Ab-Soul stopped by Sway in the Morning on Wednesday as the Dec. 16 release of Herbert, his first full-length project in just over six years, draws near.
Shortly before delivering his freestyle at the 23:30 mark, Ab-Soul requested something “smooth” and the instrumental of Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers track “Die Hard” began to play. He was briefly taken aback, but eventually did his thing, as expected.
Ab revealed that he didn’t write or record anything for a year or so after his last album Do What Thou Wilt dropped because he felt he had been “rapping every day since I was a teenager.”
When he finally started working on what would become Herbert, the TDE rapper wanted to focus entirely on himself and remove any outside musical influences. The decision was inspired by a conversation with a friend who mentioned that all of his work comes across as if he’s playing a character. “That shit just struck me, like damn, you’re right,” Soul admitted.
The end result is Herbert.
“This album is about me really peeling the onion back,” the 35-year-old explained. “It’s easy to go too far and lose sight of where you started and what molded you into even getting as far as you got. That’s the most important thing. Without your foundation, without knowing your roots and who you rooting for, you’re not sturdy and you’re not solid. This album is about getting back to self. Removing the arrogance and removing the ego.”
Ab also unveiled the cover art and tracklist for Herbert, which will feature Big Sean, Jhené Aiko, Joey Badass, and more, as well as TDE’s Punch, Zacari, SiR, and Lance SkiiiiWalker.
Check out the Omar Jones-directed trailer below. Alongside it on Twitter, Ab-Soul wrote, “My therapist told me I might really be the messiah. I honestly couldn’t tell you if she was being sarcastic or not.”
