As 2022 quickly comes to a close, fans and artists alike are continuing to share their favorite music of the year.
Ab-Soul’s latest offering, HERBERT, has only been out for a couple of weeks. Regardless, the L.A. native thinks it’s a top-five album of the year.
Elliott Wilson and Ab-Soul attend backstage at Irving Plaza on October 6, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
He took to his Twitter account on Friday (December 30) to share his thoughts on his own fifth studio album. “ALSO. My album IS top 5 of da year. F*cc all dat humble sh*t. Dead homies,” he writes in his remark. Evidently, being humble isn’t in the “Illuminate” rapper’s New Year’s resolutions. However, the argument is definitely a fair one, as the album has garnered a positive reception.
ALSO. My album IS top 5 of da year. Fucc all dat humble sh*t. Dead homies. #TDE
The project serves as the TDE rapper’s first album in six years, following 2016’s Do What Thou Wilt. Throughout HERBERT‘s 18-song tracklist, the 35-year-old explicitly addresses the state of his mental health and his battles with depression.
As part of the rollout for the album, Ab-Soul sat down with Charlamagne Tha God for an intimate interview. During the pair’s talk, which lasted for over an hour, Soulo opens up about a suicide attempt.
“I pretty much finished the album before I did what I did. I jumped off a freeway overpass, man. It was about 50 feet. I think a car broke my fall. [I] walked from my mom’s house to the bridge and jumped off on the freeway overpass. Imagine, like, you’re walking and you blink and then you’re further. You blink and then you’re further, you blink and then I’m on a fence,” he details.
“My jaw is f*cked up. I got a lotta work to do still. I’m about 85% on my foot. My foot is completely reconstructed, all the way to my pelvis, my femur, everything, was affected except my knee. If my knee would’ve been affected, I might not be walking,” he says after stating that he wasn’t in control while it was happening.
Ab-Soul speaks on attempting to take his own life while he was working on his new album ‘Herbert’
HERBERT boasts features from the likes of Joey Bada$$, Jhené Aiko, Russ, Big Sean and others. Furthermore, it evidently showcases Soul getting deeply introspective.
Considering it was released so late into the year, it will certainly be interesting to see how many year-end lists it makes its way onto.
What are your thoughts on HERBERT? Is it cracking your year-end list? Comment down below. Finally, make sure to stay tuned to HNHH for all of the latest updates in music and pop culture.
Given that it’s the end of the year — traditionally, a time for looking back on the year in review and looking forward to the possibilities of the blank calendar ahead — it’s kind of fitting that Top Dawg Entertainment released Ab-Soul’s reflective Herbert now rather than somewhere in the furor of attention swirling around Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s comeback albums. This is because of the content of Herbert, yes, but it’s also because of Soul’s seeming place in the unofficial hierarchy of TDE’s fluctuating roster of artists.
With Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers concluding K. Dot’s commitment to the label and SOS potentially constituting SZA’s swan song (although the jury remains out in that regard; she seems to change her mind every other week and could be announcing five more EPs by the time you read this), TDE finds itself in an interesting place. For all purposes, it looks very much like the most commercially successful acts on the label are pretty much done. Schoolboy Q, who’s always kind of hovered in their periphery, last released an album, Crash Talk, in 2019, which could potentially have also completed his own obligation to Top Dawg, if Kendrick’s five-album deal structure is any guideline.
Jay Rock, who may as well be the label’s vanguard artist, hasn’t been heard from since 2018, although he typically takes long breaks between albums too. That means that for the first time, TDE is probably facing a new year with the prospect of no releases from its first and second-wave rappers and singers. It also means that 2023 might be totally clear for Top Dawg to truly move into its next wave of artists, many of whom seem poised to bridge the gap between the backpack rap-influenced releases of the label’s past and the more sonically malleable styles of contemporary hip-hop — which makes Herbert the perfect project to close that chapter of Top Dawg’s history.
Of all the first-wave TDE artists, Soul has probably been the hardest sell to the mainstream hip-hop fan. Influenced as much by underground mainstays like Canibus and Ras Kass as he was by Tupac, his bars have always been the densest, the most metaphorical, and the most abstract of the Black Hippy collective. While Jay Rock and Q reeled off morbid street stories and Kendrick offered intellectual observations on LA gang culture from the perspective of the hood-adjacent everyman, Ab-Soul was that stoner roommate everyone remembers from university who was really into metaphysical philosophy.
He was also — and I say this lovingly, as a fellow former denizen of the rap battle forums he frequented in the early days of the internet — a rap nerd beyond the like of his Black Hippy brethren. He was the one who deeply cared about the mechanical intricacies of rhyme work, the sort of blog commenter who probably threw the term “multi” into at least a few of his online missives. It showed in not just the music he made, but in the reception to it, as well. On his first two projects, Longterm Mentality and Control System, these tendencies made him seem quirky and idiosyncratic on These Days… and Do What Thou Wilt., though, he sounded out-of-touch and borderline delusional.
So it’s a relief to hear him shake loose some of the muck that bogged down those projects, endeavoring to discuss more earthbound subjects on Herbert — even when those topics get dark. On the title track, he addresses addiction, depression, losing his father, and even his ongoing ordeal with Steven-Johnson Syndrome, which affects his vision. On the motivational “Do Better,” he wrestles with survivor’s remorse while detailing his own efforts to follow the title’s advice. And in the lead-up to the album’s release, he was forthcoming about his recent suicide attempt, in which he jumped from a freeway overpass seeking a permanent solution to dark thoughts tormenting him through the recent pandemic.
Likewise, it’s satisfying, if not always delightful, to see that those rap nerd tendencies haven’t left him. Depending on your tolerance for rap dad jokes, some of the bars on the album can read like the most tortured puns to propagate their poet’s punchline prowess, or they can wow you with their wordplay wizardry. Here’s a test to find out which side you’ll land on. If that last alliteration-laden sentence made you groan a little (okay, I’ll stop now), approach with caution, and be ready to skip “The Wild Side” and “Art Of Seduction.” But even so, don’t miss the DJ Premier-produced album closer “Gotta Rap,” a defiant, triumphant celebration of Soul’s survivorship and pride in his pen.
Now, Top Dawg Entertainment must look to the future. Although 2018 signee Reason and 2020 recruit Ray Vaughn are both equally adept at twisting a double entendre to suit their purposes, they’re both grounded in the same sort of murky narratives as Jay Rock and Schoolboy Q. Meanwhile, Doechii has distinguished herself as the possible breakout star for phase two of the TDE experiment, garnering rave reviews for her viral singles “Crazy” and “Persuasive.” But whereas the first-generation TDE stars relied on their gritty stance and muddy, boom-bap-inspired production, it’s fitting that Herbert closes with a beat by the preeminent pioneer of backpack rap’s musical backbones.
Top Dawg, like hip-hop as a whole, has to evolve. The past year or so has shown us that the genre moves too fast and has become too omnivorous to cling to its origins, however important it is to acknowledge and remember them. So it’s good that we’ve learned as much as we possibly could about TDE’s flagship artists through their revelatory return projects (even going back to Isaiah Rashad’s 2021 album, The House Is Burning). The time has come to get to know the next generation, with their glittering dance beats, triumphant trap anthems, and a slew of new stories to tell.
Herbert is out now via Top Dawg Entertainment. Listen to it here.
Since Uproxx has already shared the Best Songs of 2022, for the Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2022 list, I once again teamed up with Yoh Phillips to see if we couldn’t excavate some gems from an absolutely stacked year of rap releases. While the glut of new songs meant that it’d be physically impossible for anyone to listen to literally everything – or even a fraction of it, really – what we landed on was more of a list of our favorite songs.
These are the ones we couldn’t stop running back, that we had a gut reaction to, that changed our worldviews at least a little bit. That’s what a great song does, after all. It becomes part of you, whether it’s a hook you can’t stop singing, a beat you hear in your head all day long, or just a line that made you think about things a different way. Here are the songs that made us do that, the Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2022.
Ab-Soul – “Do Better” Feat. Zacari
An emotional gut check of a song, “Do Better” hails from Ab-Soul’s upcoming album Herbert. In it, he details the past five years of his life, from getting lost in conspiracy theories to almost taking his own life. He vows to do as the title suggests, something we can all relate to and an example we all should follow. – Aaron Williams
BIA – “London” Feat. J. Cole
“Yummy!” Yeah, J. Cole is still hijacking people’s records right out from under them – something he did a few times this year. “London” constitutes the strongest example, though, with Jermaine flexing his best English accent (he’s no Top Boy), dropping Beatles references, and leaving fans with one of his most amusing verses ever. We don’t believe him about being nervous about the collaboration, though. – AW
Cordae – “C Carter”
Cordae really elevated on his sophomore album From a Bird’s Eye View, but this song was ultimately the standout. While “Chronicles” was the big hit, this song forms the emotional center of the album, recalling how big dreams, when pursued, can take you places you never imagined. Even if those dreams are as humble as copping a $30,000 mid-size sedan. – AW
Denzel Curry – “Walkin”
I tried to get clever with this one, but let’s face it: “Walkin” is probably going to be one of Denzel’s career bests when all is said and done. That beat worms its way into your head thanks to its loopy, soulful sample. But that’s just a delivery system for a motivational message that comes along at just the right time after the last couple of years. – AW
DJ Khaled – “God Did” Feat. Jay-Z, Lil Wayne & Rick Ross
Say what you want about DJ Khaled. I get it. I really do. But. Who else pulls this kind of performance out of Jay-Z? You know the ones. They keep Twitter buzzing for a full 24 hours. They inspire the sort of “away message quotes” that the best Drake songs have been doing for the past decade or so. They make you think. They make you reach for the rewind button. That was Khaled. Give the man a break. – AW
Drake – “Jimmy Cooks” Feat. 21 Savage
A resolve as foreshadowing: Aubrey’s inclusion of Savage at the end of his polarizing house exercise served as crowd-pleasing on the surface, but prevailed as another irresistible mark of unexpected chemistry. Drake thrives on juxtaposition, opting for cruise control on another exercise in Memphis homage; Playa Fly this time. Aubrey’s comfortable, almost unbothered. Once the beat switches and tension increases, Savage takes full command, his voice piercing as he lands every punchline body. You know it’s Tay Keith, even without the tag. It’s menacing, celebratory, and yet another Degrassi reference. His fellow Canadians Struck Back; somehow, The Boy struck again. – Yoh Phillips
Billy Woods’ use of “Zimbabwe!” as an adlib justifies inclusion alone. That said, this Alchemist-helmed joint crawls along as we watch three iron blades sharpen themselves and each other. The pianos glimmer onward as the vocal chops quickly kick the door back in, and not a single word’s wasted as Earl, Woods, and E L U C I D dance at their own paces, in sync with the mission. We’re in the kitchen, the club, the hellfire, the darkness. There are warnings to heed, decisions to fix, and we’re only in control of what we do with our days. – YP
Freddie Gibbs – “Grandma’s Stove”
The most vulnerable song on Freddie Gibbs’ most vulnerable album, “Grandma’s Stove” puts all of Fred’s formidable storytelling skills on display. It’s the kind of song that he’s always had the capacity to make but wisely withheld for his “official” debut album. It’s a testament to how patience, resilience, and a true survivor’s mentality can elevate rap’s most basic mechanics to high art status. – AW
Future – “Puffin On Zootiez”
For the past decade, Nayvadius Wilburn’s been operating at a three-hit minimum per album (his latest is I Never Liked You), and that only counts what gets picked as singles. You’ll find at least two more hits in the album cuts; this TM88/Nils/Too Dope joint hits like comfort food you’d find on Pluto. Instantly identifiable by sonics as plush as content, the track is underscored by the haunting allure carrying all of Future’s oeuvre. He’s tread this territory many times over, but he ceaselessly finds new angles; earworms, syncopation, playing with pitch, and non-sequiturs galore. From the opening bells, we’re transported to places we can never access, craving premium desires and excess. – YP
GloRilla – “Tomorrow 2” Feat. Cardi B
The Breakout-Hit-to-Superstar-Remix Pipeline found Big Glo, mid-ascension with added firepower via signing to CMG, merging lanes with a recently-reinvigorated Cardi B who was primed to continue her summertime momentum. Thanks to the glistening production chaos provided by Macaroni Toni, GloRilla’s original balance between grounded optimism and unflinching confidence grants Cardi permission to kick it into overdrive. Lavish living, public drama, and the price of fame be damned. Quotables and captions abound, making for one of this year’s most aggressively-sellable hit records. The ladies mirror one another in energy and ethos: the homegirls from your hood who came up but will forever run down. – YP
Hitkidd & GloRilla – “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”
Mantra, manifestation, Memphis. Hitkidd conducted the sound of the city; it’s all in the drum, the snare, the bounce. And by summer’s end, GloRilla lived up to her name: a day-long adventure with an overnight turnaround became one of the most immediately-impactful breakout singles of recent memory. That reach is best measured in the response to this boisterous track at any function since spring — and check the parking lot, too. Her commanding allure combines with a relatability you simply can’t program. The voice cuts through, the quotables abound, and the hook? A centerpiece to galvanize fed-up folks worldwide, at the expense of whoever dares try the team. – YP
IDK – “Taco”
For my money, IDK and Kaytranada’s Simple is one of the most criminally overlooked and underrated projects of the year. Shame on all of you for missing out on some of the most innovative production (of which “Taco” is a prime example; “Dog Food” is another) and blunt-but-incisive lyrics hip-hop had to offer in 2022. Dance and hip-hop have always born a kinship but this is the height of that combination thus far. – AW
Ice Spice – “Munch (Feelin’ U)”
NY Drill by way of the Bronx, inverted by gentler textures and shipped directly to the zeitgeist. In under two minutes, Ice Spice finessed her hometown framework with a playfulness unseen, her overnight rise gracing the cultural lexicon with a new term for pass-around, down-bad dudes still chasing. RIOTUSA supercharges the drill standard with an ominous warmth, leaving room for Spice’s nimble quips. She indulges her whimsical instincts, radiating confidence to spin new gold from the familiar, and neither overstates nor overstays. And if the dive through her old tweets granted her more converts? Y’all know she’ll be here a while. – YP
JID – “Kody Blu 31”
When JID sings in the opening verse of “Kody Blu 31,” a standout from The Forever Story, he echoes Sunday school services and bible study sessions with vocals rarely found in such a craftsman of intricate rhyme schemes. It’s a humble hymn, soulful in sound, both melancholy and motivational with sincerity. Although recorded in dedication to a friend, “Kody Blu 31” feels like a universal mantra that will be meaningful for years to come. – YP
Guns, violence, and mayhem were all themes mostly untouched by Dreamville Records until JID came in with his shouting evil twin Kenny Mason for a caliber of crunk turnt to the max. Their tag team on Dreamville’s Gangsta Grillz mixtape standout “Stick” is a Rambo rampage. The high energy feels intended for mosh-pits in festival settings where you can unloose and be free to yell, without a worry, “Stick! Stick! Stick!” – YP
Latto – “It’s Givin’”
From game show taboo to crossover arc, Latto delivers a record that feels furious and luxurious. This one’s an outline for a boss, guidelines if you will for the streets, the bed, and the bank. Latto’s charisma reaches a fever pitch, trading her usual power-punch cadence for a chilled, easy demeanor that lends power and presence to the accent. Pooh Beatz, FNZ, and Jetsonmade scored a feeling that sounds gives Fashion Week, and cashing in chips, and cashing out and about (the overall vibe of 777). Latto rises to the glamor at her most irresistible; it’s impossible not to feel like one of them ones. – YP
Lil Durk – “AHHH HA”
Black bloodshed: the quickest way to sell a record. The trenches: a site of life, as celebrity ensues. What is Durk Banks to do with his brothers gone, as some in the world gloat? This record’s one of the best of its class for every right and wrong reason. It’s menacing, urgent, and driving as Durk drops a dispatch from the wake of war. He acknowledges his grief, briefly. He checks the scoreboard, addressing the opposition. He even speaks to the feds and the fans (one and the same?) who make a spectacle of his reckoning. Durk dances under the same conditions. – YP
Lil Yachty – “Poland”
Lil Yachty’s one for happy accidents and was long overdue for another undeniable smash. Intentional or not, a leak granted him both: an absurdist earworm, its namesake coinciding with a nation ensnared in ongoing European catastrophes. But the song’s about lean and love and came from a joke about a water bottle. F1LTHY provided the rage for Boat to approach the operatic with deadpan conviction, and the world instantly embraced a left turn artist’s sharpest left turn yet. It’s the most Yachty context ever, and if Poland truly wants him over there, I’d hesitate to accept said invitation at this time. – YP
Mavi – “Last Laugh”
Mavi’s Laughing So Hard, It Hurts is charismatic, poetic, and tender – all reasons to delve into the album as a whole – but there is a singular quality to “Last Laugh,” the closing track. With brisk and concise reflection, it retraces the Charlotte-born rapper’s steps through crisis and come-of-age in a series of autobiographical verses that end with the assertion, “This tape is my only taped confession.” Confessional writing, stripped of everything except the will to be true, is layered with a conviction to honor the bruises earned to make this music as honest as it could be. – YP
Megan Thee Stallion – “Plan B”
Meg got back in her freestyle bag with this ruthless repartee to the thousands of keyboard critics who spent the past two years poking her over the worst time of her life. While it was probably directed at one or two in particular, its dismissive messaging and incredulous tone can apply to any number of situations for just about anybody who has had to deal with pocket watchers, haters, and trolls. – AW
Nas – “Michael & Quincy”
Normally, it’d take a lot of gall to compare oneself to the late, great Michael Jackson – and even more to make the Michael/Quincy Jones comparison, since that combination yielded Thriller, one of the most successful albums of all time. And yet, you can’t help but wonder, after the Nas-Hit-Boy partnership produced four high-quality, career-reviving projects, if, at another time, we might have all agreed. – AW
Pusha T – “Just So You Remember”
Pusha T is a man who knows his role: to revel in wrongdoing and recount the remorse. Here and on his new album It’s Almost Dry, Push excels in reciting the vicious cycle on a technical and visual level, outlining the spoils of war, complete with the sharp corners and gunshots required to attain them. Grandiose yet subdued, the music rolls on like a soundtrack to a montage where our protagonist’s scarred but smiling after coming out on top. He cackles at the competition, he resents silly questions, and he flashes back to every vein in vain and raid gone awry. Still, King Push lives his own myths. – YP
Quavo & Takeoff – “Hotel Lobby”
Migos members Quavo and the late Takeoffdownsizing to duo Unc & Phew found the Norf Atlanta legends still in pursuit of highly contagious, rhythmically loose rap anthems for the young, rich, and handsome. “Hotel Lobby” delivers. Not quite a hit, but there is something so satisfying about hearing them excited and enthused, witty and assured, exuding never going to fail, never going to fall bravado. So lively, so sturdy, so simple, but it’s fun, magnetic music that ends too soon. – YP
Rexx Life Raj – “Sunset Over College Park”
When I finished Rexx Life Raj’s new album The Blue Hour, I was in tears. It wasn’t a terribly convenient time for them either, which just goes to show the sort of emotional impact the deeply confessional love letter to his late mom was. “Sunset Over College Park,” the album’s closer, was the song that did me in. Call your mom. – AW
Sampa The Great – “Let Me Be Great” Feat. Angélique Kidjo
Titular irony aside, “Let Me Be Great” is one of the shining moments from Sampa’s comeback album, As Above So Below, that made me call it one of the top five hip-hop albums of the year. Ending the album with such a powerful closing statement, Sampa earned that distinction both with the quality of the songs on the project and a razor-sharp sequencing sensibility. – AW
Smino – “No Ls”
Smino’s return album, Luv 4 Rent, offered all of the psychedelic soul anyone could want. “No L’s” offers a prime example of Smino’s gift for wordplay, referencing both his inability to lose and his ineligibility to operate a motor vehicle. There’s a gift and a curse in everything, it seems to say, and Smi is willing to accept it all, knowing he’s going to keep going ‘til the wheels fall off. – AW
Vince Staples – “Aye (Free The Homies)”
Look, “When Sparks Fly” is undoubtedly the best song from Vince’s magnum opus, Ramona Park Broke My Heart. But even I’ll admit it’s a bit of a downer – and my half of this list is pretty much full of them. Fortunately, I covered that one on our big list for the year, clearing the way for the hood favorite. Turn up! – AW
Westside Boogie – “Nonchalant” Feat. Mamii
Boogie is still in his feelings. More Black Superheroes, one of the best-titled projects of the year, finds the Compton rapper oscillating between late-night introspection and offering more topical reflections, but he’s still at his absolute best when he’s admitting his faults – even if it seems like he’s relishing in them more than he’s trying to change. – AW
Yeat – “Talk”
How it feels atop the throne of a Tonka. As Yeat etches his legacy in a slurry of new formations — be they in the words he invents, or the layering of his voice — this BNYX-helmed record rings bigger and more menacing than anything else on its level. Yeat’s on cruise control for the coronation because there’s no turning away from what he’s becoming. Trimmed with subtle gratitude and a mutating attitude, as the opening clip implies, this is a winner’s theme, bred for live calamity and every subwoofer in sight. – YP
YG – “Toxic”
For my money, Compton’s motley collection of rappers had the best releases of the year (yes, I am BIASED. This has been well-established. Let’s move on, shall we?). YG’s new album I Got Issues falls into that category too. How could it not, when he steps out of his comfort zone while still sticking to the formula that made him? For example, crooning like Mary J. Blige – AW
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Christmas is rapidly approaching. However, before they settle in for the holidays, some of your favourite artists continue to share new music. Surprisingly, December has seen some strong contenders for AOTY, namely from entertainers like Metro Boomin and SZA. This past Friday (December 16), even more heat arrived, aptly adding to the already impressive roster you’ll find on our Fire Emoji playlist.
Of this weekend’s many albums, arguably the most highly anticipated comes from Ab-Soul. The TDE artist dropped off HERBERT yesterday. It came along with an admission that he survived a suicide attempt during the project’s recording process.
Titles we’ve picked from the record include “GO OFF” with Russ and Big Sean, as well as “FOMF.” Additionally, “GOODMAN” with Punch, “NO REPORT CARD,” and “GOTTA RAP” are receiving plenty of love.
Another big release in the hip-hop world was Young Dolph’s posthumous album, Paper Route Frank. The entire thing is obviously worth a listen, though the title you’ll find on our Fire Emoji roundup is “Thats How” with Key Glock.
Other guest appearances on the 23-song-long tracklist come from Kodak Black, King Von, Icewear Vezzo, and Trippie Redd, just to name a few.
On The Alchemist Sandwich the renowned producer connected with several noteworthy artists. Of the 10-track project’s two new titles, we’ve selected “Clip In A Tray” as the more Fire Emoji-worthy.
NBA YoungBoy is continuing his tradition of being one of the most consistently releasing rappers in the game. This weekend, he connected with D-ROK on “Military” for Rich Gang.
Our final new title is a collaborative effort from Chief Keef and Wiz Khalifa – “Rider.”
Stream our latest Fire Emoji update exclusively on Spotify below. Afterward, let us know what new additions are your favourite in the comments.
On the heels of his new album, Herbert, Ab-Soul has shared the video for “FOMF,” which is short for “f*ck out my face.”
On the song, Ab-Soul is affirmed in himself as he makes a grand return to the rap game after a six-year break between albums.
“I’m in a league of my own / Y’all need to leave it alone / I’ma just eat everything / I’ma just leave you the bones / Call it an even exchange / There ain’t no need to explain,” he raps on his opening verse.
In the song’s music video, Ab-Soul is seen taking over a baseball field with his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates Jay Rock, Isaiah Rashad, Zacari, Reason, and Ray Vaughn. Fans cheer the rap crew on from the seats in the baseball stadium.
Ab-Soul, along with Rashad and TDE labelmate Kendrick Lamar have all been outspoken about seeing a therapist. In a recent interview with Vulture, Ab-Soul shared how his therapist has helped him over the past few years.
“I felt like she understands,” he said. “It wasn’t the commercialized version of how therapy goes. ‘So how does that make you feel?’ She’s still my therapist to this day. That goes back to how our people are turned off with the mental-health conversation, going to therapy. It means you’re crazy, all of the stigma that we’ve been taught. But I feel it becoming more of the norm for people who don’t want to go to therapy, who want to go try to be their best self. I feel it. It’s happening.”
Check out the video for “FOMF” above.
Herbert is out now via Top Dawg Entertainment. Stream it here.
One of the most prolific voices in Hip Hop, Ab-Soul, is opening up in a new interview with Charlamagne Tha God. Today (December 16), the Top Dawg Entertainment standout delivered Herbert, his first studio album in six years. The rollout to the project’s arrival has been fierce as Ab, a quiet figure in the industry, hopped from one outlet to the next to share more of his journey.
This week, he teased his intimate interview with Charlamagne. Deservingly, Ab boasted about his skills, but it wasn’t all about his lyrical abilities. It was suggested earlier this week that he may have endured a suicide attempt, and now, Ab is sharing more about the harrowing experience.
The Carson native said he was lost during this time, but the experience did help him rid himself of unhealthy habits.
“I did not get any brain damage, I jumped off a freeway overpass, man, it was about 50 feet.” He also added, “I think a car broke my fall. No brain damage. It’s God. That was, ‘Alright bro, now sit down and shut up. Take it all in. Relax. You blessed, man.’”
“I pretty much finished the album before I did what I did,” he said elsewhere. “How I’m choosing to take it is—and I’m not giving it credit—but it brought me down to a place where I needed to be as vulnerable as possible. And as soon as I said everything I needed to say, I jumped.”
Ab-Soul also recalled waking up on the ground and thinking, “F*cking idiot.” He added, “I woke up on the floor, bro. Yanked me up, I passed back out and woke up in the hospital.”
“I literally walked from my mom’s house. It was kinda cinematic, too. [I was] on Del Amo Boulevard, my street. The subconscious me was trying to make this cinematic. ‘Oh, he died in Del Amo! He was the king of Carson, oh my god!’ It was cinematic, you know what I’m saying?”
He also shared the effects of the attempt. Ab revealed he lost his teeth and is wearing a flipper.
“I ain’t even got my implants yet. My jaw’s fucked up, I got a lot of work to do still. My foot is completely reconstructed, all the way to my pelvis. Everything but my knee. It doesn’t even make sense that my knee wasn’t affected. My femur, everything was affected except my knee.”
Additionally, if his knee would have been injured, the rapper believes he wouldn’t be able to walk.
Herbert has already received rave reviews as fans and critics dissect the rapper’s ability to turn inward and express his truth as a wordsmith. We’re glad to see Ab is on the mend and in a better place. Stream Herbert by Ab-Soul above.
Ab-Soul’s new album, Herbert, is now available. The album, six years in the making, brings in a stacked list of features in Joey Badass, Big Sean, Jhené Aiko, Russ, Fresh, Ambré, ALEMEDA, and TDE’s SiR, Punch, Zacari, and Lance Skiiiwalker. DJ Premier, Sounwave, James Blake, Hit-Boy, Boi-1da, and more contributed to the production.
In a new conversation with Charlamagne Tha God, Soulo opened up about a suicide attempt in which he would have jumped off a freeway overpass.
“I pretty much finished the album before I did what I did,” he said. “How I’m choosing to take it is — and I’m not giving it credit — but it brought me down to a place where I needed to be as vulnerable as possible, and as soon as I said everything I needed to say, I jumped.”
Soul revealed the incident caused him to lose his teeth and he is awaiting implants. He also stated his jaw is damaged and his foot is completely reconstructed.
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