Schoolboy Q- Oxymoron ALBUM REVIEW

Schoolboy Q is probably in my top 5 favorite underground rappers right now. He is so unique, and he really has a crazy, gangster, wild vibe to his rapping. I love the way he spits, and he has so much energy. His 2012 album, Habits and Contradictions, was definitely one of my favorites from this year, and we have been waiting for Oxymoron for 2 years now. It's finally out, and will it live up to all the anticipation?

To start this review with the album's production, the beats on Oxymoron were extremely varied. There were all types of sounds on this album, from relaxed to gritty to just weird. The first track, Gangsta, is one of the instrumental standouts. This one comes in with a commanding, hard piano tune mixed with some hard, west coast drums. It is odd, but it is a beat that works. It really helps in grabbing the listener and getting them ready for the album. The song Studio, one of the most mellow on the album, was just such a smooth and relaxing beat. I did enjoy the relaxing beats on this album. On the other hand, songs like Hoover Street, Oxymoron, and Fuck LA totally enhanced the tough, gangsta vibe of the album, All of these were gritty, making use of loud, high energy drums. The song Blind Threats had an awesome beat composed of some unique percussion sounds and string instruments flowing in and out of the track. It is a very polished, nice instrumental. The last beat I really loved was on the Alchemist-produced Break the Bank. It is a simple instrumental, but it hits hard and there are no problems with it. The drums sound crisp and the minimal, but very effective piano keys make the track very elegant and smooth. The song Los Awesome featured some of the weirdest, most oddball production I've heard in a while. Pharrell put together a beat that is almost too loud and obnoxious to work, but he makes it sound good. It ends up being a real head banger and it has a great groove to it. There were some beats here, though, that just didn't sound as good to me. The songs Studio, Man of the Year, and Hell of a Night sounded a little rushed to me. Not that these are bad, but they really pale in comparison to others on the album. The main disappointment, though, was The Purge, which was produced by Tyler, the Creator. The beat here just sounded a little lazy. Once again, it wasn't terrible, but just did not sound like it took long to make, especially for a great producer like Tyler. Overall though, the beats here impressed me. I loved the variety and emotions that some of these instrumentals brought.

On Oxymoron, Schoolboy Q definitely changed his rapping style up a little from Habits and Contradictions. On some tracks this works, but on others it doesn't. Q is a little inconsistent here. The highs on this album, though, are very high. On Gangsta, he rides the beat perfectly and delivers some gritty lyrics, all with a crazy, enthusiastic delivery. Q uses this crazy delivery on a lot of songs here. I love how he just throws his voice everywhere, going from high pitched to low in a second. He just sounds wild. Another area where Q excels on this album is the hooks. On almost every hook, Q delivers it with enough enthusiasm to make it catchy. Even though the hooks have a lot of different vibes, they all work. My favorite hooks, and the ones that stay stuck in my head, would be What they Want, Collard Greens, Hoover Street, Oxymoron, and of course, the insanely catchy Man of the Year. From a lyrical standpoint, Q really delivers on some songs here. Prescription/Oxymoron is a hard-hitting two parter about Q's drug problem. He even includes his daughter trying to wake him up while he is comatose. Oxymoron, the second part, features Q very happy that he has stopped selling drugs, adding to the "oxymoron" theme of the album. His and Her Friend, which features singer SZA, is probably the most weird, unorthodox track here. It utilizes some slow production and voice shifters to create something very calm. It is a great song, and reminds me of something ASAP Rocky would make. Speaking of other rappers, the features on Oxymoron were pretty good. Raekwon killed it on Blind Threats, 2 Chainz added a lot to the song What they Want, and Jay Rock had a good verse on Los Awesome. While I was disappointed Tyler didn't have a verse on The Purge, he did sound deliver an awesome hook. On the same song, Kurupt had probably my favorite guest verse on the album, as he brought the west coast styler with some humorous and awesome lyrics.

OXYMORON WRAP UP
+Schoolboy Q can really put songs together, you can tell he takes a lot of time on his craft
+Q raps with so much energy and fun, throws his voice around everywhere
+Catchy hooks all over the album
+Great production on most of the songs
+Awesome features
-Some production I didn't like

Best: Gangsta, Los Awesome, Break the Bank

Worst: Hell of a Night

Schoolboy Q- Oxymoron
9.0/10

Lil Herb- Welcome to Fazoland MIXTAPE REVIEW

Today, I'm reviewing the new, debut mixtape by Chicago rapper Lil Herb, Welcome to Fazoland. I only found out about this 17-year-old MC a few weeks ago, and upon hearing a few songs, I liked his style. The guy raps with a lot of aggression, and just comes off as a tough, hard-nosed rapper. Welcome to Fazoland is this guy's first legit, real body of work, and I was pretty excited to give it a listen. Did Lil Herb come through on this mixtape?

Like I said earlier, Lil Herb's best quality as an MC is his delivery. The guy is basically yelling his lyrics on most of the songs here, and he just has a very tough, mean sounding voice. Herb is really commanding the listener to hear what he is saying, and it works. Whenever his booming voice comes in on a song, I am immediately hooked in. Lil Herb's flow is pretty decent on these tracks. He has a lot of different flows, going slower on some songs, then slowing it down on others. None of his flows really sound that different or interesting, though. While Herb's lyrics are not his strong point at all, some of his lines just stick in my head. This is probably not as much about the lyrics themselves, but the way he delivers them. This guy seriously uses his gritty voice to carry tracks. The song 4 Minutes of Hell Part 3 is definitely the toughest here, and Herb just sounds awesome. He raps with a whole lot of passion and aggressiveness. Herb also does a good job here of making catchy songs, and a few songs on this tape have awesome hooks that got stuck in my head easily. This guy can really put together a banger, using nothing but energy to create some awesome tracks. Koolin, On the Corner, Mamma I'm Sorry, Another Day, and Still Fucked Up are my favorites here, and I love most of these for their aggression. The most surprising moment on this tape was Herb putting together a serious, lyrical song with Mamma I'm Sorry. The title is an obvious giveaway to the song's content, and even though it is a common rap topic, Herb sounded really emotional and angry on the track. I really do enjoy a lot of these tracks, as Lil Herb has one of the best deliveries I have heard in a while.

The beats on this mixtape are not really anything special, but they do their job: match the level of aggression that Lil Herb is rapping with. These are just some banging trap beats that are, bringing some serious energy to the table. Not one of these beats could be described as mellow. These instrumentals are dirty, loud, and mean, matching the rapping very nicely. I do have a few problems with the production, though. The beats end up really samey by the end, and there are only a few on the album that are unique or different from your regular trap beat. One of my favorites, though, is the song Koolin. This one mixes in some dramatic opera vocals with the high hats and makes an epic trap instrumental. Overall, though, if you took away the MC, these beats would be incredibly weak. Luckily, Lil Herb is there to make the beats sound a lot better. There were very few features on this mixtape, but they were decent for the most part. The best was easily King L on Another Day, who absolutely killed his verse and made the song great.

WELCOME TO FAZOLAND WRAP UP
+Herb spits with so much aggression, he is able to carry songs with his voice alone
+Some songs have very catchy, well done hooks
+His flow just works, he has lots of talent
+Beats match his aggression
-He doesn't have much in terms of lyricism
-Instrumentals are very, very generic

Best: Koolin, 4 Minutes of Hell Part 3, Another Day

Worst: Ain't For None

Lil Herb- Welcome to Fazoland
7.5/10

Isaiah Rashad- Cilvia Demo ALBUM REVIEW

Today I'm reviewing the very anticipated debut project from Isaiah Rashad, Cilvia. This guy became pretty popular in the underground after signing with the acclaimed label TDE, making an appearance on a BET cypher with the group, and releasing some pretty promising songs and music videos. I have really enjoyed his songs that he has dropped so far, and this album is one of my most anticpated for this year. Will Isaiah Rashad release the fantastic project that I am expecting him to?

The first thing that really hit me upon listening to this was Isaiah Rashad's very unique rapping style. The guy is so unconventional, with a choppy, aggressive delivery that really doesn't sound like anyone else. He really knows how to ride a beat though, as there weren't any moments where I felt his flow was off. Everything just sounded smooth. In terms of lyrics, Isaiah's verses are all over the place, but he always manages to a sneak some great lines into his songs. My favorite song on this album is Soliloquy, which is sadly the shortest song here. This track embodies Rashad's rapping style perfectly. As he just really packs a lot of nice bars into a short song. Every other line on this track just makes you think twice. It was sort of like a freestyle, but it was awesome. Isaiah's rapping is pretty attention grabbing on a lot of other songs here, such as Webbie Flow, Menthol, and Shot You Down. The main highlight of all these songs is definitely the rapping, as Isaiah Rashad is such an interesting MC. When he really gets aggressive on a song, he almost reminds me of Kendrick Lamar. In addition to his great rapping, Isaiah can put together a nice, catchy hook. On most of the songs here where Rashad does the hook himself, it ended up getting stuck in my head. R.I.P. Kevin Miller had an awesomely infectious and simple hook, as did Cilvia Demo and Brad Jordan. He even has a full singing track here, West Savannah, and it was just so relaxed, as the love story atmosphere of the song was done perfectly. I also loved the catchy hook on it. That was definitely one of my favorites on the album. Overall, Isaiah Rashad is one of the most fascinating MCs I have heard in a while, and it was just so cool hearing him do all these different things.

While I do feel that Isaiah Rashad is the main focus of this album, the instrumentals are effective in setting a nice backdrop for Isaiah to do his thing. A majority of these are very laid-back, smooth, and atmospheric. They do not stray away from the signature TDE sound at all. I really love how the laid-back beats create a contrast with Isaiah's tough delivery. One of the most simple, but best beats here was Webbie Flow. This one made use of some catchy drums and vocal samples mixed with some atmospheric synths just hanging around. The beat on the song Ronnie Drake was great too, with some very unique and relaxing percussion flowing in and out of the track. The song Tranquility, as the title might suggest, had a calm, minimal beat that set the stage for Rashad's storytelling on the track. As far as features go, they were really nice on Cilvia Demo. On Shot You Down, TDE label mates Jay Rock and Schoolboy Q kill their verses, especially Jay Rock, who came through with an absolutely nasty verse, as usual. Michael Da Vinci had a decent verse on Brad Jordan, despite some corny lines. Finally, SZA and Jean Deaux used their beautiful voices to make great hooks on Ronnie Drake and Menthol, respectively. Ronnie Drake in particular had a fantastic hook, one of the best I have heard in a while. While there is no credited singer on the song  Heavenly Father, that was another great, emotional hook.

CILVIA DEMO WRAP UP
+Isaiah Rashad is ridiculously unique, with a jittery flow that sounds smooth at the same time
+Some cool lyrical ideas, as well as great punchlines
+Isaiah has a whole lot of passion and aggressiveness when rapping
+Awesomely catchy hooks all over the album
+Laid-back, smooth, instrumentals
-Some of the more relaxed songs end up sounding samey

Best: R.I.P. Kevin Miller, West Savannah, Soliloquy

Worst: Brad Jordan

Isaiah Rashad- Cilvia Demo
8.7/10