THread on my favourite album of all time, ScHoolboy Q's Blank Face LP:

RT FOR EXPOSURE

At tHe time of making tHis album, Q was coming off His most successful album Oxymoron wHicH Had multiple Huge Hits sucH as Man Of THe Year, Collard Greens and Hell of a NigHt. After tHis people expected Q to continue into tHis direction of HigHly successful pop rap He made

However Blank Face LP represents a complete stylistic cHange for ScHoolboy Q. He moved away from tHe pop rap sound to make one of tHe most ambitious conceptual gangsta rap records in Blank Face LP. It is by far His greatest artistic statement to date

The concept of Blank Face is a man wHicH Has lost tHe concept of self. His identity is completely defined by tHe environment He was raised in. In this album Q tackles multiple subject matters sucH as greed, lust, trust, life of crime and racism.

All of tHese play into wHo tHe cHaracter 'Blank Face' is. THe story told in tHe album starts as with the introduction, 'TorcH'. The refrain of "Look into my motHerfucking eyes" invites you, tHe listener, into finding out about tHe life of Blank Face.

The theme of second guessing returns on tracks such as Neva Change Where Q believes he will never be able to change his ways just like the same way hes second guessing the world and how it will never be able to change its ill ways

In tHis track, witH an electrifying guitar and Heavy Hitting beat and an absolutely insane Hook refrain, Q gives bars on tHe first verse tHat serve as an introduction into tHe life Blank Face lives

The Anderson Hook is introductory point saying tHe life tHey live is great but to get tHere tHey Had to to take wHat tHey could get to make by. THis is clear by Q's bars:
"This shit from 'round the back house
More baggies bagged than at Ralphs
In granny's plastic suede couch"

Overall, for me, tHis migHt be tHe best intro track to an album ever. As it sets up perfectly to tell tHe rest of tHe story for How, spoiler alert, Blank Face gets arrested as a result of Him and His crew doing a Heist on Tookie Knows II

THrougHout tHe album we get multiple songs wHicH talk about How Q got to tHis point. On Lord Have Mercy we see Q spit his best verse ever about How Hes pressured to live a life of crime and questions Himself Hoping tHe lord will forgive him for wHat He does to make a living

Lines such as "Running from God's creations, sHaking tHese broken Hands and meeting tHem witH" and "But being real never brougHt the groceries in" are so powerful and make you feel sympatHetic for the cHaracter second guessing himself.

THis THeme of a life in crime is Heavily strung tHroughout the album tracks sucH as Ride Out and JoHn Muir, wHere Q continues to give us trade mark, unique and off the wall flows and deliveries over absolutely insane beats.

this leads us onto what might be the greatest song ever made, Groovy Tony / Eddie Kane. Where Q and Jada both give vivid stories in their verses into what its like to live a life of crime. The blank Face refrain in the beat and how it is interpolated in the verses is mind blowing

THat part is a braggadocios antHem wHere kanye and Q give verses full of flavour and personality on How glorious life is. In the grander ScHeme of the album, tHis sHows Blank Face life of wanting to live luxurious.

This same theme is exhibited on songs such as Big Body and Str8 Ballin. On other songs we get a complete change in sound on Whateva U Want which finds Q, not for the first time on this album exploring new sounds, and bringing a whole new sound to Gangsta rap.

From here we get tracks on trust and disloyalty on, Kno U Wrong with some great bars such as All I hear, "Gimme, gimme"
When y'all was sleepin', who was workin' with me
But want these benefits and tour the city
Leechin', won't you find your titty
Know you're wrong"

The thing is with ScHoolboy Q, its not about what it says rather how he says it. He easily has the most unique deliveries in hip-hop ever. While the bars i said just before might not be all that impressive, the way they are delivered add so much more intrinsic value to the track

On songs like Black THoughts and By Any Means, we get perspective on how the character of Blank Face has been affected by racism and prejudice in his life. In Which By Any Means is a very smart interpolation of Malcom X's "By WHatever means Necessary" speach.

Overall this is the story of Blank Face. A man shaped by his environment and the surrounding world which lead him to a life of crime, luxury, trust issues with constant second guessing going on. The story overall ends in a 5 minute prison rap session with Traffic and T.F

The story is a major part to why i love the album but its also ScHoolboy. He is my favourite rapper when it comes to story telling, Delivery and flow. His personality on these tracks is just to die for.

The sound pallet of the album is so unique as well with every song having an amazing instrumental and insane performances from Q and the guests on the songs. A prime example is the title track

Overall i really cant say ive enjoyed another album as much as i enjoyed blank face. its by far my favourite album of all time

If you made it this far thanks for reading and if you dont follow me already consider doing so :)

@ScHoolboyQ if you noticed this thread it would mean the world to me you're literally my favourite artist ever you also used to follow me on my old account until it got suspended

Ima also take this time to show off my 3 Q records plus a signed CrasH talk poster

Also here are some photos of when I saw him live in 2019 at Listen Out Australia!