Ab-Soul
Able to juggle the profound and the profane along with the mainstream and the underground, rapper Ab-Soul is praised for his dense, complex rhyme schemes and thought-provoking lyrics. A member of the Black Hippy crew, he broke out as a solo artist with 2012's ambitious and acclaimed Control System, followed later in the decade by These Days... and Do What Thou Wilt., his second and third Top Ten entries on Billboard's rap chart. Ab-Soul made few appearances over the next several years, and returned in 2022 with Herbert, his fifth album for Top Dawg Entertainment. Soul Burger followed in 2024.
Born Herbert Stevens IV in Los Angeles, Ab-Soul contracted Stevens-Johnson syndrome as a child, a hypersensitivity complex that left him light sensitive and wearing sunglasses most of the time. He rapped throughout high school but didn't take it seriously until after graduation, forming the group Area 51 with rapper Snake Hollywood and signing a deal with Street Beat Entertainment in 2005. The two-year deal ran out without much to show for it, but in 2007 Ab-Soul joined the Top Dawg label, with his Longterm mixtape following a year later. In 2009, he formed the Black Hippy crew with fellow Top Dawg artists ScHoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar, and Jay Rock.
Ab-Soul made his solo debut with the album Longterm Mentality in 2011. His sophomore and breakthrough effort, Control System, followed a year later, featuring guest spots from the whole Black Hippy crew along with other artists like Jhené Aiko and Danny Brown. The album climbed to number 83 on the Billboard 200 chart, while his 2014 effort, These Days..., featured names like Lupe Fiasco and Rick Ross, and debuted at number 11. Two years later, Do What Thou Wilt. was released, hitting the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. Aside from the rare guest appearance -- including "Bloody Waters" (with Anderson .Paak and James Blake) on the 2018 Black Panther soundtrack -- Ab-Soul was largely quiet until 2020, when he released the track "Dangerookipawaa Freestyle" and appeared on albums by Jhené Aiko and REASON. More active in 2022, he issued a few tracks that paired him with the likes of Kal Banx, DJ Dahi, and Sounwave, and released Herbert at the end of that year. After collaborating with the likes of Ray Vaughn and Zacari in 2023, Ab-Soul released his sixth full-length Soul Burger in 2024.
© David Jeffries /TiVo
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Discography
27 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Soul Burger
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Nov 8, 2024
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
HERBERT
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Dec 16, 2022
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
These Days...
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Jul 14, 2023
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
All That
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Oct 18, 2024
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
Sandcastles
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Jan 27, 2023
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Squeeze 1st 2 - A COLORS SHOW
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by COLORSxSTUDIOS on Nov 28, 2024
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Control System
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by TopDawg Ent. on May 11, 2012
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Two Black Hippy
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Dundridge Entertainment - Unlimited Business on Sep 15, 2014
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Long Term 1 & 2
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by AAA Records on Apr 6, 2015
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Longterm Mentality
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment - Ab-Soul on Apr 5, 2011
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Longterm Mentality
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment - Ab-Soul on Apr 5, 2011
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Crazier
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Oct 29, 2024
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
Squeeze 1St 2
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Oct 11, 2024
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
Hollandaise
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Apr 22, 2022
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Moonshooter
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Sep 16, 2022
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
Two Black Hippy
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Modulor 2 on Nov 15, 2013
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Blowfly
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Ent. - Interscope Records on Oct 20, 2023
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
Dangerookipawaa Freestyle
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Apr 20, 2020
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Hidden Stages
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Equity Distribution on Sep 29, 2023
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Do Better
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Oct 21, 2022
Available in24-Bit/88 kHz Stereo -
Motions
Soul - Released by Top Dawg Entertainment on Feb 10, 2023
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo