Being an "actual human dictionary," Ab hasn't chosen these words lightly: His lyrics reel from wild-eyed conspiracy theorizing (at one point, Hitler's face appears in the burning Twin Towers) to egg-headed abstractions (Sumerians, Saturn, third eyes, Andromeda) to powerful, lucid observations. Wearing Ab's head proves to be a particularly intense experience: "You should see the shit in my cerebrum," he tells us on "Showin' Love", comparing his synapses to "lightning" at another point. Ab's record is an exhilarating real-time document of that process.Īll of the Black Hippy full-lengths are powerfully internal experiences: To spend time with Kendrick's Section.80 or Schoolboy's Habits & Contradictions is to walk around wearing that rapper's head on top of yours for a while. "I used to wanna rap like Jay-Z, now I feel I can run laps around Jay-Z," he tells us matter-of-factly on "ILLuminate", and I think of Lil Wayne explaining why he called himself "Best Rapper Alive" on Dedication 2: When you are busy mastering your craft, you should absolutely feel like you are the best at it in the universe. But Control System booms with self-possession and confidence. He is probably the member of Black Hippy who has spent the most time in a headlock. Ab-Soul is the only member of Black Hippy from the suburbs (Carson, Calif.) he throws around terminology like "paradigm shift" in his lyrics. Now here's Ab-Soul, speaking for himself, on the opening track to his resounding new full-length Control System: "Said I was the underdog/ Turned out I was the secret weapon." The album opens with a quote from Janet Jackson ("This is a story about control/ My control"), and Control System similarly feels like a young artist discovering his voice.
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