Review: "CrasH Talk” Album by Schoolboy Q
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I consider Schoolboy Q to be an underrated member of TDE. To be completely honest, every member that isn’t named Kendrick Lamar is underrated. Q has always been interesting to me. He’s clearly talented, yet his singles typically don’t turn into hits. He is what I call an “Album Artist”. He rarely ever misses when it comes to his projects. His new album, “CrasH Talk” is yet another example.
I’ll be honest, the very first time I listened to this project I was disappointed. Maybe it’s because I was comparing it to his previous album “Blank Face” or maybe I was just expecting it to be different. I decided to listen to it several more times in different settings. Once in my car, once with headphones while at work and once on my home speakers. Each time I listened to it, I began to like it more and more.
It’s been difficult for me to come up with words to describe the album but I think I’ve come up with some. It’s very simplistic and raw. Schoolboy doesn’t utilize a lot of complex cadences and he doesn’t rap as much as I’m used to hearing on his projects. The album also relies heavily on it’s features, which isn’t a bad thing, but is something I’m not used to with Q.
I’ve decided that I like this album about the same as I like his last one. The transition sort of reminds me of Kendrick’s transition from “TPAB” to “DAMN”. Q goes from an intricate, complex album to a more simplistic one. There is a lot of singing as Travis Scott, 6LACK, Ty Dolla $ign, and Kid Cudi are all featured on the project. While their singing is dope, at times some of the tracks with hooks feel more like cookie cutter ones.
Q seems to be his vintage self as he raps in unique style. Un-cut with no filter and not afraid of punchlines or unusual rhymes. The features from YG, 21 Savage and Lil Baby are all well placed. The production is dope and there are several catchy tracks such as “Chopstix” and “Lies”. Along with these radio playable tracks are ones such as “Black Folk” and “Attention” which will please the hip-hop heads. My personal favorite track is either “5200” or “CrasH”.
Overall I think this is another great addition to Q’s discography and I expect it to do very well on the charts/radio as well as with his fan base. Once again, TDE is showing why they are at the top of the Hip-Hop game.