Schoolboy Q

At 37 years old, Schoolboy Q has this physical status:

Hanley has said he wrote his first verse when he was 16, but was not serious about music until he was 21. Music became his way of expressing himself. In 2006, he began to work with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), a Carson-based independent record label, recording at their studio House of Pain and collaborating with their artists. His first time at TDE's studio, Hanley worked with his soon to be Black Hippy cohorts Jay Rock and Ab-Soul. This eventually led to Hanley signing a recording contract with TDE. On July 29, 2008, Hanley released his first mixtape titled Schoolboy Turned Hustla, with G.E.D. Inc., the same imprint that helped launch the career of fellow West Coast rapper Tyga, with whom Schoolboy Q worked with early in their respective careers. After the release of Schoolboy Turned Hustla, he signed a deal with Top Dawg Entertainment in 2009, where he later formed Black Hippy, with fellow label-mates and frequent collaborators, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul.

In 2009, Hanley was involved in a short-lived rivalry with fellow West Coast rapper 40 Glocc. Hanley released a diss track titled "Ezell (40 Glocc Killa)", where he questions 40 Glocc's gang-banging. Hanley later stated in a video interview as to why they were "beefing": "He made some false statements about my boy, Tyga, that's my little brother. He did a lot of fake stuff with Wayne, a lot of lies, rumors and childish shit that I really didn't like, and I really felt disrespected by this clown saying all this shit so I just had to like air it out". He went on to say "It's over with, I did what I did, I said what I said and I won't diss him no more, because it's obvious he ain't on my level...so why categorize myself with a loser?". Hanley released Gangsta & Soul, his second mixtape on May 14, 2009, which included the aforementioned diss track. The mixtape was his first official project with Top Dawg Entertainment, which presented the mixtape alongside G.E.D. Inc.

Although Hanley did not release a project, 2010 had him touring and in the studio working with the rest of Black Hippy and on his then-upcoming project Setbacks. On January 11, 2011, TDE released Setbacks, his first independent album, exclusively through iTunes, to critical acclaim. The album reached number 100 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling close to 1,000 digital copies in its first abbreviated week. Two weeks after the album's release, Hanley took to Twitter and gave the album away for free. By the time Schoolboy Q's first album Setbacks was released in early 2011, he'd quit gangbanging altogether.

Setbacks propelled Hanley into the spotlight and allowed him to earn a large internet following. Hanley headlined his first show on March 11, 2011, at the Key Club in West Hollywood, California. In March 2011, Hanley was arrested at the 2011 South by Southwest music festival and explained that he was ultimately jailed because of marijuana possession.

Habits & Contradictions was released in 2012 through iTunes, with only a few hard copies being sold and signed by Schoolboy Q in L.A. In early hours of release, the album moved up to iTunes Top 10 Albums chart and stayed over within days after release. The album debuted at #111 on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 3,900 digital copies in the United States. With only two days at retail the Top Dawg Entertainment release scanned nearly 4,000 units to crack the Top 100, without any marketing or advertising. The album also debuted on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums at number twenty-five, Top Rap Albums at number sixteen, Top Independent Albums at number seventeen and at number three on the Top Heatseekers album chart respectively. Music videos for "Hands on the Wheel" with ASAP Rocky, "NigHtmare on Figg St.", and "Druggys wit Hoes Again" with Ab-Soul, followed the album's release.

In 2012, Top Dawg Entertainment closed a joint venture deal with Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment, marking the end of Hanley's career as an independent artist. On April 3, 2012, Interscope Records released "Hands on the Wheel" as a promotional single via iTunes and began promoting the song at Urban and Rhythmic radio formats in North America.

In June 2012, Hanley revealed he had begun working on his major label debut, and announced he will be the second member of Black Hippy to release his commercial debut with Interscope, following Kendrick Lamar. From September to November, Hanley appeared alongside Danny Brown and ASAP Mob as supporting acts for ASAP Rocky's 40-date national Long. Live. ASAP Tour. Also Hanley toured with rappers Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller and Kendrick Lamar on the Under The Influence Tour. In a November 2012 interview, Hanley expressed "Kendrick [Lamar] left me no choice but to drop a classic", referring to Lamar's debut good kid, m.A.A.d city and its impact on his own respective major label debut.

In June 2013, Schoolboy Q performed at the 2013 BET Experience Music festival, with Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and Miguel, immediately preceding the BET Awards show. On June 11, 2013, Schoolboy Q released "Collard Greens", the lead single from his debut album Oxymoron. In July 2013, for their 53rd issue, Mass Appeal called on photographer/director 13thWitness, to shoot Schoolboy Q, alongside friend and fellow American rapper Mac Miller, for their cover story. In the story, the two speak on how they met, their comedic relationship and their respective futures. On August 7, 2013, Hanley appeared on BET's 106 & Park, to premiere the music video for "Collard Greens. On August 27, 2013 Hanley appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, alongside Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, to perform "White Walls", the sixth single from the duo's platinum-selling debut album The Heist, which was released in October 2012.

In October 2013, at the BET Hip Hop Awards, Schoolboy Q performed "Collard Greens", his debut album's lead single. Schoolboy Q also appeared alongside his Top Dawg label-mates Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Isaiah Rashad, in a cypher presented by BET. On November 5, 2013, it was revealed Schoolboy Q would appear on the soundtrack to the 2013 video game NBA Live 14. A snippet of the song, which is titled "Man of the Year", first surfaced with the release of the music video for Kendrick Lamar's single "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe". On November 23, 2013, the song was released as a single via the iTunes Store. With the release of the 2014 Grammy Nominations, Q was nominated for Album of the Year for his participation on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' album, The Heist.

On January 24, 2014, Schoolboy Q made his network television debut, performing "Man of the Year" on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In January 2014, Schoolboy Q announced a three-month tour in support of his major-label debut, set to begin March 1, in Providence, Rhode Island. The tour run came to a close on June 1, in Manchester, England. Schoolboy Q's Top Dawg label-mate Isaiah Rashad and fellow American rapper Vince Staples, made appearances to support Q in domestic dates. Rashad, also supported Q on European tour dates.

In April 2014, before his two sold-out shows in Las Vegas, Schoolboy Q was the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. During his time on stage, Schoolboy Q was joined by BJ the Chicago Kid, for a special rendition of Oxymoron's fourth single "Studio," and later returned to perform the album cut "What They Want." Also in April, Schoolboy Q made his solo magazine cover debut with the April/May issue of the long-standing hip-hop magazine The Source, which hit newsstands on April 10, 2014.

On February 24, 2016, TDE founder, Top Dawg, announced Schoolboy Q's fourth album would be released before the summer. On April 5, 2016, Schoolboy Q released a single titled "Groovy Tony". On April 28, 2016, Schoolboy Q announced the album was completed and was turned in for mixing. On May 13, 2016, a follow-up single featuring Kanye West, titled "That Part", was released. On May 31, 2016, Schoolboy Q revealed his second major-label album would be released July 8, 2016. On June 14, 2016, Schoolboy Q revealed that his second major-label album would be titled Blank Face LP, while also unveiling the album's cover art. The album cover makes use of the notorious Crying Jordan meme. However, a few days later, in an interview with TMZ, Schoolboy Q revealed he was "trolling" his fans and later revealed the official album cover. In June 2016, Schoolboy Q performed a live rendition of "That Part", in a medley with "Groovy Tony", on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

On December 18, 2016, Schoolboy Q announced via social media that he would be releasing an album in 2017. In February 2017, Schoolboy Q stopped by Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show and revealed that his new album was close to completion. He said he's grown a lot since he started his rap career and said his new project is going to show his evolution: "It's more so my life after I made it to the point of Schoolboy Q. I gave you me, but I never gave you the other side of me: the father, the dude that's actually happy, the dude that doesn't be in the hood just hanging out. The dude that's trying to put his homies in position now. I'm not a deadbeat father anymore." In June 2017, Schoolboy Q revealed on social media that he had made "like 50 songs" during the recording process of his fifth studio album. On July 31, 2018, label president Top Dawg confirmed via Twitter that the album was "90-95% done." On September 15, 2018, Schoolboy Q announced that the album has been delayed due to the death of his longtime friend and frequent collaborator Mac Miller. On March 11, 2019, Schoolboy Q announced "2 MORE DAYS" via his Instagram. The following day a behind the scenes video of Schoolboy Q working on new music was posted with the caption, "2morrow nigHt we back at it." On April 15, 2019, Schoolboy Q announced the title of his 5th studio album CrasH Talk via his Instagram. The album was released on April 26, 2019. CrasH Talk debuted at #3 on Billboard's top 200.

On July 20, 2020, British virtual band Gorillaz released a song featuring Schoolboy Q called "Pac-Man" as the fifth episode of the band's web series Song Machine, in honor of Pac-Man's 40th anniversary.

Source