Ab-Soul Talks “These Days” On NPR Before Tomorrow’s Release (Audio)
In anticipation of the release of his third album, These Days (6/24), Top Dawg Entertainment’s Ab-Soul sits down with Frannie Kelley and Ali Shaheed Muhammad from NPR’s Microphone Check series to discuss nuances of the album, his career, and his art as a whole.
Ab delves into a particularly captivating story regarding the Steve Jobs line on his recently released cut, “Stigmata” (11:00). In the discussion he described how the rise of the digital age and file sharing programs like Napster aided in the failing of small record businesses including his family’s store, Magic Disc Music, and simultaneously gave rise to independent artists like Ab-Soul himself. Soon after Magic Disc Music closed their doors, current Strange Music artist Murs took Ab on tour and Ab’s album LongTerm Mentality dropped on iTunes, giving himself and his family the ability to sell records even though it was not in the physical world.
Ab-Soul reveals the title to his final album (5:30) and an analogy Danny Brown used that best describes his music in relation to his nickname “Y.M.F. (Young Mind Fuck)” (32:00), and his affinity for Jay Z, Nas, Eminem, and Lupe Fiasco (51:00). “The Black Lip Pastor” also relates his music to Canibus’ and reveals his favorite Canibus album, Can-I-Bus (54:00).
“I promise you, bro, I ain’t saying nothing — I ain’t saying nothing Canibus probably ain’t said twice.”
Related: Ab-Soul & Kendrick Lamar Make Explosive Music Together. Hear 2014′s Edition (Audio)