Yow! Welcome to another episode of #NerdSwag, hip-hop reviews from the “geek” perspective — oftentimes a very “thug/geek” perspective. Confused? Good. Then you’ll love our first album, which blends the very best/worst of “trap music” and witty indie-nerd lyricism. Oxymoron is a crazy record, and certainly sets the stage for our bizarre selections of the month. Peep game.
OXYMORON
The title says it all. Like our description of this feature above, the hip-hop industry is often a place of odd contradiction. Even the most “underground” of emcees have attempted typical major label strategy, often opting for raps about material matters than what truly matters. But, you know what? Life is full of balance, and sometimes it’s best not to hide your guilty pleasures.
With that said, Black Hippy’s ScHoolboy Q has his fill. Much more “Gangsta” than his crewmate Kendrick Lamar — as evidenced by the quoted piano-laced opener — Q often flexes that line between hardcore and strange. And it all makes sense that he wouldn’t attack the mic in typical thug fashion. ScHoolboy’s admitted his issues with antidepressants, as featured on perhaps the finest track on his major label debut, the all-too-haunting, yet mesmerizing “Prescription/Oxymoron.” Hopefully lyrics like, “Your brain go numb / synthetic heroine — without the injections / gonna save love and affections / how can they say feeling good is an addiction? / but the world is full of shit so I don’t listen / in fact, we living to die is a contradiction…” are Q’s way of warning those feeling alone in the dark.
Lightening the mood are plenty of nocturnal nods to the City of Lost Angels. The hyper keys and booming bass of Pharrell-laced “Los Awesome” feels like a GTA V mash-up of the hottest Clipse beats; “The Purge,” featuring both Tyler the Creator (who I personally can’t stand unless he pops up on a guest spot) and Dogg Pound legend Kurupt, comes off as a completely warped police siren from another galaxy; and “Hoover Street” features a plethora of mean drum rolls and creaky horns that would make the Beatminerz proud. Yow!
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