Fire Shack

  

Fire Shack
Studio album by Q-Lo
Released	28 June 2019
Recorded	2012–18
Studio	Various
Genre	New wave · hip hop · trap-pop · synth-pop · experimental R&B
Length	48:02
Label	Skid Row Productions · O.P. Entertainment
Producer	Stephacide (also exec.) · Q-Lo · Jay Fresco · DJ Glock · Henry Fritz · SK99 · Quitmydayjob · DanceDanDance · M1RZA · Da Payout · DaaDah Bless
Q-Lo chronology
La Douleur Exquise (2018) Fire Shack (2019)

Fire Shack is the seventh and final album by Sierran rapper and singer Q-Lo, released posthumously on 28 June, 2019, through Skid Row Productions, a subsidiary of O.P. Entertainment. The album follows Q-Lo's death by an accidental overdose from a combination of Xanax and codeine approximately a year and a half prior, on 22 January 2018. The record was planned before his passing and was meant to be a collaboration with EDM-producer Stephacide, but due to his passing, the collaboration would turn into Stephacide serving as executive producer for the album, with guest appearances from frequent collaborators KitKat, Yeeda, and Fren-Z, as well as Inland Empire-based rapper Yung Nevabroke.

Widely anticipated, Fire Shack debuted at number one on the Sunset 100 with 726,000 album-equivalent units, marking the biggest debut-week units of 2019 at that time, surpassing Okonma East's God's Country (412,000), and the biggest opening week since since his own Purple 001 (2017) debuted with 546,000 units, later being surpassed by Adan's Would’ve Came Back For You (2021). On 17 February 2024, Fire Shack was certified 5× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over a five millions units in North America, with more than 3,520,000 album-equivalent units being sold in the Kingdom of Sierra alone.

Background and production

On January 22, 2018, Q-Lo died from an accidental drug overdose while on tour in Honolulu. At the time of his death, Q-Lo had been working on two separate projects: his next solo album and a collaborative record with the long-time collaborator and producer Stephacide. His last work was the EP La Douleur Exquise, which was released just a week before his death. His last studio album was Purple 001, which was released in 2017.

Q-Lo had been working on his next studio album for approximately three years, and had begun work shortly following the commercial release of Purple 001. The planned album included various unused tracks and music samples that did not make the final cut of Q-Lo's previous works, which included music produced as early as 2012. This includes the Yeeda and Fren-Z collaboration, "No Ma'am" and "Don't Tell Me", while "All Alone" had been a leftover track from the Saudade sessions. The Yung Nevabroke collaboration, "Stupid", was recorded during the summer of 2016 at producer SK99's home studio alongside the song "Shackles To Diamonds", which was included in the rapper's fifth studio album, OPEN SEASON (2016). "Harder" had also been a leftover track from OPEN SEASON, one which Q had teased on social media numerous times prior to his death and had performed lived at his final three shows. Songs included in the deluxe version of the album, "Every Summer" and "Cash Cash" featuring ZuWop, were recorded during the sessions for Purple 001.

Stephacide, a record producer whom Q-Lo had worked considerably throughout his professional career and executive producer of the album, would confirm in an interview with Sierra Media that "most" songs featured on the record were originally intended for their collaborative album, with recording sessions beginning in early 2017 and continuing throughout the year while the rapper was on tour promoting Purple 001. These sessions include "My Way", one of the few songs to have a music video recorded before the rapper's passing; "Used To", "Searchin", the KitKat collaboration "All Flavors", "Loving You", and "Break It Down". One of the last songs recorded by Q, "Raindrops", would be finished posthumously while Q in the studio listening to the song would be included as "Raindrops (Interlude)". Another song, "It's Been So Long", would be found on the rapper's laptop located in his touring bus following his death, having been recorded an hour before the rapper's last show the same night as his death.

Music and lyrics

Unlike the two prior records released by Q-Lo, Purple 001 (2017) and La Douleur Exquise (2018), Fire Shack is a predominantly new wave, trap, experimental R&B and synth-pop record reminiscent of Q's earlier works such as I Called But You Didn't Answer Me (2012) and Saudade (2014). Lyrically the record explores various depths of heartbreak, the celebration of success, and excessive drug abuse. The album's intro, "A Good Day" features a monologue from Q recorded on a Telecam live where he says,

And this may sound stupid, but like, anyway, you can do whatever the fuck you put your mind too. It don't matter what it is, your favorite rapper whether it be me or whoever else you admire, for whatever reason... they a human just like you. They eat just like you, they breathe just like you, and they may be known around the world and you may not be there yet, but I say yet to say you can do whatever the fuck you put your mind too. You could be in the same position as your rapper, hell you can be better than them like, you can be whatever the fuck you want to be.

The album's second track, "My Way", features synth-pop, hip hop and electronic production and has been noted for its alternative R&B approach vocally in comparison to his previous works, with Q singing predominantly over the "atmospheric" beat about themes of love and personal growth. He sings on the chorus, "Here I Am, Talking to the trees again / Waiting for the leaves again to blow my way / And if we can, I'm hoping that we'll meet again / Knowing that we'll speak again if things go my way". In his second verse, Q continues this story, "Not much to say when I saw you / Made you mad, started running / I chased you, You said "I'm tripping"". He sings soulfully in the outro bridge, "My summer love, I keep falling for, Winter's heartbreak / When the night comes crawling, I'll be on my way / When day light comes calling, I won't have much to say". The following track, "Used To", continues to see Q sing soulfully over his love interest that doesn't always reciprocate, with him showing his desire to change and "prove" his love but doesn't "want to be a fool". The song is noted for its heavy synth-pop and new wave trap production. "All Flavors" featuring KitKat features the rappers going back-and-forth about having "more bitches than the mayor" and that they "they come in all flavors". Q's verse would gain notoriety online for mentioning his highly-publicized relationships with Jasmine Marx and Emma Chae, rapping, "My girl Emma took me to the movie, She never been a groupie / like my girl Anita, Dropped me off in Eureka'".

The album's second interlude, "Q Speaks", features an excerpt from Q in an interview on 37.8 Phunk Pete's radio, where he says that "life does very much so imitate art" and expresses concern over what musicians "create and say", humorously bringing up Code Praxis but emphasizing that "until Pluto came out, it did not look like this". He further elaborates,

"Like, kids is hearing percocet in a song and then going and getting high. Like I see it literally everyday, and its because of the music."

On "Harder", Q celebrates the lifestyle of a successful drug dealer, rapping in his verse that he "swerves through the 3" to "meet the plug at 3" at the "Jollibee south side", and then rapping in the chorus that because he had to "whip it harder", he is now "moving smarter". The instrumental has been described as chamber folk, ambient, and trap track with a lead guitar and 808's. The seventh track, "Stupid" featuring Yung Nevabroke, features new wave trap and synth production. Yung Nevabroke and Q-Lo previous collaborated on "Shackles To Diamonds" and "Check Callin'", released on OPEN SEASON (2016) and Live At The Gates Of Hell (2018) respectively, though "Stupid" was recorded during the same sessions as other three in 2016 due to the Nevabroke's incarceration for RICO charges at the beginning of 2017. On the song, Q raps on the chorus, "All my shit is stupid, this-this shit is fluid / Put them, put them girls on LSD, liquid, they like "Ooh shit" / I'm out in the Gold Coast, same house they shot the Wandering Soul". Nevabroke continues this motif in his verse ("All my shit is stupid, think my dick need therapy / Stay up in some new bitch, all my cars got LSD"), shouting out Q ("Bad bitch say she want Q-Lo / Told her whatever, long as your friend go"; later "Me and Q like Ned, Nedd, n Neddy") and Lil Coast ("Came from the Bricks to sit front row at my show / But she say her favorite rapper Lil Coast, though"), while also comparing himself to Charles Manson ("She say there be plenty money, and she know to 'keep my family close' like Manson"), while Q raps about re-negotiating 17 Cliipper the Red God's contract with SMG and signing to Skid Row Productions ("Once I make another single, I could buy you out your deal, hey!").

Tracklist

Fire Shack standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"A Good Day" (Intro)	Jermaine Williams Jr.		0:49
2.	"My Way"	Williams Jr. · Ignatius Sherazi	Q-Lo · Stephacide	3:54
3.	"Used To"	Williams Jr. · Sherazi	Q-Lo · Stephacide	3:06
4.	"All Flavors" (featuring KitKat)	Williams Jr. · Jesse Klein · Jay Fresco · Bruno Rodriguez · Sherazi · Henry Fritz	Q-Lo · Jay Fresco · DJ Glock · Stephacide · Henry Fritz	3:19
5.	"Q Speaks" (Interlude)	Williams Jr.		0:54
6.	"Harder"	Williams Jr. · Rodriguez · Fritz	DJ Glock · Fritz	2:32
7.	"Stupid" (featuring Yung Nevabroke)	Williams Jr. · Amari Simons · Korbin Sunn · Cole Savage · Rodriguez	SK99 · Quitmydayjob · DJ Glock	2:30
8.	"Loving You"	Williams Jr. · Sherazi	Q-Lo · Stephacide	3:15
9.	"Break It Down"	Williams Jr. · Sherazi · Daniel Andrews	Stephacide · DanceDanDance	3:14
10.	"Live From The Sky" (Interlude)	Williams Jr.		0:45
11.	"Don't Tell Me"	Williams Jr. · Andrews · Sherazi · Rodriguez · Dakota Hopkins · Stefan Greer	Q-Lo · DanceDanDance · Stephacide · DJ Glock · M1RZA · Da Payout	3:14
12.	"Searchin"	Williams Jr. · Sherazi · Greer	Q-Lo · Stephacide · Da Payout	3:14
13.	"No Ma'am" (featuring Yeeda and Fren-Z)	Williams Jr. · Trevor Young · Kareem Abdul · Caiden Brooks · Rodriguez · Greer	DaaDah Bless · DJ Glock · Da Payout	2:40
14.	"Raindrops (Interlude)"	Williams Jr.		0:57
15.	"Raindrops"	Williams Jr. · Sherazi	Q-Lo · Stephacide	2:15
16.	"All Alone"	Williams Jr. · Sherazi · Greer	Q-Lo · Stephacide · Da Payout	3:40
17.	"It's Been So Long"	Williams Jr.	Q-Lo	5:04
18.	"The Hustle Never Stops"	Williams Jr. · Sherazi · Savage	Q-Lo · Stephacide · Quitmydayjob	2:40
Total length:				48:02

Fire Shack vinyl and digital deluxe edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
19.	"Every Summer"	Williams Jr. · Rodriguez · Greer	Q-Lo · DJ Glock · Da Payout	3:12
20.	"Cash Cash" (featuring ZuWop)	Williams Jr. · Davis Stone · Hykeem Terrace  · Tyrone Davenport · Jeoffrey Mack · Marc Mullins	Wonderkidd · Streetside · Bayz · Loopy	2:58
Total length:				54:47