Unlike Icarus or Falco’s thoughts on Avatar: The Way of Water, Ab-Soul didn’t flop and had been bettering himself, growing as an artist, and finding meaning on his journeys. Similarly, Ab-Soul’s mild silence since 2016, only appearing as a featured artist or short, fulfilling singles, reminded me of a pre-2015 Ab-Soul, where the focus on experimentation had him flying too close to the sun. – Falco noted that she believed the film was released and flopped. Recently, Edie Falco remarked in an interview about her role in Avatar 2: The Way of Water – when she filmed, what she thought it could make on opening weekend, etc. Time passes, and what you thought you knew may have been incorrect from the get-go. Ab-Soul is one to knock out of the park more consistently when the nature of the tracks wanes on personable instead of flaunting and flexing, though there have been hits within that realm, like “Hunnid Stax.” We hear the essence of it on the gripping and smooth “Hollandaise.” It’s a blissful melancholy that gets highlighted over beautifully resonant and sometimes minimalist (comparatively) production, continuously boasting the thematic prowess of Soul. It’s in the emotionally complex “Herbert” and “The Wild Side,” which shows us who he has been throughout the years – someone constantly on the side of the road where there’s an obstacle with every step. We hear it in the twinkly “Fallacy,” which details Ab-Soul’s hiccups and moments where he succeeds. That’s still prevalent here, along with more reflections that sees Ab-Soul constructing his multi-layered persona with vitriol. It may have been why he never got an Interscope Records co-sign, allowing him to get down to the nitty-gritty and deliver songs where his sleeves ache, and his grief is on full display like he did with “Closure” off Stigmata. It isn’t devoid of lyrical grit, where he can shift the parameters of his flows, keeping you engaged as Soul never diverts into songs that wane too much into darker experimentations.Īs a lyricist, Ab-Soul’s content is kitschy compared to most populous rap in the above or underground scene. It’s an evident relic of the past with its jazzy, at times lightly funkadelic tones that give us similar tendencies akin to the audacious and beautiful “Illuminate” from 2012’s Control System. But that isn’t the case with Herbert, an album that feels more like the dark undercurrents beneath the percussion getting refined and letting it control are more linear approach instead of flip-flopping between the overly experimental and the “Ab-Soul, Asshole” that we’ve listened to since Longterm Mentality. 2014’s Stigmata felt like a linear direction of drug-infused beats built with the complexities of perfectly quaffed glass, and Do What Thou Wilt felt more of the same, just lesser in sonic appeal and construction. Since then, he has provided features and assistance on various albums and compilations, including Black Panther the Album ( Music from and Inspired By), Jhene Aiko’s Chilombo, among others.Mentally exhausting but exuberantly rewarding, Ab-Soul’s new album Herbert takes us through hurdles as Soul reflects on life and emotional imbalances that have placed him into a zone where the focus was his mental health. The last album Ab-Soul released was Do What Thou Wilt, a 16-track collection featuring guest appearances by labelmates ScHoolboy Q and SZA, Rapsody, Da$H, Kokane, BR3, Zacari, and the late Mac Miller. In the meantime, production will be handled by a number of prominent producers, including DJ Dahi, James Blake, Sounwave, Hit-Boy, DJ Premier, Boi-1da, and more. This includes collaborations with Zacari, Big Sean, Fre$h, Jhené Aiko, SiR, Joey Bada$$, Punch, Ambré, Russ, ALEMEDA, and Lance Skiiiwalker for features. A total of 18 songs will be featured by Herbert. The album has already been given a few previews so far, including “Moonshooter,” “Hollandaise,” and “Do Better.” However, on top of these samples, Ab-Soul recently dropped off another sneak peek at the upcoming project, a mysterious visual for the track he calls “ Bucket.” In the short video clip, Ab-Soul appears to be pulling into a liquor store and picking up someone while spitting his bars:Īside from the cover artwork and track listing, the “Gang’Nem” rapper also revealed the official album artwork last week. It has been confirmed that Ab-Soul will be unveiling his highly anticipated Herbert album on Friday, December 16, which will be his first album in six years.
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