In a new interview with MTV News, TDE's ScHoolboy Q reiterated his status as a gangster rapper.
"I'm not one of them rappers that's scared to put a title on their name," said ScHoolboy. "Conscious rappers never like to be called conscious rappers and a lyrical rapper never like to be a party rapper. I'm a gangster rapper, that's who I am. I happen to make fun records at the same time, that's what I do. I joke, I bag on niggas, my personality is like that - but I am a gangster rapper, and that's what I'm gonna bring to the table."
For a time, West Coast emcees held down the gangster rap sub-genre, a movement spearheaded by NWA in the late 80s. But the scene has changed in recent years, making way for "trap" rappers who are a far cry from the G-funk soldiers of old. Q, a South Central native raised on classic gangster rap, aims to bring it back into the public consciousness with the eventual release of his new album Oxymoron.
"There's no more gangster rappers," Q said. "It's just trap music now. So I wanna get that old feeling back that I do naturally. I'm not necessarily trying to bring gangster rap back. I'm just trying to let you know it's still here and I'm a part of it. I feel like I'm the only one out of the coast that's doing this gangster rap shit the way that it used to be done... how niggas used to put detail in their music, not just going to the club and turning up... I'm just telling my story and what I grew up around and what I seen and what I did and I wanna put that in the light instead of everybody just smiling."
ScHoolboy maintains that his goal is realism, though - nothing more.
"I don't want niggas to get beat up or no shit like that, but at the end of the day, that is a part of life and I like that type of music."
Word. Listen to the latest tracks from Q and peep the full interview below: