7/10
Favorite Track: "Numb Numb Juice" Least Favorite Track: "CHopstix (Feat. Travis Scott)"
It has been eight years since Los Angeles rapper ScHoolboy Q dropped his debut studio album Setbacks and it’s easy to say a lot has changed since 2011. In addition to now being a father, Q has received much critical and commercial acclaim from the release of albums like 2014’s Oxymoron and 2016’s Blank Face LP. I have always been a fan of Quincy and I think it's safe to say he has finally hit his stride. I think CrasH Talk is Q’s best album this far because it ventures to serve as a complete album rather than just a melting pot. It finds its strength through cohesiveness. That isn’t to say that the album features a direct or clear concept or theme or even idea, I just think that in comparison to the rest of Q’s full length projects, CrasH Talk flows the best. This flow comes from well executed transitions, and a blend of innovation in Q’s style and him having the guts to somewhat remain similar to his past work stylistically. His recognizable use of vocal layers and reverb is still present on this thing like in tracks such as “Numb Numb Juice” but CrasH Talk seems to feature the most energy that Q has ever had. He sounds more gangster rap than ever (as if he didn’t already). It’s that energy that fuels the bangers on this LP which go so damn hard. To mention it again tracks like ; “Numb Numb Juice” and “5200” are a few examples. The only track on this thing that I think is really ugly is “CHopsitx (feat. Travis Scott). It has to be one of the laziest refrains I’ve ever heard from Travis and sadly the refrain is the element that jumps out the most on the track and makes everything else pretty unlistenable. One of my favorite slower moments on the LP is track #6 “Drunk (feat. 6LACK)”. It’s sort of a Q take on an RnB sex anthem. It’s sensual enough to make it pretty interesting and the slushy keys in the background sort of give the track a feeling of drunkenness (fittingly). The ambient sound of rain the background feels like something out of Eminem’s “Stan”. The momentum continues with track #7 “Lies”, and proves Q can dabble in more than gangster rap successfully. It's a much more pop infused track than most others in his discography and features a pretty melodic hook from none other than Ty Dolla $ign. It’s a little basic with some of its booming trap drums but the verse from Q features some great bars that get the job done. These features do a good enough job but there are a few on this LP that really fall flat like 21 Savage’s characterless verse on “Floating” or the underutilization of Kid Cudi on “Dangerous”. “CrasH” is probably Q at his most exposed on the album. He talks about the impact his future success or lack there of will have on his daughter and how he has to keep working towards his goals for the sake of her well being. The beat isn’t really a sentimental one but it ends up working pretty seamlessly over some of the meaningful bars on the track. I thought the outro “Attention” was a little forgettable, so I really would have liked to see “CrasH” as the outro instead but I see what “Attention” was trying to do and why it was the outro but it truly falls a little flat. Overall CrasH Talk is a pretty good collection of tracks. I don’t really understand all the disappointment from fans on this one as I feel Q did exactly what he set out to do on this album.