ScHoolboy Q, who graced cover 2-of-2 of our latest issue, had a lot to say when he spoke to our Music Editor Khari Nixon. From speaking on his addiction to several pain medications to the recent Macklemore/Grammy controversy, ScHoolboy gave us a lot to take in, while stating that he still has a lot more to tell.
Track seven on Oxymoron takes us to a point in Q’s life that he doesn’t wish to look back on. [On “Prescription/Oxymoron”]
“ScHoolboy’s daughter Joy enters the room and tries to wake her father, and confuses his drug coma for him being tired. It’s a heart wrenching listening experience, one that Q admits is so painstakingly based off real-life events, he hasn’t listened to it since he made it….. ‘I perform it every night, but I never listen to it because it’s too much. A part of me, like, kicks myself in the ass ‘cause my daughter was there. But a part of it makes me proud because I’m not that type of person no more.’”
As saddening as it may be, we can gladly say now that the rattling experience shaped the man that we once just saw as Kendrick Lamar’s hype man into one of our favorite artist–and that’s not opinion, just take a look at the Billboard charts. Who knows, he may be the next TDE artist to be nominated for a Grammy–and win. Yes, the majority of the rap world can agree that K. Dot was “robbed” of the win for Best Rap Album this year, but ScHoolboy could honestly care less. He has publicly said that rappers “need to stop talking sh*t about Macklemore,” and when he spoke exclusively to Nixon, he took a jab at a few of them, stating “they know who to say sh*t about.”
“ ‘All these rappers talking sh*t about Macklemore because of the text, but they wouldn’t be saying that sh*t if I sent the text out. Or if Maino sent the text out. Bruh, if Maino sent the text out and put it on Instagram, n****s would be quiet. They wouldn’t say nothing.’ He never explicitly stated which rapper(s) he was referring to, but it’ll be more fun if we leave that up to interpretation.”
Still, it’s never personal with Q. The “Blessed” emcee just wants to perfect his craft, while giving the fans his story–the real story.
“I’m not scared to put my real life out there like a lot of rappers. Five, six albums in and you still don’t know nothing about their life. You just know they rap good…Everybody’s a mobster now. They got the Vaseline, they got the dope, they got the burner, like who you go the burner from though? How many shots were in the burner? When the cops came what did you do with the burner, you get what I’m sayin? [Other than YG] Nobody’s going in depth with it like me.”
We get you, Q, and from “Gangsta” to “F*ck LA,” we enjoy all 59 minutes & 25 seconds of it.
From a guy who came into The Source offices in 2013 just two years removed from his first retail album (Setbacks, 2011) selling less than 1,000 copies its first week, to being the “Man Of The Year” with over 216,000 copies (as of April 6th, 2014) of Oxymoron sold nationwide, this interview just shows us exactly what ScHoolboy wants us to see: progression & tenacity–and he did a solid job.
Funny what a difference a few years can make. Congrats to ScHoolboy Q for his debut cover on the Source, available now, both digitally and on newsstands.
-Kairi C. (@_findingforever)
