As the Dec. 16 release of Herbert, his first full-length effort in just over six years, approaches, Ab-Soul visited Sway in the Morning on Wednesday.
Ab-Soul asked for something “smooth” just before starting his freestyle at 23:30 minutes, and the instrumental to “Die Hard” by Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar started playing. He was surprised for a little moment but soon responded as predicted.
After his last album, Do What Thou Wilt, was released, Ab admitted that he didn’t write or record anything for over a year since he felt he had “rapped every day since I was a teenager.”
The TDE rapper sought to isolate himself from any outside musical influences before he finally started writing what would become Herbert. The choice was made in response to a friend’s comment that he always appears to be playing a character in his work. Soul acknowledged, “That shit just struck me, like wow, you’re correct.
Herbert is the result.
The 35-year-old said, “This record is about me truly peeling back the onion.” “It’s simple to travel too far and forget where you came from and what helped you even reach that far. The most significant factor is that. You can’t be strong and stable without a solid basis, without knowing your origins and who you support. The theme of this album is finding oneself again. eradicating the ego and the hubris.
Herbert will include Big Sean, Jhené Aiko, Joey Badass, and other artists in addition to TDE’s Punch, Zacari, SiR, and Lance SkiiiiWalker. Ab also shared the cover art and tracklist for Herbert.
View the trailer for the Omar Jones-directed film below. Ab-Soul accompanied it with the following tweet on Twitter: “My therapist informed me I might be the messiah. Sincerity is damned, I couldn’t tell if she was being ironic or not.
On December 16, Herbert will be released, one week after SZA, a TDE labelmate, releases S.O.S., the eagerly anticipated follow-up to 2017’s Ctrl.
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