Schoolboy Q Blends Paths in “Black Thoughts” Video

Schoolboy Q's Blank Face has been out for just a few days now, and the rapper's artistic vision continues to come into focus as he drops the video for "Black Thoughts." In it, Q juxtaposes two alternate realities, one in which he is the successful rapper that he is today with one of bleaker circumstances.

The video opens with Q and two others facing serious charges in a court room setting, with a prosecutor offering Q a plea bargain if he cooperates. Q hits him with a blank face, before the contrasting imagery showing how vastly different his life could have gone. He's smoking in a cabana outside a prison. His mansion is filled with cells and inmates. His circular driveway has barbed wire around its circular fountain. In one moment, Q is walking his daughter out to the school bus, and in the next, he's boarding the bus headed to county.

The video, which is subtitled "Pt. 3" joins "By Any Means" and "Tookie Knows II" to complete a singular story or short film centered around a pawn shop crime that was first previewed in the Blank Face trailer. Gang and inner city life are natural subjects for Q, who adds a cinematic accompaniment to his latest release through the pieced out tale.

The video was directed by Jack Begert and Dave Free of The Little Homies, with the final frame showing Q's blank face once again. Watch the final installment in Q's short film up above.

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