Schoolboy Q has had a great year so far. After releasing his much delayed Oxymoron in February and debuting at number 1 on the Billboard chart, he is now wrapping up a long tour over America and Europe. The Oxymoron tour has given him his first chance to visit countries such as Ireland and it is clear that after some anger at the delay of his album release, he has earned his self proclaimed title of Man Of The Year.
Opening act Rene Brown did a great job in showcasing her talent as an MC. She recevied a warm welcome, especially when rapping over familiar beats such as Watching Movies by Mac Miller and took time between songs to smoke joints and trade twitter names with the crowd. She is very comfortable on stage and has a stronger voice than a lot of male rappers when performing. With the right promotion, she has the charisma and potential to become a big player in hip hop.
Isaiah Rashad played a reletively short set, sticking to material from Clivia Demo, his debut mixtape. Highlights included Shot You Down and R.I.P Kevin Miller, in which he repeatedly asked the crowd whether they live for ‘bitches & blunts’ or ‘weed & money’. He’s an incredibly entertaining performer as he storms side to side on the stage with the mannerisms of Old Dirty Bastard. The passion that he has on record translates perfectly to the stage and it’s clear that lyrically, he is on par with his fellow TDE label mates Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul & Jay Rock. He may be the new kid on the label, but he has the raw skill and talent that he needs to hang with the top dawgs.
Schoolboy Q opens his show with the menacing Fuck LA, exploding onto stage shouting ‘fuck what rappers say, bitch I am L.A‘. This level of energy is maintained during singles like Banger and Collard Greens. What Schoolboy Q does a lot better than many rappers these days, is that he lets people hear what they want. He has expressed his unhappiness with singles like Hands On The Wheel before, but knows that people still expect to hear it live. Older songs like BetIGotSumWeed may not hit as hard as Blind Threats, but every song serves the purpose to please the casual and die hard fans alike. He is also someone who has a lot of fun on stage and seems genuinely overwhelmed at the fact that his following in Ireland isn’t just “30 people”.
Before his encore of Oxymoron and Man Of The Year, which had the biggest mosh pit I’ve seen at a rap show, he takes a minute to thank the crowd for their support and says that “my happiness is your happiness”. It is clear that he is very happy and grateful to be where he is and it is the same attitude given back from the crowd throughout his entire set.
What Youre Going To See 