SUCCESS AT LAST: ScHoolboy Q
By Geoffrey Rowlands
Many people are highly critical of rap music. Misogynistic attitudes and foul mouthed lyrics are the norm rather than the exception. But the genre does have numerous redeeming qualities one of which is to reduce America’s prison population.
Had it not been for his involvement with rap, ScHoolboy Q, real name Quincy Hanley, would almost certainly be looking at life from behind bars rather than the summit of the Billboard 200 album chart.
“Listening to 50 Cent probably saved my life,” Q admitted. “I heard him say that any black guy just getting out of jail should get into the rap game. I’d just got out of jail but had basically been messing around with my music up to that point. I was more interested in playing football at college. I finally realised I wasn’t going to make it to the NFL but I could make it as a rapper.”
Q’s illegal activities began in earnest at the age of 12 when he joined the 52 Hoover Crips street gang. “I started gang-banging then. I was a Hoover Crip so I just followed what the leader and my other homies were doing. I got into drug dealing and made a lot of money selling Oxycontin.
That stuff can be really addictive so people who need it will pay anything you want.”
Despite all this, Q was a surprisingly good student. His grades were easily college level. This, combined with his scholarly appearance as a glasses wearer, earned him the nickname Schoolboy.
“It was almost like I was living three different lives. I was the Hoover Crip, the solid student and the star football player. I really wanted to play football. That’s what kept me in school. If I’d applied myself as I should have done, I’d have been a straight A student. I ended up just doing enough to stay academically eligible for the football team.”
Q wrote his first rap verse when he was 16.
“I just did it because all my homies were writing verses. I had no real thoughts about making my living from rap before I turned 21 and heard those words of advice from 50 Cent.”
It wasn’t long before music became Q’s passion.
“I’d found my direction in life. I quickly made some money from my rapping. It wasn’t much but enough to give me the confidence and belief in my ability. I kept working on my music, refining my skills. Pretty soon, music became something I didn’t just want to do but absolutely had to do.”
His first mixtape, ScHoolboy Turned Hustla, was released in the summer of 2008. Another mixtape, Gangsta & Soul, was followed by his 2011 debut album, Setbacks. By now, Q was also part of the Black Hippy rap crew with Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar.
“We’ve been together since 2009. We appear on each other’s albums but we really want all four of us to become solo stars before we release a full album as Black Hippy.”
Q’s own path to stardom came via a second album, 2012’s Habits & Contradictions, and signing a deal with the major label Interscope Records.
“My previous work was only released digitally by Top Dawg Entertainment. The money wasn’t there to promote my music as I’d have liked but having the joint release with Interscope has changed all that. My new album is available in all formats and I couldn’t wish for better promotion.”
Despite achieving only moderate success with the three tracks so far released as singles, it seems Q’s fans were just waiting for the album to drop. Oxymoron stormed straight to number one.
“People know they’re hearing the real Q on this album. I had to make some compromises on my mixtapes and previous albums but there are none on the new record. The tracks on Oxymoron are my life. I’m comfortable with everything on there. It’s the best work I’ve ever done.”
in brief
Pennybirdrabbit
Each song written by pennybirdrabbit seems to develop from a happy accident during the recording process. “It is kind of like that,” smiled the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter. “I build my songs rather than know exactly what they are going to sound like before I record them. I enter the studio with the basics of a song and then see what happens when I incorporate various sounds.”
Dance music fans may recognise Penny as the featured vocalist on the 2010 Skrillex floor filler All I Ask of You. But her own output mainly consists of down-tempo quirky indie-pop.
Her latest five-song EP, For Love, was released last month.
The video for lead single, Maybe, can be seen at (no www.) pennybirdrabbit.com. Links to more of her videos appear on screen at the conclusion of the Maybe video.
Also posted on the webpage is every song from Penny’s three EPs. These, plus her recordings as a guest vocalist, can also be found at (no www.) soundcloud.com/pennybirdrabbit. Three songs from her Treehouse EP are offered for free download from the SoundCloud page.
Steve Angello
Dance music DJ/production legend Steve Angello is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of his Size record label by giving away the entire back catalogue.
Around 170 tracks will be offered to fans. The first 20 of these are currently available at (no www.) decade.size.net. Skip the intro by clicking the X at the top left of the screen. Move your mouse cursor to the word #DECADE and place it on the C. Scroll slightly downwards until No001 appears and click on this.
You now have access to the Simplicity EP and can hear 30-second samples from every track. Progress through the entire set of releases by clicking the arrow on the right side of each page.
Unfortunately, the songs can only be downloaded from Google Play. This service is available in a very limited number of countries. However, clicking any of the download links produces an on screen message saying every track will be sent to your e-mail address on April 1 if you submit your details.
Alesana
North Carolina rockers Alesana are also celebrating a 10-year anniversary on April 1 by releasing a six-track EP appropriately entitled The Decade.
The band’s fifth studio album is expected to be issued later this year. But the new EP has received universal critical acclaim and is seen as the perfect appetiser for their forthcoming LP.
The video for lead single, Nevermore, can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEodkt4tVMQ. Many more of Alesana’s videos are posted on YouTube. Type their name in the website search box to gain access.
More than 50 tracks taken from the band’s first four albums can be heard at (no www.) myspace.com/alesana/music/songs
Prides
Scottish synthpop trio Prides have just released their three-song EP, The Seeds You Sow.
The band consists of former Midnight Lion pianist/lead singer Stewart Brock and drummer Lewis Gardner along with guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Callum Wiseman. Their first offering, Out of the Blue, was issued nearly a year ago. The accompanying video is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER1o16bpAnQ.
Their own output, plus remixes of tracks by other artists, can be heard at (no www.) soundcloud.com/pridesband. The video for “The Seeds You Sow” is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GunS-wf3Q7M