A couple of short years ago, it was Schoolboy Q rather than Kendrick Lamar who was seen as the smart lad in the Top-Dawg ranks.
The arrival of To Pimp A Butterfly changed all that, but Blank Face shows that the Los Angeles rapper is well capable of producing standout scenes in his own stead.
There were hints of Q's ability to spin that widescreen carousel on 2014's Oxymoron, but he has heavily invested in a whole new set of scenarios with strong, hardcore gangster leanings. There's a clutch of cool names onboard (from Lamar and Anderson .Paak to Vince Staples and Kanye West), but the real juice comes when Q talks up his life on the streets.
Groovy Tony is a great declaration of where he stands, Ride Out with Stapes as the foil is an epic road yarn and West is truly on point on That Part. Lamar had better watch his back.
