''Setbacks'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist ScHoolboy Q, released for digital download on January 11, 2011 under Top Dawg Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from his fellow
Black Hippy
Black Hippy is an American hip hop supergroupKendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and
Ab-Soul
Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where ...
, as well as vocals from singer-songwriters Alori Joh,
Jhené Aiko
Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (; born March 16, 1988) is an American singer who embarked on her music career contributing vocals and appearing in several music videos for R&B group B2K. In an effort to promote Aiko and cultivate a following for he ...
and
BJ the Chicago Kid
Bryan James Sledge (born November 23, 1984), better known by his stage name BJ the Chicago Kid (or simply BJ), is an American singer and songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. Sledge is best known for frequently collaborating with Top Dawg Entertainm ...
. The album's production was handled by Lord Quest, Willie B, Focus..., Rahki, Phonix Beats,
Tae Beast
Digi+Phonics is an African American hip hop production team, composed of California-based record producers Tae Beast, Sounwave, Dave Free and Willie B. They currently serve as the main in-house producers for Carson-based record label, Top Dawg ...
, DJ Wes, King Blue, Sounwave and more.
Schoolboy Q titled the album ''Setbacks'', due to the limitations he experienced and endured before releasing the album. After the release of ''Setbacks'', the album reached number 100 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, number 12 on the Top Rap Albums, number 25 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 13 on the Top Independent Albums chart. Only a few weeks after ''Setbacks'' was released, it already had 4,395 units and was praised by fans and critics alike.
Background
In 2012, in an interview with '' Complex'', Schoolboy Q spoke on the concept behind ''Setbacks'': "The concept behind ''Setbacks'' was
o talk about
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...
all the shit that’s the reason why I can’t rap. The reason I can’t accomplish what I want to accomplish is because I’m doing all this dumb shit. I put it all together on the album. Like, ‘Druggys Wit Hoes,’ I'm out here drugging and I'm not even trying to fuck with hoes. ‘Kamikaze,’ I'm not even trying to rap—keep going broke. Different shit like that, I sum it up all in one album. My life did a whole 180 after that dropped. A lot of people still didn't know the name though, but a lot of people did. It was weird. It just took me to the right spot. I made some fucking money off the project, it helped me see that I needed to do more positive shit in life, and it made me into the person I am now. All I do now is just chill. I'd rather just chill, work on my music, be with my two-year-old daughter, and smoke weed and shit." Two weeks after the album's release ScHoolboy Q released it for free via his Twitter feed. The free version doesn't include "LigHt Years AHead" and is replaced with "Live Again" which also features Kendrick Lamar. The free version also features a new bonus track titled "Fuck Ya Hip Hop" featuring Big Pooh and
Murs
Murs may refer to:
People
* Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs (1804-1878), French ornithologist
* Olly Murs (born 1984), English singer-songwriter
* Murs (rapper) (born 1978), American rapper
Places
* Murs, Indre, France
* Murs, Vaucluse, Fr ...
Reception
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number 100 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart and had sold 17,000 copies in the US as of February 2014.
Critical response
''Setbacks'' received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the album's production, features and lyrics. iHipHop gave it a 3.5 out of 5 rating mentioning "While ''Setbacks'' is a misleading title, ScHoolboy Q does leave room for critique. Despite his overwhelmingly impressive flow, Q rarely says anything worthy of raising an eyebrow." Allmusic gave it 4 out of 5 stars commenting "Dividing his time between socially conscious rap and bud smoker’s anthems, ScHoolboy Q makes quite the impression on his debut “street album"". They called ''Setbacks'' polished, funky, well-balanced, and rewarding.Setbacks – ScHoolboy Q Allmusic.com