Put your Blank Face masks on. The reviews are in for ScHoolboy Q’s fourth album and critics are mostly raving about TDE’s newest project.
Q’s first album since 2014’s Oxymoron is a star-studded effort, featuring appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Miguel, E-40, Tha Dogg Pound, and Jadakiss, among others.
Last month, SBQ said that he’s never been more excited about a project and that he wants fans to “love it.” Check out the reviews below to see what critics are saying about Blank Face so far.
ROLLING STONE: Q’s safest career track would have been to duplicate the biggest hit ofOxymoron, the uncharacteristically sweet and chill “Studio.” Instead, he’s doubled down on the bleakness, so that even the high-rolling party track “Whateva U Want” sounds trapped and haunted, and his music is richer for its resistance to escapist fantasy. 3.5/5
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: While Q’s fourth album, Blank Face LP, doesn’t eclipse [Kendrick] Lamar’s recent, masterful work, it’s an exceptionally capable hip-hop album that touches on similar themes and continues to cement the 29-year-old’s status as one of the genre’s best new talents. B+
CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND: In some ways, his verses are comparable to Kendrick’s reflections on good kid, m.A.A.d city, with Q recounting his miscreant youth on songs like “Groovy Tony” and “John Muir.” His storytelling, coupled with the ambitious production from Cardo, Sounwave, Tae Beast, The Alchemist, Metro Boomin, and Southside, forms a strong case for Blank Face as Q’s most labored-over album without ever falling apart. A-
BILLBOARD: By opening up about all of this, lost innocence, gang violence, police injustice, and fatherhood, Q was able to pen his most well-rounded project yet. Like a painter turns a blank canvas into a moving piece, ScHoolboy looked inward to make Blank Face his own personal masterpiece.
