By Nathan Kelly

“Undoubtedly one of the best on the pen, even if he doesn’t consistently sound captivating.”

★★★¼

Ab-Soul has always been a polarising rapper. His pen game is absolutely fantastic, and he is definitely one of the more talented rappers of this generation, but his music has just never been too engaging sonically. Especially when he goes for a more laid-back delivery, whatever he’s talking about often fades behind his monotonous delivery, which is exactly what shouldn’t happen with his music.

Previous highlights of Ab-Soul's music would be his emphatic sophomore album ‘Control System’ and his deeply introspective 2022 effort ‘Herbert’.

In both albums, there are some really fantastic elements. His writing across the former reflects his hunger and desire to prove he is one of the best in the industry, and with the latter, it’s really admirable how he has the complete opposite approach. He tries his best to put his ego aside and gets super personal over some of the lushest production you’ll hear in his catalogue.

The main issue with his music however is his delivery. He just sounds quite boring.

Now, on more aggressive cuts he can bring some nice energy, but the fact that throughout most of his music, he portrays himself to be a nonchalant wordsmith means his delivery is going to largely reflect that.

Luckily, this album has more highs than lows. There are still tracks across here that are perpetrators of the downsides of his music, for example, his performance on ‘All That’ and specifically his hook on ‘Dnd’, but for a good portion of the record, he is quite engaging, especially in his choice of featured artists. Incorporating some amazing feature artists such as Vince Staples, Lupe Fiasco, JID and Blxst, Soul produced an all-star lineup for this album.

As for Soul himself, lyrically, he is as sharp as ever. His rhyming is super crisp, incorporating numerous internal rhyme schemes as smoothly as he can, as best shown in ‘9 Mile’.

His wordplay is also super clever, making for several great punchlines such as: “This just in, Herbert on your back, I charge a n**** for a rap, I'ma need more than a quarter back.”

The only issue with him lyrically is the consistency of his flow.

For the majority of the album, it is really smooth. There are some super catchy flows like in ‘Paiday’, he’s really good at switching his rhythm effortlessly and they normally fit the beat well. There are just some instances where his flow is painfully awkward and feels like he’s fighting against the beat such as in ‘B.U.C.K.O JR’.

By Christopher Polk/BET via Getty Images

Soul packs so much substance into the songs on this album. The themes of self-reflection, ambition and growth fill this record. From looking back on his escape from gang life in ‘California Dream’, to the hopeful proclamation of how he’s made it in the rap game on ‘The Sky Is Limitless’. The closing track tells the story of a gang member and the internal conflict they deal with between their moral compass and the life they have chosen. The introductory and final tracks of this album are definitely the best on the whole record. Which in a way is good, because it means Soul opened and closed strongly, but that also means there is inconsistency throughout the middle of this record.

Ultimately, Soul has such a way with words.

His ability to produce lyrical masterpieces should be studied by any young rapper. It’s just a shame that his music can be so uninteresting to the ear, making for an overall inconsistent and sonically dull listen.

‘Soul Burger’ by Ab-Soul - Album Review

★★★¼