawg Entertainment are as close to a real fam as a Hip-Hop label get.
TDE's together with two 2013 newcomers, SZA, who will appear on Oxymoron &
 Isaiah Rashad, who will join Q on his northern-American and European tour.

Yeah, we found out on Twitter from Anthony Tiffith that TDE are due six albums in 2014, I don't recall anything since, Kendrick, Rock and Soulo all threw Oxymoron's distinctive album art up as their Twitter pics - just as they all did for K Dot in Oct 2012.

Have the singles been at the necessary standard for a successful gold album? Is that really what Q is looking forward? We are yet to know.

'Yay Yay' and Kendrick aided 'Collard Greens' were the opening singles, not related to any upcoming albums, dropped on a whim, they blew up in the and had everyone talking, if anything over the final half of 2013, with the disappointing pushbacks and lack of any concrete details - hype slowly dissolved.

Since then 'Man Of The Year' has achieved his highest chart position thus far and on 'Break The Bank' - the albums final pre-release single - he tells Compton label mate Lamar to watch the throne he's aiming for.

Perhaps that is an inclination into his aims?

Suga Free, Kurupt and most notably Raekwon's input on the album have fans and critics alike whetting their lips at potential outcomes.  The blend of veteran experience mixing with someone trying to push boundaries for the first time can be special; reference to MC Eiht on mAAd City.

Q did a lot for Kendrick's recent album-titled gold record, his branded 'Yak Yak' filled up clubs worldwide, while the infamous handwriting on the cover was also ode to Q, a return influence on Collard Greens amongst others could influence success.
Tweet from the top of Top Dawg
announcing their 2014 takeover

Mac Miller knows how Q made a 'better album than Kendrick', this is ScHoolboy's first effort on rap mogul Interscope, to follow such an acclaimed piece as GKMC is unenviable. He may've insisted to Complex Mag "Kendrick left me with no choice but to drop a classic" - but that's all talk, we know that.

Does he believe it can match-up? Following the free 'listen party' tonight the leak will find it's way to the WWW and fly around the globe.

What will the hype be? His previous work has provided no real clue.


We can only Hope tHat Hanley continues the renaissance of tHe game and pusHes TDE closer to tHe top as tHe curtain-raiser for tHeir crowning year..

Though Q will want to be remembered as the main act.





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