Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper from Carson, California. Hanley is a member of the California-based hip hop group Black Hippy, alongside frequent collaborators Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Kendrick Lamar.
In 2008, Hanley released his first full-length project, a mixtape titled ScHoolboy Turned Hustla as well as its sequel, Gangsta & Soul the following year. Through the Carson-based record label Top Dawg Entertainment, Hanley independently released his debut album, Setbacks (2011) and it's follow up, Habits & Contradictions (2012) to positive reception, both performing modestly on the US Billboard 200 chart as digital exclusives.
He would subsequently sign with Interscope Records to release his third album and major-label debut, Oxymoron (2014). The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 and was preceded by the singles "Collard Greens" (featuring Kendrick Lamar), "Man of the Year", "Studio" (featuring BJ the Chicago Kid) and "Hell of a Night". The former three singles charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, with "Studio" remaining his best-performing as a lead artist to date. He would reach further success on the chart as a guest performer, appearing on the hit singles "2 On" by singer Tinashe and "White Walls" by hip hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, released the same year and a year prior respectively. His third and fourth albums, Blank Face LP (2016) and Crash Talk (2019) would receive continued positive reception and peak within the top three of the Billboard 200.
Hanley has received five Grammy Award nominations.
Early life
Quincy Matthew Hanley was born October 26, 1986, on a United States Army air base in Wiesbaden, West Germany. His parents divorced before he was born, and his mother gave him a surname different from those of either of his parents, choosing one at random. His father remained in the Army while Hanley and his mother moved to Texas for a couple years, before settling in South Central Los Angeles, on 51st Street, neighboring Figueroa and Hoover Street.
Hanley played American football from the age of six until he was 21, and played receiver, cornerback, tailback, and returner. He attended John Muir Middle School. After graduating Crenshaw High School, Hanley went on to attend Glendale Community College, Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles Southwest College and West Los Angeles College.
Growing up on Hoover Street, Hanley joined the 52 Hoover Gangster Crips: "I was gang-banging at 12. I was a Hoover Crip. My homies were doing it and I wanted to do it. I can't really explain that. I didn't get into it with another hood or anything like that. I was just following the leader." Before turning to music, Hanley became a drug dealer selling Oxycontin, and for a short time crack cocaine and marijuana. In 2007, he was arrested for home invasion and sent to jail for six months, half of which he finished on house arrest.
Musical career
2006–2009: Career beginnings
Hanley has said he wrote his first verse when he was 16, but was not serious about music until he was 21. Music became his way of expressing himself. In 2006, he began to work with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), a Carson-based independent record label, recording at their studio House of Pain and collaborating with their artists. His first time at TDE's studio, Hanley worked with his soon to be Black Hippy cohorts Jay Rock and Ab-Soul. This eventually led to Hanley signing a recording contract with TDE. On July 29, 2008, Hanley released his first mixtape titled Schoolboy Turned Hustla, with G.E.D. Inc., the same imprint that helped launch the career of fellow West Coast rapper Tyga, with whom Schoolboy Q worked with early in their respective careers. After the release of Schoolboy Turned Hustla, he signed a deal with Top Dawg Entertainment in 2009, where he later formed Black Hippy, with fellow label-mates and frequent collaborators, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul.