★★★★★
"I guess the Mayans wasn't lying 2012 my world ended You used to say that I could see the future You was wrong, cuz you was in it And I was just with you the day before You said you loved me, I said I loved you more And as much I wanna cower and bid the mic adieu And fall off a fucking tower tryna find you I gotta stay cuz I remember that day I looked you in the face and told you nothing can stop me Not even you"Ab-Soul has had quite a year...
- rapreviews.com
2012-08-06
★★★★★
Ab-Soul's Control System is one of the most thoughtful, provocative and truthful albums of the year so far. It is a breath of blue dream steam from an industry that is sounding more than ever like it's running on schwag fumes. Unlike TDE counterpart Kendrick, who often sounds like he's channelling early Eminem, Ab-Soul doesn't really sound like anybody in the rap game, and that's a good thing...
- exclaim.ca
2012-05-24
★★★★★
Summary: Hip-hop fans have something to look forward to out of the west coast again LA collective Black Hippy took 2011 by storm with well-received releases by all members, spearheaded in force by Kendrick Lamar's debut LP, Section.80. Where Section.80 proved Lamar's worth and elite lyricism, the rest of the crew trailed slightly behind with exceptional efforts from Schoolboy Q and Jay Rock...
- www.sputnikmusic.com
2012-05-21
★★★★★
Out of all the members of the red-hot Black Hippy collective, Ab-Soul is the rapper most deserving of the group's name, even though he is the least well known. Where Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q and Jay Rock are mostly traditional street rappers-- albeit with unconventional perspectives and unorthodox flows-- Ab-Soul is the one with the progressive politics, the heart-on-the-sleeve emotionalism, and the crazy hair. He even sings. After Lamar's Section...
- www.prefixmag.com
2012-05-17
★★★★★
Living life as a rap blogger means that nearly every hip-hop related thought that I've had over the past five years is only a few clicks away. While this chronicle has been the cause of some serious embarrassment - yes, I did once say that I didn't think Chamillionaire would last - it also allows me to back up a sentence like, "I've been listening to Ab-Soul for years."; September 22, 2009 to be precise...
- www.djbooth.net
2012-05-17
★★★★★
Control System was one of the best gems of 2012, a classic year in hip-hop if I need to remind everyone. On it, Ab-Soul revealed himself to be a completely different beast than his TDE label-mates, either in wordplay (see: "ILLuminate"), subject matter ("Terrorist Threats") or, simply put, soul (see: "Book of Soul"). Or, to borrow from one of Robert Christgau's more poetic reviews, "He's ready to blow [money] on love rather than blow or a blow job [.....
- www.popmatters.com
2014-07-16
★★★★★
"I want to try and touch as many bases as possible. I want something on there for everybody. There will be a lot of references to the vibe of today, the sound of today and the subject matter of today." - Ab-Soul "Movies made for 'everybody' are actually made for nobody in particular. Movies about specific characters in a detailed world are spellbinding because they make no attempt to cater to us; they are defiantly, triumphantly, themselves...
- www.tinymixtapes.com
2014-07-11
★★★★★
Ab-Soul is a complex emcee gifted with a smooth flow and the ability to be profound and irredeemably profane in the space of a few bars. On These Days... that versatility is his biggest strength. On West Coast-indebted TWACT, Soul is exuberant - ratchet even - without sacrificing his laser-sharp lyricism. While on Closure, Soul's song about a relationship gone awry, the 27-year-old is tender and mournful - vocally unsteady and on the verge of tears...
- nowtoronto.com
2014-07-09
★★★★★
These Days... provides lyrical themes and a musical soundscape that differentiates Ab-Soul, the self-proclaimed "Lupe Fiasco on drugs", from his TDE label mates. There may be the odd guest verse or ad-lib from the Black Hippy members, but at times he proves himself to be a far more insightful rapper than the "groovy gangster" Schoolboy Q or the socially conscious storyteller Kendrick Lamar...
- www.state.ie
2014-07-01
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