Quadeca & Moxas, Schoenberg | Track Review 🎵

Rappers Quadeca and Moxas, sample a famous, expressionistic Arnold Schoenberg piece for the short, but sweet banger, “Schoenberg.”

“I’m like oh shit / Call me Schoenberg, lil bitch, I’m own my own shit / I can’t fuck ‘round with you cause you a broke bitch…” Rap and classical music only co-exist with one another ever so often.  That said, when the two totally different genres merge, it’s often quite an intriguing result.  Quadeca came onto my radar a couple of times, including appearances on The Musical Hype playlists 11 Songs That are Sure to Catch Your Eyes (“Eyes”) and 13 Songs About ‘The Man,’ Whoever He May Be (“The Man on My Left Shoulder”). He has now managed to pique my interest once more with the release of his single, “Schoenberg,” which doesn’t even reach two-and-a-half minutes in duration.  Regardless, there’s a ‘classical’ vibe, not to mention an assist by rapper Moxas.

Being the recipient of a master’s degree in Music Theory/Composition, my inner nerd had to find out if Quadeca had actually sampled Arnold Schoenberg, the famous Austrian-American composer. Indeed, the leader of the Second Viennese School is sampled, specifically his masterwork, Verklärte Nacht. The lush, expressionistic strings of Verklärte Nacht set the tone, before a turned-up Quadeca drops confident rhymes that definitely go hard. A string loop is anchored by a sick hip-hop beat that anchors things down. Q drops the chorus, excerpted above, before dropping an entertaining, drippy verse, commencing with, “Diamonds on my hip, I need some more drip / I got all these bitches on my own dick.”

As for Moxas, he doesn’t necessarily overshadow Quadeca, but he has his fair share of fire.  That fire includes referencing Folgers (“I eat souls, I be scolding them all, wake ‘em up like Folgers then”), haiku (“Got a five stack on top, haiku”), and Breaking Bad (“I feel like Walt White, I’m cooking up this dope shit”).  Of course, Q provides the final chorus, and an outro, accompanied by those marvelous Schoenberg strings of Verklärte Nacht.

Final Thoughts 

You know, I could harp on the incorrect pronunciation of Arnold Schoenberg’s name, but I’ll give Quadeca a pass on this one.  Again, it’s quite impressive that the young rapper samples Verklärte Nacht.  While neither he or Moxas drop deep rhymes, both are quite entertaining and confident.  Yeah, it’s less than two-and-a-half minutes, but “Schoenberg” is definitely a banger, with some thoughtful classical touches.

Quadeca & Moxas • Schoenberg [Single] • Quadeca • Release: 9.27.19

Photo Credit: Quadeca