ScHoolboy Q

ScHoolboy Q rose quickly in the hip-hop music scene, rocketing from mixtape artist to chart-topping major label player in just six years, thanks to a blend of party anthems like "Collard Greens" and more thoughtful fare like "Break the Bank" and "Studio." Born Quincy Matthew Hanley on October 26, 1986 in Wiesbaden, Germany, ScHoolboy Q was the son of military parents who split up shortly before his birth. Upon his mother's discharge from the service, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he reportedly earned his stage name by getting solid grades at Crenshaw High School. ScHoolboy Q was also allegedly selling drugs as a member of the Crips during this period, which culminated in a 2007 felony charge and a three-month stint in jail. Soon thereafter, he found an outlet in hip-hop, which led to collaboration with fellow aspiring rapper Tyga, as well as future Black Hippy members Jay Rock and Ab-Soul. In 2008, he released his first mixtape, ScHoolboy Turned Hustla, which led to a recording contract with Top Dawg Entertainment and the formation of the rap collective Black Hippy, which featured labelmates Rock, Ab-Soul and Kendrick Lamar. More mixtapes and tours with Black Hippy preceded the release of his debut album, Setbacks (2010), which sold nearly 1,000 digital copies in its first week of release. ScHoolboy Q previewed tracks from his second album, Habits and Contradictions, throughout 2011 before the finished record was issued through iTunes in January 2012. Tracks like "Sacrilegious" and "Hands on the Wheel," as well as contributions by guest rappers like Lamar and ASAP Rocky sent the album to No. 25 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart and No. 3 on the Heatseekers chart without any formal marketing efforts. That same year, ScHoolboy Q joined the Interscope/Aftermath roster when Top Dawg signed a joint venture deal with the labels; he would spend much of the next two years premiering tracks from his Interscope debut, Oxymoron, including the tracks "Collard Greens," before the record itself debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in January 2014. That same month, he shared in the Best Rap Album Grammy for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' The Heist, which featured ScHoolboy Q on the single "White Walls."