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Ab-Soul Kicks A ShowOff Freestyle Along with Dame Dash’s Family, Da$h (Video)

ShowOff Radio freestyles continue to impress, in this Carson, California-to-New Jersey link. Damon Dash's latest family member foray into the music industry is Da$h, who came up appearing on some of Curren$y/Jet Life's get-down with BluRoc/DD172. Now solidifying his own lane, Da$h gets on the mic with Ab-Soul... both of... Read more

The Best Hip-Hop in May Included Slaughterhouse, KRS-One, Ghostface, Ab-Soul, Common, Cormega, The Roots & Much More (Audio Playlist)

Before we get too deep into June, here's a look back at some of the best Hip-Hop to drop in May and there was an abundance...You'll hear new music from Slaughterhouse, Cormega, KRS-One, Ab-Soul, Rapsody, Ghostface, Common, Mac Miller, De La Soul, Nitty Scott, MC, The Roots, Blu, Freddie Gibbs,... Read more

Ab-Soul Strips Jay Z Lyrics To Break Down Stigmata (Video)

Ab-Soul, the introspective Carson, California MC, sits down with Jay Z's "Life and Times" to break down the lyrics to his recently released Action Bronson-assisted track, "Stigmata," just days after he dropped the official video. "The Black Lip Pastor" takes this as an opportunity to change up the game and... Read more

Ab-Soul Bears His Cross in Stigmata (Video)

In 1999, Nas released what, at the time, was an extremely controversial video for his song "Hate Me Now." The video depicted Nas being crucified and the airing of a version also featuring Puff Daddy on the cross led to the infamous Champagne bottle altercation between Diddy and Steve Stoute.... Read more

Discover The Art Of Chill With Nitty Scott, MC (Mixtape)

Nitty Scott, MC unleashes her latest mixtape, The Art Of Chill. From the smooth, Electronic samples of "Apex" to the powerful, horn laden cut, "U.F.O.," this 15 track project is great way to kick off the long weekend. The Brooklyn, New York-based artist is definitely well on her way to... Read more

Ab-Soul & Action Bronson Do Damage On Soulo’s New Track (Audio)

Ab-Soul's new album, These Days, is coming. Soon. As TDE readies the release for next month, here's a new song that features Soulo, Action Bronson and Asaad getting busy on a dark and moody track. Check out Stigmata below. Related: Ab-Soul Breaks Down the Tree of Life on His Latest... Read more

Ab-Soul Breaks Down the Tree of Life on His Latest Release (Audio)

Ab-Soul teams with producer Curtiss King on his latest release. Soulo explores several tree-related metaphors (money trees, medicinal trees...) on Tree of Life. Check it out. Related: TDE Plans to Release New Albums From Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Black Hippy & Kendrick Lamar in 2014... Read more

Ab-Soul & Sir Michael Rocks Help Jesse Medina Make A Grand Entrance (Audio)

On April 1, Jesse Medina will drop the aptly-titled Meet Jesse Medina. With a new version of his single, "Riddims 2.0," Jesse recruits Black Hippy's Ab-Soul and The Cool Kids' Sir Michael Rocks, along with singer Anya Kvitka for the track about finding the pocket, of the beat and of... Read more

Nitty Scott, MC’s Working Relationship With TDE Further Blossoms With Ab-Soul (Audio)

Nitty Scott, MC is making some big noise across various pockets within independent Hip-Hop. However, the Brooklyn-by way of-Florida rapper's biggest moment has arguably been her 2012 Kendrick Lamar collaboration. For Nitty's upcoming The Art Of Chill, she keeps things Black Hippy with an Ab-Soul link on "Apex." Produced by... Read more

Lupe Fiasco Rocks Out With Ab-Soul On Thorns & Horns (Audio)

Lupe Fiasco and Ab-Soul have a few traits in common. One is a healthy distrust of secret societies, and another is a fearlessness in speaking their mind. In the title alone, Heads can gather that "Thorns & Horns" deals with d'evils of things. Both freak some linguistics, having fun with... Read more

Smoke DZA & Ab-Soul Hop On A DJ Dahi-Produced Cloud For Hearses (Audio)

For nearly a decade, Smoke DZA's been around when movements start. From the last days of Dipset and Purple City, to the recent Harry Fraud wave, to Black Hippy, DZA's positioned himself as every rapper's willing collaborator, and the results can be quite pleasing. Such is true of "Hearses," with... Read more

TDE Plans to Release New Albums From Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Black Hippy & Kendrick Lamar in 2014

Schoolboy Q and Kendrick Lamar cover this week's issue of Billboard Magazine, but the story is a full report on the rise of their label, Top Dog Entertainment. After releasing albums from both Isaiah Rashad and Schoolboy Q already, TDE also plans to release new LPs from Jay Rock, Ab-Soul,... Read more

Common’s Nobody Smiling Shows Its Teeth With An Ab-Soul Feature On A No ID Jam (Audio)

Fresh off of Rick Ross' Mastermind listening session and album preview, 2014's album landscape is looking quite fertile. Coming up soon is Common's Nobody Smiling, a Chicago-themed conversation piece about the youth violence epidemic. Late today, the L.A. Leakers dropped the digital needle on "Made In Black America." The song,... Read more

After ScHoolboy Q’s OXYMORON, TDE Sets It Sights On Ab-Soul’s Black Lip Pastor

2014 promises a reported six Top Dawg Entertainment releases. After this month, Heads are holding two: a first retail effort from Isaiah Rashad's Cilvia Demo, and ScHoolboy Q's major label debut, OXYMORON. Today, TDE's head, Top Dawg himself, and Ab-Soul suggested that Black Lip Pastor is next (though that is... Read more

Here’s an MLK Day Playlist That Looks at the State of the Nation Through Hip-Hop (Audio & Video)

As we've done on MLK day over the last few years, we've put together a playlist that reflects the increasingly complex state of the nation more than 50 years since Dr. King's march on Washington. There's cause for celebration and reason for lamentation, and everything in between. Here are various... Read more

Today It All Makes Sense: A Retrospective on the Chicago Hip-Hop Sound (Food For Thought)

Published by: Bandini “This the city of Chicago, the state of confusion The style I'm using is free or at least it would be if my mind was…” – Malik Yusef, “My City” (One Day It’ll All Make Sense) Since the 1990s, Common Sense has always been among my favorite... Read more

Ab-Soul Explains His Pete Rock Tattoo & Talks His Favorite LPs. Chicagoans Will Appreciate (Video)

Ab-Soul is soulful. Soulo, who calls himself Soul Brother #2 recently broke down to Bootleg Kev why he's got Pete Rock (Soul Brother #1) on his arm. In an age where rappers are big on tattooing deceased influences on their bodies, it's incredibly cool that Ab honors the living. Last... Read more

Got BARS? These MC’s Do. Here Are The Best Freestyles of 2013 (Video)

There are few things more satisfying in Hip-Hop than a killer verse. It's why Kendrick Lamar shook up the Internet for 3 weeks (an eternity these days) with his Control verse...and then again with his BET Cypher. We've assembled a collection of the best freestyles (mostly "writtens") of 2013. Check... Read more

Does Kendrick Lamar Have a New Album Coming? TDE’s Top Dawg Announces 6 New Releases for 2014.

More than any other artist in Hip-Hop, 2013 was the year of Kendrick Lamar and, by proxy, TDE. Kendrick took the title of MTV's Hottest MC in the game and his Control verse reigned fire on an entire generation of MCs. Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q got some overdue love from... Read more

AFH: Best Hip-Hop of October 2013 (Playlist)

Here's a look back at some of the Hip-Hop highlights from October. You'll hear new music from Eminem & Kendrick Lamar, Scarface, Jadakiss, Meek Mill, J. Cole, Dead Prez, Tha Dogg Pound, Common, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, Large Professor, Childish Gambino, Rapsody, Crooked I, Jean Grae, Game and many, many more.... Read more

Take a Look Back at the Best Video Content of the Past Week (Video Playlist)

The past week in video brought new music videos from Ice Cube, Schoolboy Q and DJ Khaled featuring Scarface, Jadakiss, Meek Mill, Akon, John Legend & Anthony Hamilton, dope freestyles from Crooked I and Childish Gambino and pieces on Mike Tyson, J. Cole, Ab-Soul and more. Check out the video... Read more

Ab-Soul Release Dub Sac (Audio)

As promised by TDE earlier in the week, here's a new track from Ab-Soul. Check out Dub Sac. Related: Ab-Soul Discusses Kendrick Being On Eminem’s MMLP 2 With Montreality (Video)... Read more

Ab-Soul Discusses Kendrick Being On Eminem’s MMLP 2 With Montreality (Video)

When it comes to interviews, Montreality is definitely holding it down in a unique and creative way. They have a standard set of questions about artists' upbringing, beliefs and favorites that really connect them with the viewer. Their most recent offering features none other than TDE's Ab-Soul. The interview covers... Read more

Emeli Sande Teams Up With Ab-Soul for the Remix to My Kind of Love (Audio)

Since her debut in 2012, Emeli Sande has not been one to be boxed in to any specific genre. On the remix to her song My Kind of Love, she teams up with Ab-Soul, and out of the box MC, on a track that is part rock, part EDM, part... Read more

Chuck Inglish, Mac Miller & Ab-Soul Channel The Beastie Boys In Came Thru / Easily (Video)

The Cool Kids' Chuck Inglish built a reputation on combining late '80s 808 drums with futuristic flows and style. For the video for "Came Thru / Easily," Chuck channels The Beastie Boys, tracking shots with his homies Ab-Soul and Mac Miller. Some dope animation matches the songs sensibilities nicely. Came... Read more

Chuck Inglish – Came Thru/Easily ft Mac Miller & Ab-Soul

Chuck Inglish drops off his new single "Come Thru/Easily" with an eclectic cast of feature MCs. With Chuck spitting last, the track also features Mac Miller and Ab-Soul blessing the mic over some southern bounce production. The song is from Chuck Inglish's upcoming EP Easily which drops later this fall. Related: Pusha T... Read more

CJ Fly – Sadderdaze ft Ab-Soul

Pro Era and Black Hippy pop off a coast-to-coast collaboration over a sample quite familiar to Reasonable Doubt lovers, CJ and Soulo offer a link from Thee Way Eye See It, which is slated to be on hard-drives by this weekend. Both of these crews are able to make simple... Read more

Kendrick Lamar Controls The 2013 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher

Hot off the presses from Atlanta, Kendrick Lamar "killed" this year's BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher, and we were there to witness it. Symbolic of what Kendrick's Control verse did to the industry in August, the entire TDE family (Kendrick, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock and new member Isaiah Rashad) spit... Read more

Ab-Soul Previews New Verse (Video)

Few new MCs of the last five years are as potential with words as Carson, California's Ab-Soul. #ControlSystem is as intelligent and thoughtfully-charged of an album with Longterm Mentality just as powerful. Needless to say, the Black Hippy member can still inspire that rewind factor long after labels in Hip-Hop chilled... Read more

Ab-Soul – Dreamin’ ft K-Boy & Tone Trump

For all the negative things we can all say about Twitter, sometimes it's just great. For example, when a producer randomly drops a dope Hip-Hop track on a whim, which is exactly what The Chromatix did yesterday. The track is titled “Dreamin'," is headlined by Black Hippy's Ab-Soul, and also... Read more

Black Hippy Thoughts From The Road (Video)

Ab-Soul. Jay Rock. Schoolboy Q. Kendrick Lamar. Although individual success is something they’re all enjoying, the members of Top Dawg Entertainment’s Black Hippy Crew feel what they’re accomplishing as a collective is just as important. All hailing from Southern California, the four members synced up long before the fame and... Read more

Ab-Soul Discusses Growing Up In A Record Shop (Video)

Being a member of one of the biggest groups in Hip-Hop could give some people Alzheimer’s regarding where they came from, but Ab-Soul is not one of those people. In Noisey’s latest episode in the “Turning Points” series, the Black Hippy soldier depicts his childhood and how the majority of... Read more

Kendrick Lamar Discusses Black Hippy’s Mystique & Purpose (Video)

In the late '90s/early 2000s, there were some cool super-groups that never put albums out: The Four Horsemen (Kurupt, Canibus, Ras Kass, Killah Priest) The Golden State Warriors (Xzibit, Saafir, Ras Kass) The Likwit Cru (King T, Xzibit, Tash, E-Swift, J-Ro, Defari, Madlib, Phil Da Agony, Wildchild, DJ Romes) The... Read more

Ab-Soul: The Process w/Peter Rosenberg (Video)

Ab-Soul talks with Peter Rosenberg about his loss of vision, the fact that he doesn't write down his lyrics (as complex as they are...), learning song arrangement from Kendrick Lamar, code switching, the loss of his girl Alori Joh and much more. Check out the video. Related: Ab-Soul Speaks on... Read more

Rapsody – Never Know ft. Ab-Soul, Nipsey Hussle & Terrace Martin

I really love the Jamla/TDE/Nipsey Hussle connection. What 9th Wonder did so seamlessly with Brooklyn in the mid-'00s (Smif N' Wessun, Sean Price, Buckshot and Jean Grae) now seems to work with South Central, Los Angeles and C-Arson. "Never Know" is a truly versatile joint produced by the professor himself.... Read more

Ab-Soul – Christopher DRONEr

Whoa. Ab-Soul gets his Michael Moore on in his latest release and takes on the government, military and consumerism with one shot. The song plays like a more complex part 2 to Kanye West's New Slaves (and Soulo's references at the end of the track bring it full circle), and... Read more

Vince Staples – Killin’ Y’all ft Ab-Soul (Prod. Larry Fisherman aka Mac Miller)

Ab-Soul murders another Mac Miller beat. This time it's via a guest verse on Vince Staples' Killin' Y'all. Tough joint. Check it out below. Related: Ab-Soul – The End is Near ft Mac Miller (Audio)... Read more

Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock & Royce the 5’9″ in the Studio

Wow. After performing in Detroit tonight, the Black Hippy crew joined Eminem in the studio. Is it possible the TDE/Shady 2.0 collabo is in the works? Only time will tell. In the meantime, take a look of this pic and think of what might be. Related: Black Hippy – UOENO... Read more

Black Hippy – UOENO (Remix)

Here's a dope video from the TDE crew. The first part is a promo for Kendrick Lamar's good kid, M.A.A.D. city tour and the second part premieres the Black Hippy remix to UOENO featuring Kendrick, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q and Jay Rock. Check it out the promo video and the CDQ... Read more

The 2013 XXL Freshmen Mixtape (Audio)

Here's the official mixtape for XXL's 2013 Freshmen Class. It features new music from Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, Action Bronson, Logic, Angel Haze, Joey Bada$$ and more. You can listen to and download the mixtape below, as well as find the track list. Related: Dizzy Wright, Logic & Angel Haze –... Read more

Ab-Soul – The End is Near ft Mac Miller

Here's a new joint from Ab-Soul and he spits that flame like he had something to prove. Check out The End is Near featuring Mac Miller. Hot! Related: Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul, Action Bronson & Travis Scott – XXL Freshmen Cypher Pt. 1 (Video) Head over to Rap Genius to get... Read more

Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul, Action Bronson & Travis Scott – XXL Freshmen Cypher Pt. 1 (Video)

Here's a cypher featuring some of the best of this year's XXL Freshmen. Check out the video featuring Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul, Action Bronson and Travis Scott blistering the mic. Related: Ab-Soul XXL Freshman Freestyle (Video)... Read more

Ab Soul XXL Freshman Freestyle

XXL continues to roll out their Freshman Freestyles. Check out the latest one courtesy of TDE's Ab Soul. Related: Awolnation – Sail (Remix) ft Kendrick Lamar & Ab-Soul... Read more

XXL Announces Freshman Class 2013 Cover

The good folks over at XXL decided to stir things up again today with the annual release of their Freshman Class Cover. The cover, just like most lists, has its highs and lows. Check out this year's freshmen and let us know who you think will be making noise five... Read more

Awolnation – Sail (Remix) ft Kendrick Lamar & Ab-Soul

Here's some more TDE goodness. After a new single from Schoolboy Q earlier, Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul drop some verses over a ridiculous beat. Check out the remix to a song called "Sail" by Awolnation. Related: Ab-Soul – ILLuminate ft Kendrick Lamar (Video)... Read more

Terrace Martin – Something Else ft Problem (Video)

Terrace Martin, the multidimensional artist, producer and musician, adds director to his impressive list of credits. Here's a short film he directed along with APlus that serves as the visual for "Something Else," Terrace's co-production with 9th Wonder. The video features Ab-Soul and a couple of nods to Kendrick Lamar... Read more

Ab-Soul & JMSN – You’re Gone

Ab-Soul and singer JMSN are working on a joint project together called Unit 6. The first track is a moody vibe track with Soul handling the verses and JMSN on the hook. Check out You're Gone. Click here to download from iTunes. Related: Ab-Soul – ILLuminate ft Kendrick Lamar (Video)... Read more

Ab-Soul – ILLuminate ft Kendrick Lamar (Video)

Ab-Soul drops an ill video for his collabo with Kendrick Lamar off Control System (one of our picks for best albums of 2012). Check out ILLuminate. Related: Ab-Soul – Only 1 (Audio)... Read more

The Battle for LA – Back in the Day vs. Current Day (Playlist)

As you watch the Clippers and the Lakers battle for LA on the court, here's a playlist of some back in the day LA hip-hop (NWA, Dr. Dre, Snoop) and some current day LA hip-hop (Black Hippy, Still Dre) that symbolizes the proverbial passing of the torch. No matter who... Read more

Mac Miller – All the Time ft Ab-Soul

Mac Miller and Ab-Soul flow like a couple of cool kids over this Chuck Inglish beat. Check out All the Time. Related: Rapsody – Round Table Discussion ft Mac Miller & The Cool Kids (Audio)... Read more