West Coast MC and Black Hippy member Ab-Soul released his sixth studio album, “Soul Burger,” on Nov. 8. The record is dedicated to the memory of his friend Armon “DoeBurger” Stringer, who was killed in a home invasion in 2021.
The last few years of Ab-Soul’s long career have been a story of tragedy and recovery, a testament to the longevity of his style and his capability behind a microphone.
Ab-Soul, born Herbert Anthony Stevens IV, was initially scoped out and signed by Punch, the head of the independent hip-hop label Top Dawg Entertainment. Stevens was scouted for his lyricism and his chemistry with labelmates Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q and Jay Rock.
The four rappers formed the supergroup Black Hippy and frequently featured on each other’s projects, but they never recorded an album collectively. In the meantime, Ab-Soul’s career began to take off with the release of his acclaimed sophomore album, “Control System,” in 2012.
Unfortunately, his career was derailed after an incident in 2022 that broke his legs, nearly leaving him unable to walk. His experience reckoning with himself afterward spawned his self-titled record, “Herbert.”
In a way, “Soul Burger” is a return to normalcy for Ab-Soul, for better and worse. The Top Dawg Entertainment rapper has often struggled to make projects that are consistent in quality, and much of his music varies wildly, even within the same song. This trait is on full display in “Soul Burger.”
Even the first song on the album, “9 Mile” suffers from this issue. Emulating the famous Eminem freestyles from the movie “8 Mile,” the track features a laid-back beat that puts Ab-Soul’s lyrical performance at the forefront. As if designed to make him fail, a beat switch in the middle of the song pumps up the tempo while highlighting Ab-Soul’s lack of driving energy. What follows is a somewhat meandering impression of better performers, even if some of the bars dedicated to DoeBurger are endearing.
The next track, “Paiday,” is a completely different style, putting Ab-Soul over a trap-inspired beat that seems to reinvigorate his delivery. Unfortunately, just as one aspect of his game improves, his lyrical ability seems to fall through, and “Paiday” features some of the most embarrassing bars he has ever released: “Zip it like Dr. Evil / Ride or die like Evil Knievel.”
The same criticism can be made of “B.U.C.K.O. Jr,” yet another track put over an almost stereotypically basic trap beat. While the production is clean, Ab-Soul fails, yet again, to say anything meaningful on the track. The song has four verses and no chorus, and each reference-littered line seems to degrade into the next.
Ab-Soul’s wordplay is weaker and more contrived than ever on this album, leaving some cringeworthy standouts like “I want mo’ like eeny, meeny, miny” on the first verse of “B.U.C.K.O. Jr.” Even when he tries to go more literal, the lyrics are often so raunchy as to be uncomfortable, almost satirizing the trap style.
“Dnd” is yet another dud on this album’s lengthy tracklist. Soulo’s choppy, detuned flow is complemented by a poor showing from featured artist Notorious N.I.Q. Both artists’ vocals drip with an excessive amount of echo that, combined with the minimal beat, makes it sound like the duo are rapping in an empty cavern.
The absolute lowlight of this album is “Go Pro” with Ty Dolla $ign, which is debatably satirical and indisputably bad. It sounds like Ab-Soul decided to throw out all lyrical pretenses in a bedroom track that is consummately unsexy. Ty Dolla $ign also delivers his most disconcerting bars since his Kanye collaborations earlier this year, including taking “Latina twins” to bed and telling them “de nada.”
Fortunately, the latter half of the record does have some better songs like “Peace,” which includes excellent guest features from Punch and Lupe Fiasco over a catchy guitar-focused beat. The album’s closer, “Righteous Man,” is another good cut with a classic West Coast beat. It seems like Ab-Soul really locks in for this closer, dropping all the other stipulations and creating a song that can stand on its own. If this record were full of songs like “Righteous Man,” it would’ve been a revelation.
The album sounds like the culmination of a bunch of incongruous ideas that should’ve been left on the cutting-room floor. Ab-Soul has an immense amount of lyrical talent, but he distracts from that by creating an album that’s too focused on gimmicks and features.
