Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where he eventually formed

West Coast hip hop West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast region of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the e ...

group

Black Hippy Black Hippy is an American hip hop supergroupJay Rock Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. (born March 31, 1983), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. He signed to indie label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), in 2005. Under TDE, Rock secured a rec ...

, Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q. He is perhaps most known for his introspective lyrics and his five independent albums under TDE, '' Longterm Mentality'', ''

Control System A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial ...

'', '' These Days...'', '' Do What Thou Wilt.'', and '' Herbert'', which were all released to positive reviews and commercial success.

Early life

Herbert Anthony Stevens IV was born on February 23, 1987, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. He spent the first four years of his life in Korea while his father was in the military, right up until his parents split and he and his mother subsequently moved back to the United States, to live in his grandmother's house in

. He once recalled being five years old: "I was serious into

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, at five. But video games for sure. Five… What was that,

Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...

Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers m ...

. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on TV. But I know early on, I really, really liked

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

, like we all did. Newborn babies loved Michael Jackson." At the age of 10, Stevens contracted Stevens–Johnson syndrome, which caused him to be hospitalized and is the origin of his dark lips and light-sensitive eyes. In his adolescent years, Stevens was severely teased about his condition. Stevens encountered music at a very young age, due to his family owning a

record store A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record shops sold the new formats that were ...

. Stevens also began crafting his

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

skills at an early age: "I was on BlackPlanet

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Lab ...

chat Chat or chats may refer to: Communication * Conversation, particularly casual * Online chat, text message communication over the Internet in real-time * Synchronous conferencing, a formal term for online chat * SMS chat, a form of text messagin ...

, rapping my ass off. Text

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

. It is a very interesting world. I think that it still exists online, where you

but you type it. They call it keystyle. I think that is where I developed my rhyming skills. I had been rapping a little earlier, maybe around 12 ears old but when I hopped online and into that culture, that textcee culture. It really got me going as far as being a rapper." Stevens claims to have written his first verse when he was 12 years old, to the beat of Twista's "

Emotions Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition. ...

". Rapping continued on as a hobby for Stevens, whose parents "saw a bright, college-type future" for him and enrolled him in advanced classes. It was not until Stevens graduated from high school that he began to take a career in music seriously.

Musical career

2002–10: Career beginnings and signing to TDE

In 2002, Stevens recorded his first song. In 2005, he signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with StreetBeat Entertainment, but just a year later, in 2006, he met

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of Carson-based indie record label, Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), who as Stevens says, "saw more in his music than

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

s and punchlines". Before signing to TDE, Stevens was a part of a rap group called Area 51, alongside

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

-native and fellow American rapper Snake Hollywood. In 2007, Stevens officially became part of the TDE roster. In 2008, Stevens made a brief

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for his TDE-mate Jay Rock's commercial debut single, "

All My Life (In the Ghetto) "All My Life (In the Ghetto)" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Jay Rock, released October 16, 2008, as his commercial debut single and the lead single from his debut studio album, '' Follow Me Home'' (2011). The song, which was rele ...

". Also in 2008, he began recording music for his debut

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

, at the TDE Recording Studio: House of Pain. In December 2008, Stevens released his first

, for a song from the mixtape, titled "A Day in the Life", through

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. The mixtape, entitled ''Longterm'', was released in January 2009. It was the first in a series, that Stevens claimed would have four installments: "When I did the first ''Longterm'' I knew that there would be four of them. When I did the first one. So there will be four of them: ''Longterm 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.". In 2009, he formed supergroup

Black Hippy Black Hippy is an American hip hop supergroupsequel to his first, on June 28, 2010. The tape, titled ''Longterm 2: Lifestyles of the Broke and Almost Famous'' was highly acclaimed and featured Stevens

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music ( arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or ...

on several songs.

2011–12: ''Longterm Mentality'' and ''Control System''

In February 2011, Ab-Soul revealed he was working on an album titled '' Longterm Mentality'', and subsequently released "Hell Yeah", a track featuring Schoolboy Q. On February 22, 2011, Stevens released another promotional recording taken from the album, "Moscato", a collaboration with another fellow Black Hippy, Kendrick Lamar. In February 2011, Stevens also embarked on the "Road to Paid Dues" concert tour, after being enlisted by fellow American rapper

Murs Murs may refer to: People * Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs (1804-1878), French ornithologist * Olly Murs (born 1984), English singer-songwriter * Murs (rapper) (born 1978), American rapper Places * Murs, Indre, France * Murs, Vaucluse, ...

. On March 21, 2011, Stevens released the music video for a song titled "Nothin' New", in promotion for the album. On March 25, he released "Gone Insane", the fourth track liberated that was taken from the album. On March 30, a trailer for ''Longterm Mentality'', was released via Top Dawg Entertainment. On April 1, 2011, he released the music video for "Gone Insane", directed by Top Dawg in-house directors Fredo Tovar and Scott Fleishman. Stevens has stated the respective independent albums of his label-mates partly inspired material on ''Longterm Mentality'': "I compare he process behind''Longterm 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." Stevens released his first independent album, under Top Dawg Entertainment, exclusively through

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

on April 5, 2011. The album subsequently peaked at #73 on the US

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...

. The album, although its title is ''Longterm Mentality'', is not the third part of his ''Longterm'' series. SchoolboyQxAbSoul

Soon after the release of Schoolboy Q's second independent album, '' Habits & Contradictions'' (2012), Stevens began promoting his second independent album, releasing a song titled "Black Lip Bastard", on January 17, 2012. The song was produced by TDE in-house producer Willie B. On February 28, 2012, Ab-Soul, alongside Schoolboy Q, appeared on Sway Calloway's #SwayInTheMorning

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...

, where Ab-Soul called "Black Lip Bastard": "pretty much one of the

title tracks Title Tracks is an American power pop/indie rock solo project from Washington, D.C.-based musician John Davis (musician), John Davis (formerly of Q and Not U and Georgie James). History In early 2008, although still a member of the band Georgie ...

", The first song that appears on the album, to be released was "Showin' Love", also produced by Willie B. On March 24, Schoolboy Q announced #TheGroovyTour; a month-long tour with Ab-Soul accompanying him the entire way. The tour began on April 20, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, California. On April 6, 2012, Ab-Soul liberated a song titled "Terrorist Threats". The song features frequent collaborator

Jhené Aiko Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (; born March 16, 1988) is an American singer who embarked on her music career contributing vocals and appearing in several music videos for R&B group B2K. In an effort to promote Aiko and cultivate a following for he ...

and fellow American rapper Danny Brown, who proclaimed on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that "Black Hippy the new

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

and I'm Harry Nilsson". On April 17, 2012, Ab-Soul revealed the album's title to be ''

'' and unveiled the release date to be May 11, 2012. That same day, he also released a

for "Pineal Gland", a song inspired by the

psychedelic drug Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...

DMT ''N'',''N''-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT or ''N'',''N''-DMT, SPL026) is a substituted tryptamine that occurs in many plants and animals, including human beings, and which is both a derivative and a structural analog of tryptamine. It is used as a ...

and of course the

pineal gland The pineal gland, conarium, or epiphysis cerebri, is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. The pineal gland produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone which modulates sleep patterns in both circadian and seasonal cy ...

, a small

endocrine The endocrine system is a messenger system comprising feedback loops of the hormones released by internal glands of an organism directly into the circulatory system, regulating distant target organs. In vertebrates, the hypothalamus is the neur ...

gland in the

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with ...

brain A brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as Visual perception, vision. I ...

. On April 24, 2012, Stevens released another song, "SOPA". The song, produced by Nez & Rio, references the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a United States

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...

introduced by U.S. Representative

Lamar S. Smith Lamar Seeligson Smith (born November 19, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives for for 16 terms, a district including most of the wealthier sections of San Antonio and Austin, as w ...

, that would have allowed the U.S. government to control the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

. On May 1, 2012, Ab-Soul released another music video, for a new song titled "Empathy", the song features vocals from Stevens' late longtime girlfriend Alori Joh (December 16, 1986 - February 6, 2012), who had committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

earlier in February. Joh's death had a huge impact on Stevens and the recording process of ''Control System''. On May 4, 2012, it was revealed "Black Lip Bastard" was

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed and would feature his Black Hippy cohorts, Rock, Lamar and Schoolboy Q. On May 8, 2012, his collaboration with Lamar, titled "ILLuminate", was released. The day before the album's release Ab-Soul revealed the track listing and released snippets from the album. The album, as written on the back cover, is "Dedicated to the beautiful soul of Loriana Angel Johnson aka Alori Joh". ''Control System'' was released exclusively through iTunes on May 11, 2012, under Top Dawg Entertainment. The album sold approximately 5,300 units in an abbreviated week, debuting at number 83 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and appearing on several other ''Billboard'' charts as well. The album sold an estimated 3,700 the next week. During 2012, Stevens toured with the rest of Black Hippy and fellow American rapper Stalley, on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

's Music Matters Tour. In late 2012, Stevens was featured on Joe Budden's mixtape ''A Loose Quarter'' on the track "Cut From a Different Cloth". The song received praise as one of the best songs on the project. Budden has since announced that he and Ab-Soul have recorded many songs together which will be seeing the light of day in the near future. Budden went on to praise Ab-Soul as "one of the best things going in hip hop right now".

2012–18: ''These Days…'' and ''Do What Thou Wilt.''

Ab-Soul - The Smokers Club Tour 2013 (cropped)

In October 2012, American singer-songwriter and record producer JMSN, who previously produced "Nibiru" for Stevens earlier in August, for what his label called "TDE Fan Appreciation Week", announced he and Stevens would be releasing a collaborative project together. The lead single for their collaborative album, which was set to be titled ''Unit 6'', was officially released via iTunes on January 22, 2013. The single, titled "You're Gone", features vocals from both artists, as well as production from JMSN. On March 26, 2013, it was announced that Ab-Soul would be featured on '' XXL''s 2013 Freshman Class issue, alongside Schoolboy Q and other up-and-coming rappers. On August 6, 2013, after a near four-month hiatus, Stevens released a new song produced by Willie B, titled "Christopher DRONEr", alluding to former

LAPD The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

police officer

Christopher Dorner Christopher Jordan Dorner (June 4, 1979 – February 12, 2013) was a former officer of the Los Angeles Police Department who, beginning on February 3, 2013, committed a series of shootings in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside Coun ...

. Along with the song, he announced he was working on a new solo project. The following day he would speak to '' XXL'' and say that he and JMSN had finished the ''Unit 6'' album, however their management could not "see eye to eye", so the project was ultimately shelved for a possible later release, with Stevens saying: "As of right now it's sounding like prequel to my album." He went on to confirm that JMSN and Jhene Aiko, will appear on the upcoming solo project. On October 17, 2013, Stevens stated that he was close to finalizing the project. Then later that week, he confirmed that the project had been turned in for mixing and cleared up rumors that it was titled ''Black Lip Pastor''. With the release of the 56th Annual Grammy Awards nominations, it was revealed Stevens was nominated for

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

for his participation on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' debut album, '' The Heist''. On January 2, 2014, Stevens revealed he had turned in two projects to his label Top Dawg, before the year 2013, was over: "I turned in 2 projects last year, yea I know what your thinking, let's see where this year takes me…" he tweeted. On January 6, 2014, in an interview with Bootleg Kev, when speaking on the album Stevens stated: "Ali is mixing it right now," and that they were waiting on the perfect way to present the project, as a result of creative releases such as Nipsey Hussle's '' Crenshaw''. He also revealed the album is about progression and confirmed there would be appearances from his TDE label-mates, as well as production from hip hop producer Statik Selektah. On April 11, 2014, Stevens announced he was also working on the third installment in the ''Longterm'' series. Ab-Soul - AfroPunk Festival 2015

On May 5, 2014, Stevens took to

to announce his third album would be titled '' These Days…''. On May 30, 2014, Top Dawg management took to Twitter to reveal ''These Days...'', is scheduled for a June 24 release date. That same day, TDE management also unveiled the cover art for the album and released a snippet of a music video for Stevens' song "Stigmata". On June 21, 2014, Stevens released a music video for a song titled "Closure", taken from ''These Days...''. The album debuted at number 11 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 21,812 copies in the United States and has received generally positive reviews from music critics. In October 2014, in an interview with Montreality, Stevens revealed the title for his first in-store retail project would be ''Longterm 3''. In February 2015, Ab-Soul premiered the song "47 Bars" online, produced by

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

. In July 2015, Stevens tweeted that his next album was "almost done." In July 2015, Stevens gave an update on the album: "My album's almost done..." he wrote on Twitter, adding, "It's a love story". He completed the post with the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

"DWTW", presumably the album title acronym to which he kept alluding. On June 8, 2016, via Twitter, Stevens revealed he had completed his upcoming album and turned it in for mixing. The album, titled '' Do What Thou Wilt.'', was released December 9, 2016. In 2018, Stevens appeared on the song ''Bloody Waters'' with Anderson .Paak & James Blake from Black Panther: The Album

2019–present: ''Herbert''

On November 3, 2019, Stevens performed his set at the Day N Vegas music festival and revealed that he "been cookin' the bird up slow", referring to his album. He then ended his set by

freestyling Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

and promising a new album in 2020. On April 20, 2020, to celebrate Top Dawg Entertainment founder and CEO Anthony Tiffith's birthday, as well as start off TDE's Fan Appreciation Week, Stevens released the single "Dangerookipawaa Freestyle". On April 22, 2022, Stevens released the single "Hollandaise", which was produced by TDE in-house producer Kal Banx. On November 18, 2022, alongside the release of the single "Gang'Nem", Stevens announced his fifth studio album ''Herbert'', would be released on December 16, 2022. ''Herbert'' was released on December 16, 2022, featuring guest appearances from Joey Bada$$,

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...

, Russ, Fre$h,

Ambré Ambré Perkins, known mononymously as Ambré, is an American singer and songwriter. She is currently signed to Roc Nation. She has released three full-length projects with ''Wanderlust'' (2015), ''2090's'' (2016), and '' 3000° '' (2022). Her d ...

, Alemeda, SiR,

, Zacari, and

Lance Skiiiwalker Lance Howard, better known by his stage name Lance Skiiiwalker, is an American singer, rapper and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. He is signed to Top Dawg Entertainment and his debut album, '' Introverted Intuition'', was released in ...

Artistry

Influences

Ab-Soul cites fellow American rappers Twista, Canibus,

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing Hip hop music, hip hop in Middle America (United Sta ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...

and

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, '' Lupe Fiasco's ...

as major influences, with

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one o ...

being his biggest influence. He stated: "There are so many others, but those are the ones that came to my mind at this time. Those artists are basically the template to my format as an MC. They all capture me with their music, whether it be the vibe, delivery, cadence, story, or just the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

in general."

Personal life

Stevens has cited the book '' The Autobiography of Malcolm X'' (1964) as being highly influential to him. Stevens dated fellow label mate Alori Joh (born Loriana Johnson) from high school until her untimely and tragic death, where she took her own life by jumping off of a radio tower in Compton, CA. Stevens references the relationship and the fatal loss on his song "The Book of Soul" from his 2012 album

Control Systems A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial c ...

. Since then, Stevens has reportedly dated model Yaris Sanchez.

Discography

*'' Longterm Mentality'' (2011) *''

'' (2012) *'' These Days…'' (2014) *'' Do What Thou Wilt.'' (2016) *'' Herbert'' (2022)

Concert tours

*These Days Tour (2014) *YMF Tour (2017)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1987 births Living people 21st-century American rappers 21st-century African-American male singers African-American male rappers African-American male singer-songwriters American hip hop singers Black Hippy members Hip hop activists People from Carson, California Rappers from Los Angeles Singer-songwriters from California Top Dawg Entertainment artists West Coast hip hop musicians