Ab-Soul

At 37 years old, Ab-Soul has this physical status:

Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper from Carson, California.

In 2007, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), where he later formed a West Coast hip hop Black Hippy with West Coast rappers Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, and Schoolboy Q. He is perhaps best known for his reflective lyrics and four independent albums under TDE, Longterm Mentality, Control System, These Days..., and Do What Thou Wilt., which were all released with rave reviews and commercial success.

Early life

Herbert Anthony Stevens IV was born in Los Angeles on February 23, 1987. He spent the first four years of his life in Korea while his dad was in the military, right up until his parents' divorce, and he and his mother migrated back to the United States to live in Carson, California, in Carson, California. At five years old, he recalled being interested in video games and basketball. But video games for sure.

Five… What was that, Nintendo?

Sega. Sonic the Hedgehog. On television, teen Mutant Ninja Turtles are seen. However, I do know early on that I really, really liked Michael Jackson, as we all do. Michael Jackson, the baby's name, was adored by him." Stevens contracted Stevens–Johnson syndrome, which required him to be hospitalized and is responsible for his dark lips and light-sensitive eyes at the age of 10. Stevens was mainly mocked about his illness in his adolescent years.

Stevens discovered music at a young age, thanks to his family's ownership of a record store. Stevens began rapping at an early age: "I was on BlackPlanet freestyle chat, rapping my ass off." Text war. It's a very fascinating world. It appears that it still exists online, where you can freestyle but not type it. It's called a keystyle by the users. I believe that was where I learned my rhyming skills. I had been rapping a little earlier, perhaps around 12 years old, but there was a textcee culture before I hopped online and into this culture. "I've really got me going, as far as being a rapper."

Stevens claims to have written his first verse when he was 12 years old, to the beat of Twista's "Emotions." Stevens' parents "saw a promising, college-like future" for him and enrolled him in advanced classes, so the learning process continued. Stevens didn't know he'd be interested in music until he graduated from high school, but he wasn't ready to pursue a career in music seriously.

Personal life

Stevens cited Malcolm X's Autobiography (1964) as being particularly influential to him.

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Musical career

Stevens' debut on in 2002 was on his first album. In 2005, he signed a recording deal with StreetBeat Entertainment, but a year later, in 2006, he met Punch, President and Chairman of Carson-based indie label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), who says, "more in his music than metaphors and punchlines," Stevens says. Stevens was a member of Area 51, a Brooklyn-native and fellow American rapper Snake Hollywood before signing to TDE.

Stevens was officially on the TDE roster in 2007. Stevens made a brief cameo appearance in "All My Life (In the Ghetto)" in 2008, his TDE-mate Jay Rock's commercial debut single "All My Life (In the Ghetto) on YouTube. He started recording music for his debut mixtape in 2008, at the TDE Recording Studio: House of Pain. Stevens premiered his first music video on YouTube in December 2008 for a song from the mixtape called "A Day in the Life." Long Term was the mixtape that was released in January 2009. It was the first in a series that Stevens said would have four installments: "I knew there would be four of them when I did the first Longterm." When I did the first one, I did the first one. So far, there will be four of them: 1, 2, 3, and 4. So far we are at two. You'll have to wait for the next one. That's it for the next Ab-Soul interview. "I'm afraid of saying that this is the end of the story."

Black Hippy formed Black Hippy in 2009 with his frequent collaborators and TDE label-mates Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, and K-Dot. On June 28, 2010, Stevens unveiled his second mixtape and the sequel to his first. The tape, titled LongTerm 2: Lifestyles of the Broke and Almost Famous, was extremely popular and featured Stevens performing on many songs.

Ab-Soul revealed in February 2011 that he was working on a track titled Longterm Mentality and later released "Hell Yeah," a track starring Schoolboy Q. Stevens released another promotional video taken from the album, "Moscato," a collaboration with another Black Hippy, Kendrick Lamar, on February 22, 2011. After being enlisted by fellow American rapper Murs, Stevens embarked on the "Road to Paid Dues" concert tour in February 2011.

In a video for Stevens' album "Nothin' New" on March 21, 2011. "Gone Insane," the fourth track to be released on the album, was released on March 25. Top Dawg Entertainment unveiled a trailer for Long-Term Mentality on March 30, which was published on March 30. He released the music video for "Gone Insane," directed by Top Dawg in-house producers Fredo Tovar and Scott Fleishman on April 1, 2011.

Long-Term Mentality's particulars were partially inspired by Stevens' comment: "I compare [the process] behind] Long-term Mentality to the one with all of my joints." Kendrick's OD had been dismissed, but Q's Setbacks had come out. I had these bodies of work to go off as inspirations. I hear Kendrick is discussing, and I hear what Q is talking about. I've heard what Jay Rock was discussing. So how can I put this all together and include my own two cents? How can I keep the sound but keep my individuality as an artist? Every single time, it's the same challenge." On April 5, 2011, Stevens released his first independent album, under Top Dawg Entertainment, exclusively on iTunes. The album debuted at #73 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, subsequently. Although the album's name is Long-Term Mentality, it is not the third part of his Longterm series.

Stevens began promoting his second independent album, Habits & Contradictions (2012), shortly after the debut of Schoolboy Q's second independent album, "Black Lip Bastard" on January 17, 2012. Willie B., a TDE in-house producer, produced the album. Ab-Soul performed alongside Schoolboy Q on SwayInTheMorning radio show "Showin' Love," Ab-Soul's first single to be released on the album, "pretty much one of the title tracks."

Schoolboy Q revealed #TheGroovyTour on March 24, a month-long tour with Ab-Soul accompanying him the entire way. On April 20, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California, began the tour. Ab-Soul released "Terrorist Threats" on April 6, 2012. "Black Hippy the new Beatles and I'm Harry Nilsson" is a song by Jhené Aiko and Danny Brown, a frequent collaborator on Twitter who announced on Twitter that "Black Hippy the new Beatles and I'm Harry Nilsson." Ab-Soul revealed the album's name to be Control System on April 17, 2012, the album's launch date was set to be May 11, 2012. On the same day, he released a music video for "Pineal Gland," a song influenced by the psychedelic drug DMT and, of course, the pineal gland, a tiny endocrine gland in the vertebrate brain. Stevens released "SOPA" on April 24, 2012. The song, produced by Nez & Rio, refers to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a United States bill introduced by US Senator Lamar S. Smith, which would have permitted the US government to control the internet.

Ab-Soul's latest music video titled "Empathy" was released on May 1, 2012. The album features vocals from Stevens' late longtime girlfriend Alori Joh (December 16, 1986 - February 6, 2012), who had committed suicide earlier in February. Joh's death had a major effect on Stevens and the Control System's recording process. "Black Lip Bastard" was reimagined and included his Black Hippy cohorts, Rock, Lamar, and Schoolboy Q. "ILLuminate," Lamar's collaboration with Lamar, was announced on May 8, 2012. Ab-Soul revealed the track listing and revealed snippets from the album the day before the album was released. "Dedicated to Loriana Angel Johnson aka Alori Joh," the album's back cover states.

On May 11, 2012, under Top Dawg Entertainment, the Control System was released exclusively through iTunes. In an abbreviated week, the album debuted at number 83 on the Billboard 200 and appeared on numerous other Billboard charts as well. The album's first week, it was estimated that it would sells for 3,700 people. Stevens toured with Black Hippy and fellow American rapper Stalley on BET's Music Matters Tour in 2012.

Stevens appeared on Joe Budden's mixtape A Loose Quarter on the track "Cut From a Different Cloth" in late 2012. The album has been lauded as one of the best songs on the project. Budden has since revealed that he and Ab-Soul have recorded several songs together, which will be seen for the first time in the near future. Budden continued to praise Ab-Soul as "one of the finest things in hip hop right now."

JMSN, an American singer-songwriter and record producer who produced "Nibiru" for Stevens earlier this year, announced that he and Stevens would launch "TDE Fan Appreciation Week" in October 2012. On January 22, 2013, the lead single for their collaborative album, which was supposed to be titled Unit 6, was officially revealed via iTunes. Both artists' vocals as well as JMSN's production are included in the single's titled "You're Gone." Ab-Soul will be included on XXL's 2013 Freshman Class issue, alongside Schoolboy Q and other up-and-coming rappers on March 26, 2013.

Stevens unveiled "Christopher DRONER," his first song from Willie B's "Christopher DRONEr," alluding to former LAPD police officer Christopher Dorner's retirement from the past four months. He revealed he was working on a new solo project, which was also on the song. He'd appear in XXL on the following day and say that he and JMSN had completed the Unit 6 album, but that their leadership was unable to "see eye to eye," so the project was ultimately delayed for a later date, according to Stevens. JMSN and Jhene Aiko would appear on the forthcoming solo project, according to the man. Stevens said he was close to finishing the project on October 17, 2013. Later this week, the pilot revealed that the scheme had been approved for mixing and quenched rumors that it was named Black Lip Pastor. Stevens was nominated for Album of the Year for his work on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' debut album, The Heist, following the introduction of the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.

Stevens said on January 2, 2014, he had completed two projects for his company Top Dawg before the year 2013: "I know what you're thinking, let's see where this year takes me." As a result of creative launches such as Nipsey Hussle's Crenshaw, Stevens said on January 6, 2014, "Ali is mixing it right now" and that they were planning on the right way to introduce the album. He also said that the album is about progress and that his TDE team members will appear, as well as hip hop singer Statik Selektah's production. Stevens revealed on April 11, 2014, he was also working on the third installment of the Long-Term project.

Stevens revealed on Twitter on May 5, 2014, that These Days would be his third album. Top Dawg management revealed these days on Twitter on May 30, 2014. A June 24 release date has been planned for Top Dawg management. TDE's film development team revealed the album's cover art on the day as well as a snippet of a music video for Stevens' song "Stigmata." Stevens released a music video for a song titled "Closure," which was taken from These Days on June 21, 2014. The album debuted at number 11 on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 21,812 copies in the United States, and generally positive reviews from music critics.

Stevens revealed that his first in-store retail project, Longterm 3, would be named in October 2014, in a Montreal city interview. The Ab-Soul launched the song "47 Bars" on the internet in February 2015, produced by The Alchemist. Stevens tweeted in July 2015 that his next album was "almost finished." Stevens gave an update on the album on Twitter: "My album's almost done," he posted on Twitter, adding, "It's a love tale." He ended the story with the hashtag "DWTW," presumably the album title suffixes to which he was referring.

Stevens revealed on Twitter on June 8, 2016, he had finished his forthcoming album and turned it in for mixing. Do What Thou Wilt., a compilation that was released on December 9, 2016.

Stevens appeared on the film Bloody Waters with Anderson Paak and James Blake of Black Panther in 2018.

Stevens performed his set at the Day N Vegas music festival on Friday, revealing that he "been cookin' the bird up slow" referring to his album. He then put an end to his show by freestyling and announcing a new album in 2020.

Stevens released the single "Dangerookipawa Freestyle" on April 20, 2020, in honor of Top Dawg Entertainment founder and CEO Anthony Tiffith's birthday, as well as TDE's Fan Appreciation Week.

Stevens released the single "Hollandaise," which was produced by TDE in-house producer Kal Banx on April 22, 2022.

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