![]() “Moonshooter” chronicles his humble beginnings and his ascent through the music industry, and the title track runs through his lifetime of traumas and how he’s begun therapy to deal with them. The rest of Herbert, titled after his birth name, finds him tapping into his upbringing, relying on the people he loves, and spitting some of the hardest rhymes of his career. The music video for his new single “Do Better” bravely revisits his suicide attempt, and a subsequent clip highlights fans’ comments about how the track positively impacted them. On the cusp of releasing his first album in six years, he’s also ready to discuss his darkest moments in detail. ![]() Now, the 35-year-old rapper is feeling happy and grateful, thrilled about his return to music and reconnected with the most important figures in his life. He was eventually forced to grapple with the passing of close friends Mac Miller and Doeburger, and during the pandemic, tried to take his own life, in an attempt that eerily mirrored a heartbreaking lyric from his song “The Book of Soul.” After releasing his critically-panned 2016 album Do What Thou Wilt - titled after a foundational text from occultist Aleister Crowley’s The Book of Law - Ab-Soul became distant from his friends and family, falling down his own self-admitted “rabbit hole” of disinformation. He detailed his struggle to cope with the death of his partner and former collaborator Alori Joh by suicide (“Book of Soul”), rapped about seeing an image of Hitler in a photo of the Twin Towers collapsing on 9/11 (“Terrorist Threats”), and boasted that he could outrap Jay-Z (“Illuminate”).īut things soon began to spiral out of control. On his solo work, like 2012’s Control System, Ab often trafficked in bravado and pain - and the occasional conspiracy theory. The Carson, California, native signed with TDE in 2007, becoming a standout in Black Hippy (the four-man tandem of Soul, Q, Kendrick, and Jay Rock) and later dropping a stunning guest verse on “Ab-Soul’s Outro,” the penultimate track off Kendrick’s 2011 album Section.80. Then there was Ab-Soul, an esoteric, cerebral lyricist who strived to find deeper meaning. Each member had their own specialty: Kendrick Lamar as the conscious, forward-thinking leader Jay Rock as the straightforward street spitter SZA as the then-chillwave R&B songstress ScHoolboy Q as the druggy, charismatic Crip and Isaiah Rashad as the anxious, emotive Southerner. Might as well hit play again.In 2016, Top Dawg Entertainment was enjoying its ascendance as the premier crew in rap through an exquisite balance of major-label polish and independent organicism. ![]() Top Dawg Entertainment president and rapper Punch catches the second verse, reflecting on the impact of his predecessors, "Standing on the shoulder of giants / A good man turned tyrant / That's the after effects of my environment." By the end of the song, Ab-Soul fails to reach a solid conclusion on the state of his morality - only bringing more questions into the fold. "Never wore a rosary or went to confession / But if I could clean this mess up with a message, it'll be a blessing," Ab-Soul weighs faith against his own actions. ![]() The track's title kinda tells you everything you need to know about it: Ab-Soul ponders, "Am I a good man?" over a slowed down, then accelerated sample of Them Two's 1967 song of the same name. "GOODMAN," a standout from his first album in six years, has all the elements of an addictive Ab-Soul track: a remix of a beloved soul sample, a philosophical premise and an energetic, did-I-even-stutter type of flow. The Los Angeles rapper has always been a wordsmith at the top of his game, but HERBERT sees him at his most vulnerable, dynamic and confident. Ab-Soul is back and he hasn't missed a single beat. ![]()
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