Although Los Angeles gangsta rapper Schoolboy Q maintains that Oxymoron, his third LP and first on a major label, must be listened to as a whole to be fully appreciated, he says the standout moments for him are the bars spat by some of his rap heroes.
"I like Raekwon and Kurupt's verses better than anything else on my album," admits the MC born Quincy Hanley in an Exclaim! interview. "I've listened to myself so much and you sit with the music so long, I like to hear people other than myself right now. Me and Kurupt did it in-person, but not Raekwon. He was overseas in Europe, and he knocked it out for me."
On an LP brimming with high-profile guests — Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz and Suga Free all make cameos — it's "Blind Threats" featuring Raekwon and "The Purge" with Tyler, the Creator and Kurupt that Schoolboy leans toward.
Despite being raised in the home of G-funk, the 27-year-old Hanley grew up consuming East Coast hip-hop. Nas, he says, is his favourite rapper of all time, and collaboration with one of his Wu-Tang heroes happened by pure luck.
"We ran into each other in an elevator on the weirdest shit ever. Me and Raekwon just happened to be in the same elevator, just by accident," Q explains. "We exchanged numbers. He knew who I was, and of course I know who he is."
Schoolboy's connection to Dogg Pound legend Kurupt goes back to his grade-school days, when the DPG'z made an impact on Dr. Dre's masterpiece, The Chronic.
"I was in the fifth grade singing, 'Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks.' It dropped in '92, but I was born in '86. I was only a few years old, but I was still hearing it. Everybody was playing it. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing Dr. Dre," Q says. "The principal's even bumping Dr. Dre in the school."
Oxymoron is out now via Top Dawg/Interscope. You can read Exclaim!'s magazine feature on Schoolboy Q here.
"I like Raekwon and Kurupt's verses better than anything else on my album," admits the MC born Quincy Hanley in an Exclaim! interview. "I've listened to myself so much and you sit with the music so long, I like to hear people other than myself right now. Me and Kurupt did it in-person, but not Raekwon. He was overseas in Europe, and he knocked it out for me."
On an LP brimming with high-profile guests — Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz and Suga Free all make cameos — it's "Blind Threats" featuring Raekwon and "The Purge" with Tyler, the Creator and Kurupt that Schoolboy leans toward.
Despite being raised in the home of G-funk, the 27-year-old Hanley grew up consuming East Coast hip-hop. Nas, he says, is his favourite rapper of all time, and collaboration with one of his Wu-Tang heroes happened by pure luck.
"We ran into each other in an elevator on the weirdest shit ever. Me and Raekwon just happened to be in the same elevator, just by accident," Q explains. "We exchanged numbers. He knew who I was, and of course I know who he is."
Schoolboy's connection to Dogg Pound legend Kurupt goes back to his grade-school days, when the DPG'z made an impact on Dr. Dre's masterpiece, The Chronic.
"I was in the fifth grade singing, 'Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks.' It dropped in '92, but I was born in '86. I was only a few years old, but I was still hearing it. Everybody was playing it. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing Dr. Dre," Q says. "The principal's even bumping Dr. Dre in the school."
Oxymoron is out now via Top Dawg/Interscope. You can read Exclaim!'s magazine feature on Schoolboy Q here.