Believe it or not, there was a time when west coast artist Ab-Soul—one of four members of the rap collective Black Hippy, consisting of Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, and Schoolboy Q—was on par with Kendrick Lamar in terms of lyrical ability and career trajectory. True story: when the members of TDE came to Milwaukee to perform for the BET Music Matters tour back in 2012, I was more excited to see Ab-Soul than anyone else (See video from that show below). Nothing against K. Dot, but Ab-Soul had just put out his crowning achievement Control System which contained a bundle of hard-hitting tracks like Terrorist Threats and Pineal Gland that I knew would tear the house down. Kendrick Lamar would go on to put out his tour de force album good kid, maad city later that year, but his last album up to that point was Section. 80 (also good)—which was released a year prior (2011). While Black Hippy never put out a full album together, that ended up being a blessing for each member; it allowed for more emphasis to be put on their individual projects and for each of their distinct personalities to get introduced to audiences one at a time.
While each member has a life story worthy of rapping about, Ab-Soul’s is the one that might be the most empathetic to most audiences. This includes his battle with Steven-Johnsons syndrome, a disease that affects his vision and which he has been diagnosed with since he was a young man; the loss of his longtime girlfriend Alori Joh to suicide (Joh also appears on Control System); and his lifelong battle with drug addiction and depression, which culminated in a failed suicide attempt where he jumped from a freeway severely injuring himself. He recently recounted what led to his decision and why he’s more motivated now than ever after surviving in an hour-long sitdown interview with radio personality Charlamage tha God (see below).
His delivery was slower and filled with clever lines, which made listening to his songs multiple times rewarding. Add to that his witty wordplay—you could always count on his bars to be filled with memorable homophones and metaphors—and he’s always been someone to root for. All that being said, his two follow-up projects after Control System—outside of a handful of tracks—both failed to live up to it creatively. Now the MC is back with his first album in six years. While it’s not the triumphant return I was hoping for, it is a noticeable improvement from his previous two efforts. One can tell that he has found newfound motivation even though he is on record in saying that most of this album was completed before his suicide attempt.
The main selling point of Herbert, is that it’s easily his most introspective album to date. The album starts off with a recording of his grandmother reading Mark 8:36 from the bible, saying, “for what shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul?” This is one of many “real life” interludes from people that are reminiscent of what Kendrick did in good kid, maad city, even though it’s less cohesive here. His grandmother’s message plays as a warning and sets the tone of how Soul will reflect on his life throughout the album.
He alludes to his suicide in the opening lines of the first track, “Message in a Bottle,” as he raps, “what happens next is a leap of your faith; you need to hear what you see and see what you say.” He also talks about the death of his best friend, which could refer to rapper Mac Miller or TDE affiliate Doe Burger who both passed away in recent years. It’s a welcome return to him reaching into his spiritual side after his 2014 These Days… a concept album where he posed as Jesus Christ on the album cover. If that album signified the resurrection of his career, this one seems to be a rebirth of him as a man through the memories of his upbringing, as evidenced by the picture of him as a baby on the cover for Herbert.
But just like he has in the past, his pursuit of clever punchlines does work against him sometimes, too, with outdated lines like “you’re very venereal, I’ma set you men straight (menstruate).” Another line that didn’t land is one on “The Art of Seduction,” where he spits, “Will the honey stay when the money goes? I don’t know. Ask Winnie the Pooh.” There are also two bars related to money that are like dad joke puns: “I’m on one like George Washington” and “left the murder scene ain’t leave no witnesses, my name must be Abraham, Lincoln bitch I’m innocent” (in a cent).
That being said, his attention to lyrics does pay off on several occasions as well. Like on “Fallacy” when he says, “the only time I let the hood down is if my engine gets repaired.” Or on the DJ Premier-produced track Gotta Rap where he furiously raps, “blackin’ out till I’m out of melanin, meaning it never ends…I’m holding weight, you just a skeleton” (scale of 10). The features also deliver lyrically, like Big Sean lamenting the death of rapper Takeoff with the line “it really hurt seeing that last rocket Takeoff, Houston we have a problem” or Top Dawg president Punch crafting a whole verse centered around Greek mythology on “Goodman.”
This conflicting dynamic occurs throughout the album’s 67-minute runtime. The majority of the best tracks, like the bombastic “Fomf” (Fuck out my face), “Hollandaise,” “Do Better,” and the Joey Bada$$-assisted track Moonshooter all occur in the first 7 tracks out of an 18-track album. The worst turns happen when Soul is experimenting with new sounds, like in the horribly autotuned “Positive Vibes Only” or the boring duet where he and Jhene Aiko sing over each other in “The Wild Side.” Or “Church on the Move’s” annoying squeaky sound effect that coincides with Soul’s flow and drowns it out in the process.
The album’s best moments come from his vulnerability, like his openness about survivor’s guilt and depression on the inspirational “Do Better”—the music video for the track recreates his suicide attempt with powerful black-and-white imagery. The slowed-down “Gang’nem” also gives a graphic glimpse into the code of street life with stunning lines like “(I got) shooters you won’t see on NBA highlights” and “I know where the bodies buried.”
Overall, Ab-Soul’s fifth full-length LP is an improvement over his last few efforts. His habit of being sidetracked is still here, but his varied emotional states come across clearer than ever in Herbert. The use of jazz instrumentation and sampling adds a brighter sound than the darker conspiratorial music he is best known for. Many of the songs contain beat switches (“No Report Card,” “Hollandaise”) and sound effects that come across as reversed, almost like he’s taking you back in time in each of the songs. Still, it can get repetitive, especially in the latter half of the record. Ab-Soul’s lyrics are never in question as he scrutinizes over lines like a battle rapper, but the experimental moments where he strains himself and creatively and sonically hold Herbert back from being great. Soul’s lyricism and storytelling are always reliable; it just doesn’t always translate into a dynamic album. But as we’ve seen with Royce da 5’9″, sometimes it takes time to fully process trauma onto wax, and Ab-Soul’s penmanship will only continue to grow.
Final Rating:
‘Herbert’ is available now on Spotify and Apple Music.
Parental Advisory; Explicit Content.
(Photos: The Come Up Show)
