Saturday ACL Fest Record Reviews

Schoolboy Q

Blank Face LP (Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope)

Saturday ACL Fest Record Reviews

Schoolboy Q wants the dark, sprawling, bloated Blank Face LP to be his masterpiece. The Top Dawg Entertainment star raps, growls, and sneers over sultry horns, sparkling piano, and descending basslines on his 17-song, 72-minute opus, taking cues from label mate Kendrick Lamar's genre-bending To Pimp a Butterfly. Anderson Paak's soulful vocals add sinister braggadocio to album opener "Torch," and the incendiary "Ride Out" pits Q against a bloodthirsty Vince Staples. Blank Face stalls near its end with pedestrian raps and an awkward R&B crossover bid, but when Q locks into the streetwise grooves of "Dope Dealer" and the lush psychedelia of "That Part," he hints at the masterpiece he came tantalizingly close to making. (6:30pm, Samsung stage)

***.5

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

Support the Chronicle  

READ MORE
More ACL Fest 2016
Playback: ACL Fest Part II
Playback: ACL Fest Part II
ACL Fest isn’t a pair of weekend-long sit-ins, it’s one two-week-long campaign

Kevin Curtin, Oct. 14, 2016

Weekend Two Sunday ACL Fest Picks
Weekend Two Sunday ACL Fest Picks
ACL send-offs

Oct. 7, 2016

More Schoolboy Q
Playback – ACL Fest: Dad Rock Is Dead
Playback – ACL Fest: Dad Rock Is Dead
Wrapping weekend one of ACL Fest on the eve of the second iteration

Kevin Curtin, Oct. 7, 2016

More Music Reviews
Review: Free Hamze & Peace, <i>FREETAPE2: Peace by Piece</i>
Review: Free Hamze & Peace, FREETAPE2: Peace by Piece
FREETAPE2: Peace by Piece (Record Review)

Derek Udensi, Aug. 4, 2023

Texas Platters
Ben Buck
Kilroy (Record Review)

Derek Udensi, Feb. 21, 2020

More by Bryan Rolli
SXSW Music Keynote: Garth Brooks
SXSW Music Keynote: Garth Brooks
Country music standard talks up songwriters

March 18, 2017

SXSW Music Live: MetalSucks Showcase
SXSW Music Live: MetalSucks Showcase
Even death won’t get festivalers off Sixth Street

March 17, 2017

KEYWORDS FOR THIS STORY

Schoolboy Q, ACL Fest 2016

MORE IN THE ARCHIVES
One click gets you all the newsletters listed below

Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events

Keep up with happenings around town

Kevin Curtin's bimonthly cannabis musings

Austin's queerest news and events

Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

Information is power. Support the free press, so we can support Austin.   Support the Chronicle