Any halfway decent MC in LA can do a record like this proficiently, I want more from Ab-Soul. Soulo is not rhyming about things he never rhymed about before on this record, but as a fan this is not the record I come to Ab-Soul for. Other than Soulo being from LA (Carson), this song didn’t fit this album to me. Jinx and Short Dawg “ is a requisite LA club single in the style of DJ Mustard. I also like when Ab-Soul is not scared to sing. “ Lupe is a passionate MC who brings out the best in those on the track with him, and even though his verse is simple, he is not slouching, it is a studied simplicity. In the running for my favorite song on the project is “ World Runners f t. This is not a personal criticism the best art does a great job of exploring our inner demons and contradictions, and this is what makes Ab-Soul a compelling MC. The conflict in Soulo’s lyrics is the constant wish to change the world and check out of it at the same time. His music accurately reflects a generation that grew up doing heavier drugs than my generation did, a generation that realizes things absolutely need to change but may be popping too many pills to actually do something about it. Schoolboy Q “ comes on, it’s not only clear that the tracks were chosen because they had the right amount of room for us to truly experience Ab-Soul ‘ s high pitched melodies, but that Soulo is most comfortable on tracks featuring the support of his immediate circle.Īs much as Ab-Soul refers to things like pineal glands and third eyes, he also refer s to drug use. The second song, “ Tree of Life, “ continues the airy, sparse vibe, and Soulo raps about being content to sell out the small downtown Manhattan club SOB ‘ s and chill in Time Square with his crew, which, as an MC from NY, I can appreciate. Ab-Soul is more yin and yang than good and bad, and you can hear him sincerely trying to take these gangsters to church. TDE’s SZA, “ he mixes lyrics about having “your lady with literature in her Louis bag” with lyrics about how big his girl ‘ s tits are. He told me that injecting messages into music that people turn up to was his mission, and he wastes no time doing that on his new album These Days… On the first track “ God Will Reign ft. When I told him that his song “ Terrorist Threats “ with Jhene and Danny Brown was being used to motivate Dream Defenders in Florida, he beamed with pride. Ab-Soul would be next.Īb-Soul is an important lyricist. Schoolboy got a chance to have his moment. I was interested to see how that would play out once people start checking for Ab-Sou l more and he has a bigger roll- out. What set him apart was how much he refused to stunt, and his focus on the similarities between himself and regular folks rather than the differences. Soulo was able to exist in the industry and see the world with Kendrick, yet somehow maintain his everyman presence on every track. My son got me into Ab-Soul, and the mixtape Longterm 2: Lifestyles of the Broke & Almost Famous was my favorite project. He wanted to hang out in the studio but there was far too much weed smoke in the air. In fact, when Ab-Soul and Jay Rock stopped by to record wit h me one night, my son was star struck. However, my son, 16 years old a t the time, said that Ab-Soul was the member of TDE that he really liked. A couple of years later, a pre-Interscope Kendrick Lamar visited my home studio with LA group U -N-I, and I knew he was a force to be reckoned with. I got to see how the Top Dawg crew moved back then, and I was impressed. When I was signed to Warner Brothers, Jay Rock was my labelmate. In fact, the first incarnation of Death Row cast a huge shadow over LA hip-hop that was hard to break out from under for years. West coast legends like Snoop, Kurupt, Daz, Rage and RBX paid homage to the sour of their city, but still had BARS. I recall how DMX, Eve and the Lox used to push each other creatively in the Ruff Ryder heyday, or the focus of Roc-A-Fella Records became laser-sharp when State Property and Dipset were brought into the fold. Every once in a while a hip-hop collective takes the world by storm and reminds us that power does indeed come in numbers.
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