By Pauline Hunt

Artist: ScHoolboy Q

Date / Venue: Thursday November 3rd, 2016 - Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland

After last performing in NZ in 2014, Hip Hop artist “Quincy Matthew Hanley” aka ScHoolboy Q made another return to celebrate the release of his new album Blank Face. Following on from his debut album ‘Oxymoron’, ScHoolboy Q has made a name for himself in the Hip Hop industry after following in the footsteps of his fellow “Black Hippy” member ‘Kendrick Lamar’. 

Warming up the audience before ScHoolboy Q made his way to the stage was Sydney MC ‘B Wise’. For those who are not too sure who this artist is, ‘B Wise’ grew up writing lyrics in his teens and was known around his South-Western hood as the go-to house party MC. His confrontational lyrics and laid back flow is what earned him a name for himself in the music industry. Performing hits such as ‘Prince Akeem’ and ‘Like You’, B Wise surely got the audience in the right mood to get the party started. 

It was time for ScHoolboy Q to make his way to the stage, and what an impact he made. From belting out lyrics from ‘Blessed’ to ‘WHatever U Want’, the atmosphere had a mind of it’s own as everyone was going crazy as people would try and get as close as possible to him... and by any means necessary. He would eventually try and slow things down with ‘Overtime’ which is his latest record being played on radio, as well as bringing in ‘Studio’ from his ‘Oxymoron’ album. ScHoolboy decided it was time to bring in some more ‘old s*$#’ and belt out lyrics from his ‘Oxymoron’ album. Performing hits such as ‘Oxymoron’, ‘Collard Greens’ and ‘Break the Bank’, the audience was screaming along to the hook while jumping in the air forgetting the fact they were next to people.  

The concert however was not without its dramas as while he was performing ‘Tookie Knows II’ from Blank Face, security were faced with the dilemma of having to remove a drunk patron who was trying to get a better view of ScHoolboy by climbing a scaffolding platform near the ceiling. Despite this drama however, ScHoolboy continued to perform while even managing to have an encore that went on for about a good 20 minutes, while reminding everyone that he was supposed to get off the stage already. Music from ‘Hell Of A Night’ played which would eventually be the last song he performed for the night, leaving his fans on a high.

ScHoolboy Q has definitely made a name for himself following his earlier mixtapes that he released, and more recently his albums Oxymoron and Blank Face. He brought energy to the stage as he does through his albums and had the audience jumping up and down and vibing off his energy. Definitely didn’t disappoint, as everyone was excited to be in the same room as him. ScHoolboy Q vowed that he would be back and I’m sure that’s a concert that everyone will again be pushing and shoving to get to the front.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FULL SCHOOLBOY Q GALLERY BY LEAH VICTORIA