• Record Label: !K7
  • Release Date: Jan 14, 2012
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 16
  2. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. 88
    The key is confidence. Moments that would be cringe-inducing if delivered by the less intrepid come across as triumphant.
  2. Feb 1, 2012
    87
    An insistent, vital, full frontal assault.
  3. Apr 4, 2012
    84
    Habits & Contradictions is a pleasurable listen with head-scratchingly pretty samplings and lyrics more or less liberated from value care of Q's devotion to "weed and brews" and the delirious enjoyment of something so simple as saying "fuck" a lot.
  4. Jan 27, 2012
    84
    He's probably not going to be a break-out star, but it's hard to imagine that there will be many more original or satisfying rap long-players this year.
  5. Q Magazine
    Jun 20, 2012
    80
    Q's energetic, exuberant delivery is frames by some impressive and varied production throughout. [Jun 2012, p.108]
  6. Mar 5, 2012
    80
    Habits & Contradictions is a total must-listen.
  7. Feb 17, 2012
    80
    Habits & Contradictions, the album, lives up to its title, which could throw some, but the complicated rapper always seems to convert more than he scares away, and you can blame his keen, exciting, risk-taking, vintage-styled, and deep set of skills for that.
  8. Jan 27, 2012
    80
    Ultimately, lyrical dexterity and a versatile delivery prove to be ScHoolboy's biggest assets.
  9. Jan 27, 2012
    80
    Habits & Contradictions may be no follow-up to fellow Kendrick Lamar's Section .80, but ScHoolboy Q definitively shines through as a formidable rapper with immense future potential.
  10. Jan 31, 2012
    75
    Habits & Contradictions doesn't fully hold together as a great rap album, but it has some of the key hallmarks of one: big ideas, engrossing lyricism, and an unusual sense of exploration.
  11. Feb 17, 2012
    70
    Many of its strongest tracks are those that see Q take his foot off the gas, playing to more traditional communicative strengths in hip-hop.
  12. Jan 30, 2012
    70
    His tracks are dense and dark-tinted, more Wu-steeped trip-hop than Cali-funk.
  13. Jan 27, 2012
    70
    It may have its moments of aggression, but ultimately Habits & Contradictions is often a more quiet and thoughtful album.
  14. Mar 27, 2012
    65
    You can never really get a sense of what Q is or what he wants to be.
  15. Apr 30, 2012
    50
    Habits & Contradictions is less like a label-released full-length and more like an amateurish mixtape, a work in progress.
  16. The Wire
    Feb 17, 2012
    50
    He's certainly dextrous enough as a rapper to accommodate this musical schizophrenia, bobbing and weaving with a raw aggression that also serves to mask that he has little to say. [Mar 2012, p.69]
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 77 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 67 out of 77
  2. Negative: 0 out of 77
  1. Feb 18, 2012
    10
    Very classic album Schoolboy Q did it again. His mixtapes & albums are instant classics. He taking hip hop by storm and he's bringing it backVery classic album Schoolboy Q did it again. His mixtapes & albums are instant classics. He taking hip hop by storm and he's bringing it back to the top of the food chain Full Review »
  2. Feb 8, 2012
    8
    TDE! Dope from start to finish. Sacreligious, Hands on the Wheel, Blessed, and There He Go are my favorites. I desperately need a Black HippyTDE! Dope from start to finish. Sacreligious, Hands on the Wheel, Blessed, and There He Go are my favorites. I desperately need a Black Hippy album (kendrick lamar, ab soul, schoolboy q, and jay rock) The songs they have now are so freaking good. Full Review »
  3. Feb 16, 2019
    10
    Habits & Contradictions by ScHoolboy Q is very underrated. I like the production on the album, I love the features on the Album, and allHabits & Contradictions by ScHoolboy Q is very underrated. I like the production on the album, I love the features on the Album, and all eighteen songs on the album are dope. Its one of the most underrated albums of 2012. I Highly Recommended. Full Review »