In an interview with Montreality, ScHoolboy Q has wholly denounced guns, saying that they are the one evil he would rid the world of if he could. The artist has just released his new album Blank Face, and in spite of its aggressuve, gangsta themes, he has a lot to say about their place and responsibility in today’s world.
“N****s need to take away guns. From officers, from everybody. It should be no guns,” Q stated. That’s a pretty huge deal coming from a guy who’s arguably seen as today’s modern gangsta rapper. He’s got no shortage of tracks that discuss and even seem to glamourise gun use and ownership – a result of having joined the Hoover Crips at the tender age of 13. John Muir, a track from his new album Blank Face LP, addresses this pretty directly. But doesn’t that make his words worth all the more? This is someone who has grown up around guns, with guns as an integral part of his formative years and much of his life, and he believes that guns simply should not exist anymore. He decried rappers’ talk about guns, saying “N**** you ain’t gangsta no more, n***** you a rapper.”
Of course, Q acknowledges that his vision of a world without guns is not ever likely to come to fruition. “It’s impossible to take all the guns,” he conceded. “So, what I want is for the impossible to happen. Because it’ll never happen. But… if they could’ve never made guns, I think that’d be a whole lot better.”
With the number of mass shootings in the USA this year alone climbing to over 130 (including the tragic Orlando shooting at the Pulse nightclub, dubbed the deadliest mass shooting in US history), Q’s statements are timely and important. It’s likely that before the year is over, there will have been around 1 mass shooting per day (or more) in the US – last year saw 372. The conversation surrounding gun control is reaching critical mass in the wake of the death of five police officers in the Dallas shooting, and public figures lending their support to gun restriction is always a positive thing. But the numbers keep climbing, and so far, nothing is changing. Perhaps Q is right about this being an impossible cause – but we take our hats off to him for using his voice in the fight.
ScHoolboy Q Blank Face Tour Dates
Friday November 4: Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Saturday November 5: This That Festival, Newcastle
Tuesday November 8: Eatons Hill, Brisbane
Wednesday November 9: Festival Hall, Melbourne
Thursday November 10: Metro City, Perth
Image: Montreality
Read more: ScHoolboy Q Details His Struggles Making “Blank Face”