Setbacks is the first independent album by Schoolboy Q

Schoolboy Q

Quincy Matthew Hanley , better known by his stage name ScHoolboy Q is an American recording hip hop artist. Hanley is signed to Top Dawg Entertainment and is a member of Black Hippy along with Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul...

. The album was released on January 11, 2011 under Top Dawg Entertainment. It includes features from Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar , formerly known by his stage name K. Dot, is an American rapper, and songwriter. He first gained major attention after the release of his 2010 mixtape O D. In 2011, his album Section.80, released exclusively through iTunes, instantly ranked as one of the top digital hip-hop releases...

, Jay Rock

Jay Rock

Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. , better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper. He was named one of the top 13 most street artists by XXL. His voice has been called a cross between Immortal Technique and Rick Ross. He is a part of the rap group Black Hippy which also features Kendrick...

, Ab-Soul, Alori Joh, Jhené Aiko, BJ The Chicago Kid and production from Lord Quest, Willie B, Focus...

Focus...

Bernard "Focus..." Edwards, Jr is a Atlanta-based Grammy Award–winning producer who first rose to fame when signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. Since then he has produced tracks for Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé Knowles, Busta Rhymes, Bishop Lamont, Tony Yayo, Stat Quo,...

, Rahki

Rahki

Rahki is an L.A. based hip-hop producer known for his work with mentor DJ Khalil as well as artists such as Eminem, Game, Curren$y, Evidence, 50 Cent and other popular artists.-2010:* Eminem - Recovery -2011:* Curren$y - Weekend At Burnie's...

, Phonix Beats, Tae Beast, DJ Wes, King Blue and more.

Background

Two weeks after the album's release Schoolboy Q announced he released it for free through Twitter

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

. The free version doesn't include "Light Years Ahead" and is replaced with "Live Again" which also features Kendrick Lamar. It also features a new bonus track titled "Fuck Ya Hip Hop" featuring Big Pooh and Murs

Commercial Performance

According to iHipHop, after releasing the album on January 11, the album sold 787 units digitally. It debuted at number one-hundred on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

.

Critical response

The album received positive reviews from music critics who highlighted the 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.

Track listing

Charts

Chart (2011)	Peak position
US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	100
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...	25
US Billboard Top Rap Albums Top Rap Albums Top Rap Albums is a record chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks Rap and hip-hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart began publication for the week of November 13, 2004....	12
US Billboard Top Independent Albums Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels...	13