Ab’s line of ‘Doing drugs was just a war with boredom but it’s sure to get me’ sadly foreshadows real life events that were soon to follow. It was driven by being under the influence and effect of his own drug use. Soul has highlighted that his suicide wasn’t a direct attempt. Ironically it feels like he wrote it after. Do Better, thought touching on suicide, was recorded before his suicide attempt. Though the first half has a positive feel, the second half is a stark look into Ab-Soul’s mind at the time of recording the track. Whilst ’No Report Card’ gives us a hint of his state of mind through the recording of album with the chorus of ’so-low, don’t go so low, may day, grade a, no report card’ whilst dropping hints of frustration through lines like ’solar system, I’m sick of planet earth’. Starting off with ‘Message In A Bottle’, the album is perfectly set up laying out his frustrations and ambitions. Songs interweave into each other as Ab-Soul works through his journey to getting to where he wants / needs to be. The album is a journey, a musical memoir, it has a district start, middle and end. Much of it is channeled through ‘Herbert’. In a recent NPR interview he talked about ’the disconnect with the people around him that matter the most’ and how he dealt with this. Digesting this and the time of when many of the songs were recorded brings an immediacy to many of the tracks and exposes layers in the lyrics that I missed on the first few listens. He largely blames substance abuse and the loss of his best friend for the attempt, though suicide has haunted Ab-Soul over the last 10 years with both his ex girlfriend Alori Joh as well as previous collaborator Mac Miller both taking their lives. Not long after the release of Herbert, Ab-Soul confirmed in and interview with Charlamange that after completing the majority of the album he tried to commit suicide by jumping off of an overpass close to his mothers house. What I found is an album reflecting an artist’s internal and external turmoil, raw emotions, and a journey. Impressed by the initial singles I was expecting a well produced collection of solid songs. Like the 3 others on this blog / podcast I have approached this album and artist with no history and previous impressions. Part of the plan was to move away from his conspiracy theories and create an album that was personal and more of a reflection of him. Previously happy with his underground path, Ab-Soul has admitted on numerous occasions recently that this latest release carried a heavy amount of pressure to break him into the mainstream. have released their music through major labels such as Interscope. Though he’s signed by TDE, they have released his music independently whilst the majority of TDE artists such as Kendrick, Schoolboy Q, etc. Most recent articles focus heavily on his debut album ‘Control System’ and how his conspiracy theory lidded rhymes made him popular with underground hip hop heads and built him a strong following that lauded after him over his next few albums. With the exception of his membership in Black Hippy and being signed to TDE my knowledge stops there. Cards on the table, though I’d like to say that I’m a big fan of hip hop and have a fairly extensive knowledge I don’t actually know that much about Ab-Soul or his music. The album I’ve chosen is Ab-Soul’s ‘Herbert’.Īhead of the ‘why’, it’s important that we delve into the ‘who’. Why? Because it’s an album that I think shouldn’t be missed. Instead I’m bringing to the table and album that is complicated, and I’m confident is going to be a challenge to at least 2 of the 4 of us. But they have had a lot of well deserved coverage and I’m sure most of us are well into their releases being in heavy rotation. An easy choice for this month’s album of the month would have been either the new Stormzy or Little Simz releases which are both exceptional. As we start of a new year of what I imagine will be another year of fantastic music, I like many am still mopping up the spill over of late releases in 2022.
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