Who Is Ab-Soul?

The TDE rapper talks about his love for Jay-Z, politics, and the making of Control System.

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Image via Complex Original
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If Top Dawg Entertainment—the California-based record label that recently signed a joint venture with Interscope/Aftermath—were a basketball team, they’d be the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kendrick Lamar, the lyrical sharpshooter and franchise player, would be Kevin Durant. Schoolboy Q, the brash, at times unpredictable, franchise-player-on-any-other-team, would be Russell Westbrook. And Ab-Soul, the sixth man who's a starter anywhere else, would be James Harden.

Although the Thunder fell to the Heat in five games in this year's NBA Finals, there’s absolutely no doubt that the young team will be back sometime soon. So even if TDE doesn’t sell millions of records or rack up tons of hits in 2012, they've got next.

Why is that such a certainty? Consider that they have three of the best rappers 25 and under on their team. Then consider that they’re already on an unbelievable streak of excellent releases from their three all-stars. Kendrick’s Section.80 was one of the best albums of 2011, and Schoolboy’s Habits & Contradictions is one of the best albums of 2012. As if that weren’t enough, Ab-Soul’s recently released independent album, Control System, is excellent.

Since we’ve gotten down with Schoolboy and Kendrick in the past, so we figured it was the perfect time to find out Who is Ab-Soul? The Black Lipped Bastard (as he likes to call himself) told us about why he's not voting this year, the themes of vision and light in his music, and why he thinks Joe Budden’s debut album is a classic.

As told to Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)

Growing up

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Growing Up in California

Ab-Soul: “I'm from Carson, California. Carson would definitely be considered a suburb. I was far from poor but far from rich: I had food in the fridge but I was pretty much broke in other aspects. It was a very humbling experience growing up. I didn’t get too much good, didn’t get too much bad. It was a nice balance of emotion or experiences growing up. Just humbled by my maturing.

“My parents owned a record store called Magic Disc Music and I had to go there every day after school. I worked there my whole life. We closed it last April. For a long time it was just something that my mom sold, it was just our business, so I didn't really care for it. I didn't understand the big deal about it, it was something we sold for money. It was my mom's job. Somewhere along the line, with my love and compassion for words and stories, I found a collection of music.

"We had to listen to music all day long, so my mom wasn't playing music when we got home. I wasn't learning about music that way. We were only playing popular music in the store. We couldn't really play too much rap and hip-hop. Instead, they played R&B, jazz, gospel, blues, and reggae. You couldn't really play too much hip-hop because of the profanity.

"We took a huge fall [from downloading]. But they were in business. My grandpa has been in the record business since the ‘60s, so he had a pretty decent run. My grandpa, he moved out here from Mississippi and he opened up a shop. As his brothers came out here to California from Mississippi, he would sell them a shop. One of my uncles is responsible for the VIP chain in L.A. and the VIP At Last in Long Beach that’s still standing. That's my uncle's store.”

Learning To Rap

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Learning How To Rap

Ab-Soul: “I wrote my first verse when I was 12 years old to Twista's “Emotions.' I was like, I can do this; I'll try it out. And I wrote it out. That's a day I remember vividly. From that moment I've had a very keen interest in the whole craft. Being a big fan of words and making the real connection with them. Saying things that can make your eyes open up. I can say something and I can turn heads.

"I just wanted to be tight with [my raps] but I was growing a passion for it. Wasn't until after I graduated from high school and checked into the community college that I realized I wanted to be a rapper full time. I probably did the equivalent of a half a semester total, in my attendance. I tried one semester and dropped out and then I tried another semester and dropped out. So it just didn't work out.”

Joining TDE

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Joining TDE

Ab-Soul: “As soon as I had graduated from high school I had signed an independent contract with a small label called StreetBeat Entertainment. Take it as a learning experience. But during that time, I had started working with TDE. That deal was for two years, so as soon as that was up, I built a relationship with TDE and became a member of that family.

"My best friend that I was rapping with early on at the time was Sounwave’s cousin—Sounwave is one of our main in-house producers at TDE. Sounwave was making beats early on like on his PlayStation. So we were in a sense coming up together, kind of doing the same things. We always stayed in contact. He was staying in Compton for a long time but he eventually moved to Carson, and when he moved to Carson we really connected. He brought me to TDE. First day I came into TDE in around 2006, I met Punch and I've been there ever since.

"We're a real family unit. They weren’t coming at me talking no paper work—it wasn't nothing like that. We were really just trying to build as a team and try to create a new sound. That's the most important thing. It took a while before we started talking about stuff like that, contracts and stuff. It was just a matter of developing and coming into our own. That is definitely our intent.”

Meeting Kendrick, Schoolboy, and Jay Rock

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Meeting Kendrick, Schoolboy, and Jay Rock

Ab-Soul: “When I first came we were just in the process. I thought I was the best rapper in the world before I came to TDE [Top Dog Entertainment]. I got to TDE and realized that I might not be the best rapper in the world. Jay Rock and K Dot was there. At the time, Julio G was spinning Jay Rock’s record and there was just a lot of energy surrounding the movement that I took a liking to. And from there, I really wanted to contribute and expound on that note—take this and try to make it bigger than it already is.

"It was like the second time I had came to the studio when I met Kendrick and Jay Rock. I came to the studio and met Punch, he called me back, and I came and they were working on a record. I hopped right in and we've been a team since then. Schoolboy came into the studio one day. I was working on a record with Jay Rock. He said, ‘I'll rap.’ He put a verse on it. Put a verse on it. He's been there ever since. Just like that.

"Pressure is just not a word I like to use. I don't think that's a good word. I think it's just more of an adrenaline if anything. I'm not worried. Ultimately I still think I'm the best at the end of the day. These guys are very good; I'm with the elite players in the game, but ultimately this is my thing—ultimately. I was trying to do it per se before I even met these guys, so I owe myself to go hard every time. I can't be walking around fearful.”

Being The Mascot of Black Hippy

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Being The Mascot of Black Hippy

Ab-Soul: “In essence, I look more like a hippy than all of them. So that's basically what that stems from. I could have sat next to John Lennon and talked about it. I think he was a big part of that whole rebellious people movement in that particular time period. I think I more represent that hippy-ish thing. And I'm cool with that.”

His Long Term Mentality Series

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His Long Term Mentality Series

Ab-Soul:“We've kind of got this unspoken rotation that we're doing. It's kind of like Jay Rock, Kendrick, Q, then me. Yearly. That's what it looks like. It probably won't stay solidified like that, but it's just this unspoken rotation that we've got going on. We just try to stay working in-between our little gaps. That is our time to present some new material.


 

I hear what Kendrick is talking about, I hear what Q is talking about, I heard what Jay Rock was talking about. So how am I going to piece this all together and add my own two cents, too? How do I continue the sound but have my individuality as an artist? It's the same challenge every single time.


 

"So it's an ongoing onslaught, it never stops. I never really stop working. My process is similar throughout all my projects. I really just take a lot of time and think about it. And then I take my time with the writing and it somehow just pieces all together. I don't have no set way of doing anything, I just kind of gain inspiration from anything that I can.”

"I compare [the process behind] Long Term Mentality to the process with all of my joints. Kendrick’s OD had came out and Q’s Setbacks had came out. I had these bodies of work to go off of as references, as inspiration.

"I hear what Kendrick is talking about, I hear what Q is talking about, I heard what Jay Rock was talking about. So how am I going to piece this all together and add my own two cents, too? How do I continue the sound but have my individuality as an artist? It's the same challenge every single time.

"Every project that I do is just a time capsule of where I'm at at the time. What I'm thinking about, what's going on with me at the time. Every project that I do. I want to keep it that way. I don't want to make it too difficult for myself, I don't want to be too hard on myself. I just want it to be a natural flow. Everything stays organic.”

His Nickname, Black Lipped Bastard

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His Nickname, Black Lipped Bastard

Ab-Soul: “I caught Steven Johnson syndrome when I was ten. I don’t have it still. I’m fine now. It’s pretty rare. That’s one of the reasons why it’s rare. it’s not really too easy to detect how you go about getting it. it’s just a certain type of bacteria.

"When I got had got sick when I was younger of course it affected my lip skin, so coming up in school I had very dark lips and my eyes were low. I had to wear shades and shit. So I was quite peculiar. People teased me about my lips, and say I look high. I didn't even start smoking weed until after I graduated from high school.

"That's another thing that hip-hop teaches you too. Guys like Kanye West and Eminem, they teach you that it's cool to be yourself even if it's not necessarily cool. I learned that. I learned to use my disadvantages to my advantage. Once I learned to do that. I'm sitting here talking to you. Exactly like the scene in 8 Mile.”

The Themes of Vision and Light In His Music

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The Themes of Vision and Light in His Music

Ab-Soul: “There's a lot of irony [that I make songs like ‘Illuminate’] but I’m sensitive to light. I probably have a desire to be able to look directly into the light because I can't. And then you think about the light and being enlightened, and what that means. I definitely like to do that. So just making all the connections with different words and where you want to see yourself. You've got to see it first.

"Any business plan or strategy that you may have you want to sit back and think about it. You want to see it through first before you do it. You want to see it being possible, you want to see all the possible outcomes. What can I do in case this happens when I get to his point? You just want to see it all the way through.

"And that's what my whole series is about: Long term. And when I did the first Long Term I knew that there would be four of them. When I did the first one. So there will be four of them: Long Term 1, 2>, 3, and 4. So right now we're at two. You'll have to wait for the next one. That’s for the next Ab-Soul interview.”

Influences

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Musical Influences

Ab-Soul: “I didn't really get into [digging in the crates] until I became like 14 or 15. That’s when I started going back and doing my research on the whole art form. But I'm just a big fan of music. It's a lot of songs that I know right now that I could sing to you. I couldn't even tell you who sung them.

“More than anything, [I’m influenced by] my team. You can hear that in my music. Because these are really my brothers. These are the guys that I'm with most of the time. So you are going to hear them rubbing off on me.

“But I pull from everybody man. I'm a fan of the culture. I'm a fan. I listen to 2 Chainz, I listen to Chief Keef, and I listen to Eminem. So I'm just a fan. I can draw inspiration from everybody.


 

I could quote bars from Joe Budden right now, like he's one of the guys that really influenced us. He's one of the guys that was really himself and wasn't ashamed of that. Cassidy, Lloyd Banks, and Fabolous were all a big part of rap at one time. The mixtape rappers, that was a very critical part of hip-hop.


 

"I am highly influenced by guys like Eminem, Kanye West, and Joe Budden. Just regular guys that know how to express themselves and aren't afraid of that. Even if it may not be cool. Like Joe Budden don't smoke weed; he smokes cigarettes. I like that shit. My homies will think that's nasty. But he's comfortable enough in his own skin to admit that. I really think that Joe Budden's first album is probably ahead of its time, like really. I thought it was a classic myself. And I really like Mood Muzik 2 too.

"It's got to do that. It's got take new forms. It's got to try to reinvent itself so we can grow. Every branch on the tree is not going to survive. But we're going to keep growing. It's crazy because coming up in this shit I always mention guys like Eminem and Jay-Z and Kanye west, but I never mention guys like Joe Budden or like Royce Da 5’ 9”—the real rappers that influenced us but a lot of times go unsaid.

“I could quote bars from Joey right now, like he's one of the guys that really influenced us. He's one of the guys that was really himself and wasn't ashamed of that. Cassidy, Lloyd Banks, and Fabolous were all a big part of rap at one time. The mixtape rappers, that was a very critical part of hip-hop. Even Lil' Wayne of course. These guys are real critical to the art form. Sometimes they get overlooked. It's crazy when you just really look back. It's a lot of guys that played a major part in this whole development.

"That's why we're here. We watched everything [they did right and wrong]. Trial-error. Good-bad. Who's cool, who's not. We watched the whole thing so now we're here. We're students of the game. I ain't going to lie, we really study the game as if it was homework. I could do Cassidy, I could do Joe Budden, I could do Eminem, I could do Drake. We just try to be as well-rounded as possible.”

His Love for Jay-Z

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His Love for Jay-Z

Ab-Soul: “My favorite rapper of all time is Jay-Z hands down. For sure, I probably have been the most inspired by him lyrically. It doesn't feel like it's jocking or biting [when I quote Jay-Z in my rhymes]. It's not. Being a fan of hip-hop, just what I've seen done time and time again.

“I'm 25 now man, I try to remember that. I'm 25 now. I see myself with those guys, so I just want everybody to know that that's how I feel. When you speak of me I want you to speak of me amongst them. That's the only statement that I'm trying to make. But at the same time you incorporate the lyrics.


 

I hope Jay gets a chance to hear it. If he is who I think he is, then he should understand exactly what I intended to do with that. I was paying homage but letting him know, we coming. You got some new young cats on your heels now. That's all.


 

"Everybody is talking about my Jay-Z line off ‘Illuminate’ but, the majority of the song was inspired by Jay-Z. If you're a big fan of Jay-Z you can hear it. That's what it was about. And I hope Jay gets a chance to hear it. If he is who I think he is, then he should understand exactly what I intended to do with that. I was paying homage but letting him know, we coming. You got some new young cats on your heels now. That's all.

"To me it's cliché to ask people to rap in particular in interviews. You go to Funkmaster Flex, he's famous for dropping the bombs on exclusive freestyles. I just went to Sway in the Morning, he's known for you going up there and showing your skills. [When someone unknown asks me to freestyle] I appreciate the look, but you just going to ask me to rap because you think it's cool and I'm going to give you a dope rhyme. [Instead, I spit Jay-Z verses.]

"[But no one ever calls me out on it], that's why Jay is the best. For real. People love that I did that. People look forward to me doing that next time. It’s mandatory that you go in there and do your stuff [if you’re on Flex]. But if you was to ask me to rap right now...”

Political Views

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Political Views

Ab-Soul: “I think the music that we've been listening to is just getting real monotonous, man. Honestly. I just want to open up a few more doors, rise a few more questions. Make things a little more interesting. I know it's a lot of people who are probably bored with the subject matter of today. So we're just here to fill that void. This is a great political time.

"I'm not going to sit up here like a big-ass conspiracy theorist or whatnot, but if you look into a lot of the things that are going on, you'll find a lot of inconsistencies. That's just from what I've found from looking into things. It's important because politics, that's the biggest production in American history. But that's just me. I could be wrong. They could be very nice guys. Maybe not.


 

I’ll give you an example of inconsistencies: The monetary system. I think dollar bills are like 75 percent linen, 25 percent cotton. So you've got linen and cotton. And our biggest bill is the $100 dollar bill. Now I could go buy a pair of linen shorts for $60. But there is more linen and cotton in the pair of shorts than in the $100 dollar bill. That's inconsistent with the value.


 

"I’ll give you an example of inconsistencies: The monetary system. I think dollar bills are like 75 percent linen, 25 percent cotton. So you've got linen and cotton. And our biggest bill is the $100 dollar bill. Now I could go buy a pair of linen shorts for $60. But there is more linen and cotton in the pair of shorts than in the $100 dollar bill.

"That's inconsistent with the value. It's not based on that at all. But that's the example I like to use. Our concept of value is completely, almost completely eradicated. But that's just me. I just think the whole thing—they all are just playing charades, in all honesty.

"I don't want anybody to think I'm speaking fact. Just an opinion. I'm just sharing some shit, a few things that I've observed. I want people to react to it, explain to me why that may not be so. Agree with me. I just want people to talk about it and ask some questions.

"I'm done with voting. I voted for Barack the first time. I thought it was real exciting like everybody else did. Got caught up in the hype. I'm done man. I'm just keeping my eyes open to the best of my ability. I'm just not too sure about it, man. I'ma stay out of that. Stay back and watch what happens. But if I were to vote, I would for sure vote for Barack Obama. For sure.”

The Making of Control System

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The Making of Control System

Ab-Soul: “What I'll say is it's real big on tying everything in. Like I continue to say, make connections. Control System is a project that I did to try and get people that like 2 Chainz and people that like Canibus and put it all together. For example, I did a song called ‘Pineal Gland.’ I really got a sense of what I was doing. I really got a sense of tying it all in.

“Even the artwork of the cover, the tree of life—it's just about taking different forces and bringing them together to make one collective. There is a lot of references on the project from a lot of my favorite artists and quotes from my favorite cliches and popular things from Kreayshawn to....I tried to go all across the board with the references so I could connect.

“I even was reading up on Basquiat and they were saying he was real big on references. He made references to a lot of his favorite artists, Leonardo, guys like that. It's the same art. This is an art form. We apply the same dynamics. That's how you tie it all in. I got these guys over here that know about the pineal gland and they are like, ‘Yo, that's crazy that you would do a song about the pineal gland.’

“And then you got the guys on the complete other side that say, ‘That shit is just hard. What's a pineal gland?’ That's what Control System is about. You ask the question, ‘What is a pineal gland?’ Because you like the song you might want to ask somebody what a pineal gland is. Feel me?”

Future

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The Future

Ab-Soul: “You going to definitely be seeing a lot of me. I'm going to try to move around as much as I can. TDE is going to continue to move this Hiiipower movement, move it around the globe and try to do as much as we can man. Break those barriers. I feel like I really know what I'm doing. It's definitely a good feeling.”

“It's really just a few more phone calls, a lot more reception. A lot more moving around, a lot more flights, a lot more trips. But it's all a part of the job. It's what we signed up for. We don't know the future but we definitely had it in mind to where I'm not surprised. I'm definitely excited, very privileged, humbled, but I'm not surprised. I think we all know how to conduct ourselves.

“It's crazy. I kind of feel like an adult now for real. It's kind of weird. Quarter life crisis. I saw [myself being here] for sure, but I mean like, I don't know the future. And I don't try to act like I do. But I definitely saw this vision, I saw this being as big as it is. I see it growing. I saw it being the biggest thing ever. I seen that before. I'm going to keep trying to do that.

“Right now I'm just going to take this time to promote Control System while it's doing very well. Going to try to take that as far as I can. If the forces that be say that I need to work on my first major album then I guess that's what's going to happen. But I'm cool with what I'm doing. I'm going to try to keep my same rotation. I'm going to work on my major album like I worked on Control System and hopefully we keep continuing to stay on that steady incline.”

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