Ab-Soul

**Herbert Anthony Stevens IV** (born February 23, 1987), known professionally as **Ab-Soul**, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Carson, California. He signed to Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where he eventually formed the West Coast hip hop group Black Hippy alongside rappers Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, and Schoolboy Q.

## Background

The two met at a Chicago show while Ab-Soul was on tour with Kendrick Lamar. Ab had clarified to *Home Grown Radio*, "And I had reached out to him in regards to advice on signing deals or whatnot and we kinda built from there. And he was a fan of mine, so we linked up." Later, they met again in Los Angeles and connected in a studio.

Their first official collaboration together was "Thorns & Horns" in 2014, followed by the track "World Runners" from Ab-Soul's third studio album, *These Days...* (2014). Fiasco informed MTV News that they recorded multiple tracks together, Ab-Soul also echoing this to *XXL*. He was a co-featured artist on "They.Resurrect.Over.New." from Fiasco's 2015 album *Tetsuo & Youth*. In a freestyle on the radio show, *Showoff*, Ab-Soul said, 'I figured it out, I'm Lupe Fiasco on drugs / No religious preference, just bundles of love.'

Lupe was listed as one of his musical influences on *These Days...*, where "He's actually now a mentor of mine, now that I know him personally. Of course, I am an avid Lupe follower. I hold it dear to the concepts that he presents and the ideas that he was into. It's all to provoke thought. I like when people oppose. I like people to talk about it. I don't want everybody to just say 'Yes.' If you don't like this, if you don't agree with this, say it. Speak on it. I think he tries to create that domain." He continued, "Lupe's a real disciplined and militant guy. He doesn't drink or smoke, or there won't be bad bitches in the studio. He's in there and he's working. When you get in, he's vibing. He's doing something. He's not just hanging out, which is what I like. I don't like to go in the studio and have a party."

In January 2017, with the release of the album *Do What Thou Wilt.*, Ab-Soul stated over Twitter, "I'm really just waiting on @LupeFiasco's review of my album at this point...#DWTW." In response, Fiasco posted a screenshot of his review in praise of the record:

>
> Ab-Soul IT is a master of form. Not the master of a single dimension of a particular form but a master of form itself. His ability to embody and articulate any and all methodology within the canon of Rap is matched only by his innate skill to traverse and align a vast array of subject matter into cohesive and digestible units. In his mastery of all, AbSoul IT still manages to maintain his own signature and identity. His firm understanding of the mechanics of morphology, syntactical structure, multicategoriality, lexical ambiguity, conceptual assembly and punning allow him to elegantly extract immense amounts of literal and metaphoric meaning from phrases and in some cases single words alone. With this understanding of language he elevates the common and the banal to a kind of high ornamental vulgarity fit for the average Joe but it's when he brings his skill set to subjects of the socially esoteric and the hermeneutical that AbSoul IT's alchemical mastery shines and impresses, questioning the roots of status quo and provoking re-examination of the source material with ease and experience. "Do What Thou Wilt" is an example of a master at work and play. A comfort zone where the skill set is allowed to expand and contract semi-autonomously going not off intent but off instinct and muscle memory. The culmination of years of training in the art of lyricism and classic forms and pushing further outwards the borders of the contemporary rap frontier. A solid step forward on his path up the mountain.
>
>
> Lupe IT
>
>
>
>

In a March 2017 *Genius* interview, Fiasco was listed in Ab-Soul's top five artists. In a November 2022 *Genius* interview, he mentioned, "That's why I just love Rhetorical Anthropological Philosophical Structure. Yeah, shout-out to Lupe man, that's RAPS..." Fiasco also quoted Ab-Soul's "Do Better" on December 14, 2022: "I gotta do better... ❤️🙏🏾."

## References

1. ↑ Harling, Danielle (September 12, 2014). "Ab-Soul Details Lupe Fiasco Connection"". *HipHopDX*.
2. ↑ Weekes, Jabbari (June 27, 2014). "Ab-Soul Discusses 'These Days' Collaborations with Purity Ring and Lupe Fiasco". *Exclaim!*.
3. ↑ Alexis, Nadeska (June 17, 2014). "Ab-Soul Taps Lupe Fiasco For 'World Runners' Feature: Listen". *MTV*.
4. ↑ Tardio, Andres (June 6, 2014). "Ab-Soul Says He's "Lupe Fiasco on Drugs"". *HipHopDX*.
5. ↑ Diep, Eric (June 25, 2014). "Ab-Soul's 9 Biggest Musical Influences on 'These Days...'". *XXL*.
6. ↑ Orcutt, KC (January 6, 2017). "Ab Soul Asked Lupe Fiasco to Review His Album and This Is What Happened". *BET*.
7. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". *Twitter*. January 5, 2017.
8. ↑ "Ab-Soul Puts Eminem and Lupe Fiasco in His Top Five | 10 For 10". *YouTube*. March 21, 2017.
9. ↑ "Ab-Soul "Do Better" Official Lyrics & Meaning | Verified". *YouTube*. November 23, 2022.
10. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". *Twitter*. December 14, 2022.