Old ab soul albums and mixtapes how to#

While his revelations range from being incredibly poignant to his stunning discovery that dialing вЂњM-O-MвЂќ on a phone yields 666, an interesting running theme is SoulвЂ™s play with gender, often flipping commonly agreed religious notions to pose questions of what might have happened if the genders were reversed.Дespite not showing them off as much as he could, SoulвЂ™s technical abilities are actually very impressive. The topics he touches on are very spiritual and conceptual, focusing on вЂњbig ideasвЂќ. Soul isnвЂ™t obeying any conventions of hip-hop music on this project at all, completely doing his own thing in what comes off as an hour-plus long stream of consciousness. Da$h, Bas, and especially labelmate ScHoolboy Q on вЂњBeat The Case/Straight CrookedвЂќ ground and enhance SoulвЂ™s spacey demeanor.

Old ab soul albums and mixtapes how to#

Soul brings the best out of a feature verse, and knows how to adapt himself to his guests to provide the greatest contrast. In terms of collaborators, I must say the features on the album are a major strength, especially in the albumвЂ™s early goings. Many tracks feature a creeping and sinister horn section and rattling drums, making them somewhat unsettling at times and providing an appropriate environment for SoulвЂ™s confused and cracking voice offering the latest in what he terms his вЂњenlightenmentвЂќ. The overall sound of the album is rather dark, continuing the jazzy style on many of the recent TDE releases that falls in line with the trend set by their biggest artist Kendrick Lamar. Still, it is an impressive showcase of talent from the label that may have won 2016. This makes a 16-track album of listening to Soul take it upon himself to ignore the beats to focus on his wordplay come off as rather contrived.

As a result, SoulвЂ™s flow can sometimes drift into slam-poetry territory, and he doesnвЂ™t exactly have the charm that someone like Chance the Rapper does to pull it off. The wordplay he demonstrates on this album rivals any current rapper, loading his bars with an incredible amount of puns and double entendres. However, the real focus of the album is SoulвЂ™s words. Do What Thou Wilt is an incredibly dense album, and for the first time Ab-Soul isnвЂ™t aiming for any particular path - the album possesses a diverse range of creative and largely freeform instrumentals. Top Dawg EntertainmentвЂ™s most uncategorizable artist is back for the first time since 2014вЂ™s lacklustre These DaysвЂ¦, and continues to straddle the line between ScHoolboy QвЂ™s unapologetic approach to his gangsta rap tracks and Kendrick LamarвЂ™s intelligent and conscious lyricism and messages.