Ab-Soul’s close friend, collaborator and yin to his yang Armon “Doe Burger” Stringer passed away in 2021, and Soulo’s carrying the tastemaker’s spirit with him to this day. The 37-year-old dedicated his sixth studio album to Stringer as Soul Burger — the fusion of Ab-Soul and Doe — hit streaming services on Friday (Nov. 9).
It’s nearly 2:00 pm in the afternoon on the West Coast, and Ab-Soul hasn’t been to sleep yet when he hops on a phone call with Billboard. “I’ve been the illest lyricist and the dopest MC, which I pride myself on, but what can I do now to touch more people and take it further?” the Top Dawg Entertainment rapper rhetorically asks.
Soulo has proved himself 10 times over as one of the elite wordsmiths and lethal pens in rap over the course of the last decade-plus, but his mission is different with serving up Soul Burger.
“This is to get the crowd jumping and focus more on the feeling versus being so cerebral,” he says, before quoting Quincy Jones days before the legendary producer’s death. “I think Quincy Jones said, ‘You gotta leave a little space for God to step in.’ I been going in beating my head against the wall coming up with the dopest metaphor versus expressing myself.”
The Underground Emperor solicited advice from a range of people and challenged himself in the studio, while assembling a versatile cast of guests as Ty Dolla $ign, Doechii, Vince Staples, Blxst, J.I.D., Lupe Fiasco and more joined him on the LP, which begins cinematically like the opening scene to Belly.
There are certain moments in a career that fans wish could be bottled up to last forever. Soulo enjoyed one of those in June when he joined his ex-TDE brother Kendrick Lamar on stage at the Pop Out concert where they rapped “6:16 in L.A.” together. “For him to pull me on stage and kick it to me made me feel like he was checking with me to see if he still got it. Like he was looking for my approval,” he reflects. “That’s our relationship.”
Find plenty more below with Ab-Soul detailing how his first Billboard Hot 100 hit “Pi” got into J. Cole’s hands in addition to him explaining his viral Drake “redemption” tweet and living as a rapper with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.
Ab-Soul
Justin James Agoncillo
I heard you say this is a Soul Burger project rather than an “Ab-Soul project.” Could you explain the difference between when you came into this creatively and what you were going for with that?
In essence, it’s an ode to my brother Doe Burger. If you’re familiar with me, you should be familiar with him, hence the name Soul Burger. It should serve as the fusion of me and him together. We were yin and yang in a lot of ways. I just really wanted to channel him the best I could to keep him with me. I say this often, but I don’t know how I’m doing this without him. My only logical explanation is that he must be with me. This is an album I feel like he wanted me to make. He was a true tastemaker. I valued his opinion. A real artist in his own right. I just really hope he would be proud of it.
Long live Doe Burger. I wanted to get into some tracks starting with the opener “9 Mile.” I felt like I was walking into the opening scene of Belly.
Honestly, I wanted it to come in and feel like Belly. That’s actually what I been practicing as of late. Just not trying to think about it so much and go with the feeling. Just try to complement the music more than focus so much on what I’m saying. I’m a poet by nature. I wrote a million rhymes a million times. I been challenging myself to really catch a vibe. Complement the music versus what I’m trying to convey lyrically, metaphors, punchlines and similes. It’s been working for me. I’ve been honest throughout my career. I shared my testimony. I feel like it’s been more important to me for people to hear what I’m saying to feel the music.
Definitely. I know you were talking to DJ Hed about wanting to make some bops out here as the Underground Emperor. Like you wanted to compete on another level to be in that conversation. Detail the elevation you’re trying to make.
Just challenging myself to take advice and collaborate and ask questions. I’ve been the illest lyricist and the dopest MC, which I pride myself on, but what can I do now to touch more people and take it further? Why not go for everything that you can get in this art form? Compete on all levels. It’s still trying my best not to compromise the spirit that got me here, but how can I take it further?
It’s dope to see that humility and that willingness to challenge yourself over a decade since Control System in 2012.
I’m glad you said that. I can’t beat Control System for nothing. It’s a goal for us to take it further. I gotta beat Control System. I need somebody to reference another project of mine. Control System was a frequency, man. That was a time when it was just pure hunger. I wasn’t worried about numbers or business. I just really did what I wanted to do. I made the art I wanted to make unapologetically and I’m trying to get back to that.
You made your Billboard Hot 100 debut with J. Cole’s “Pi” earlier this year. I know the whole backstory with that how you didn’t know Cole would end up getting the record for [Might Delete Later]. Have you had any conversations with him since about how you guys gotta go bar-for-bar soon and get your lick back?
Daylyt, he’s part of the team now. He work real close with us and Punch in particular. Shout-out to the Room Full of Mirrors. Me and him are close and we had a sparring session going back-to-back on some lyrical exercise. It’s called “Pi” because the song ended ironically at three minutes 14 seconds. This was done long before the battle and all of that. He sent it to Cole and I didn’t know. It was [Daylyt’s] record. I woke up one morning and I had a crazy J. Cole verse in my phone. I’m like, “Bro what the? You gotta let me know. This is one of the best rappers in the world.”
I had a little issue with Cole, because he was supposed to be on my last album Herbert. Cole’s a real artist, he probably couldn’t just catch the vibe — and that’s proof, because he was instantly motivated by this one. A true rapper’s rapper. I called him immediately like, “Bro, I need my get-back.” We’re all real cool. The whole Dreamville camp. He respected that. He was inspired to do a lock-in with the Jedis and he flew us out to [Atlanta]. It was dope, we all got to build and create. He had that spirit. I told him straight up, “We gon’ have to spar.” In divine timing when the stars align.
Rapping “6:16 in L.A.” at the Pop Out with Kendrick, what does that moment mean to you when you look back on it?
Not only is that one of my favorite records from him, period. Aside from the beef, that was such a beautiful record put together. He was saying such profound things. Like my favorite line, “There’s opportunity when living with loss/ I discover myself when I fall short.” He was talking to all of us. That was more than a battle. He had me looking myself in the mirror. It was larger than that and that’s what the Pop Out ended up being. He took a battle and used it as an opportunity to unify. It was amazing. He was kicking that s–t. I’m not playing about Dot. I’ve learned so much from him and all my brothers. I don’t expect nothing from him, and that was an honor and a privilege.
You said “redemption was not off the table for Drake” and you got a lot of backlash, so I wanted to ask you about the months since and how he’s moved.
I’m actually glad you asked that. I did get a lot of blowback from that. I kind of was impulsive with my response. You know how the internet come. If you read it properly, I began with a Dot quote and ended with a Dot quote. It goes back to me saying that was more than a battle for me. That battle had me looking myself in the mirror. It felt it was more than just about his opponent it was something for us all to learn from. That was intelligent movement. It got personal, but that has nothing to do with me.
What I was saying was everyone coming to me all my homies asking me how I felt about it. I’m just hearing all of these opinions and stuff like that and I just got tired of it. I was saying, if Drake is one if the top MCs where the industry and media put him — these guys are superstars. I tread light speaking on these guys. Dot is my brother and I don’t expect nothing less from him. I’m biased, but he did what he does. But I’m saying if Drake is the MC that I hope he can be, then redemption is not off the table. You know who the gang is. Dot whooped feet.
I don’t know what everybody thought I was trying to do. It was obvious he got worked. All we talk about is loss. Dot was in the battle talking about his losses. Talking about his shortcomings. I thought that was beautiful. Especially me, myself as an artist, I put it on the table. I share my testimony. I share my shortcomings. If Drake is an MC, then get up and rap. Let’s keep it hip-hop, keep it on wax, keep it clean. I come from that. I used to battle in the street. I battled Daylyt on my album. This what we do. At the end of the day, I want to make it clear, you know who the gang is.
There’s no nuance on the internet. People take things out of context and they run with stuff. I’m like, “Man, he’s making a good point here. I wish he could explain this and keep going off it.” It’s a good conversation to be had.
If you a real MC, like I feel he wanna be, get up. Sometimes you box with the homies and you get put on your pockets and you get up and fight again. I don’t know that man. God bless him. He’ll be alright, he a superstar. But the homie whooped feet, I’m not sorry.
How did you link up with Jhené Aiko? I love this quote she had, “If I was solely a rapper, I’d be Ab-Soul.”
That’s really my sister from way back. She was with us in the trenches. She was really pulling up to the headquarters back in the day. We got a lot of music together. She would share me her records and let me check her flow. She can rap too. She’s a lyricist. It’s beautiful seeing her ascension. She put a lot of work in. I love to see it. Well-deserved. That’s my Pisces sister.
Living with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, what has been the toughest part of navigating being an artist? Have you had any other artists lean on you or look at you as inspiration?
I haven’t run into any other artists, personally, that have had that. I’ve seen an artist that has had it. I believe it was a female artist that is a Stevens-Johnson Syndrome survivor. When I got it, it was very new so I’m sure they got a better grip on it now. It’s just a blessing I’m still able and I don’t let it handicap me. I’m blessed to have strong family and friends. People who love me and encourage me to keep going.
