Ab Soul- These Days

Ab Soul finally has released his major label debut album that fans have been clamoring for. These Days is following Soul's excellent 2012 Control System so expectations were high. Not only was Control System an amazing piece of work but look at the pressure Soulo is under. He has to keep the momentum going for the best label out right now in TDE. Ever since Control System dropped, Kendrick dropped Good Kid Maad City and a million features. Schoolboy Q released Oxymoron. Isaiah Rashad and Sza were both signed and released very solid projects of their own. No one can really remember the last subpar Jay Rock verse. The point is TDE has been on a roll and Soul is looking to keep that going. There is a lot of expectations for the album but did it meet them?

I'll just get to the tracks which I didn't like out of the way first. Hunnid Stax, Dub Sac, and Sapiosexual I could do without. Those songs I straight up just didn't like. When I see Schoolboy and Soulo on a track together, I'm expecting Druggys Wit Hoes, not the generic "fuck bitches, get money." If you're going for that radio hit, make that shit fun like Druggys Wit Hoes. I don't understand why rappers on the radio who do that money, hoes, drugs stuff take themselves so seriously. Make that shit fun to listen to that can make people laugh when they singing along to it because they know how stupid it is too, but I digress. And one last thing on Hunnid Stax, someone please get Mac Miller off of here. From what I hear on the internet, Mac has improved a lot since his Blue Slide Park and Kids These Days projects but shit, I haven't heard it. I haven't listened to his solo projects yet from from the features I've heard him on I just am not impressed. And if you somehow come across this Mac, I'm still going to listen to your solo stuff so I'm not saying you suck as an artist (you got bars as Larry Fisherman), I'm just saying I haven't liked the features you've been on.

A track that perfectly sums up how I feel about the album is Twact. I have no idea what that means and I love Ab-Soul's verse but please someone never let Jinx (or Short Dawg idk) near a mic again. "I stay in the lines like I'm coloring." I don't even have to say anything else about that weak ass line. I hated the song for a good three days just because of that line but I don't hold grudges so I kept listening to it and it grew on me. I love the beat, I love the hook, and I love Soulo's last verse and how he sounded on that beat. It gives me some hope that he can make it on the radio with the right feature (not that I think he cares about that). He has a chance to make it mainstream, but I don't think he can do so by himself. He needs a big name to get people's attention but the potential is there. Another example of how I think he can make it mainstream is the next song Just Have Fun. Great sequence btw since Twact is all about having fun and is some "turn-up" music, Just Have Fun's hook is "Do the Drugs don't let the drugs do you." Definitely a nice little PSA to all the ravers out there who just swallow pills and 80% of the time are lucky nothing happens to them because guarantee they have no idea what they are ingesting. My favorite line in the track was "I never paid tuition but I paid attention, that's why I gotta make it count when they pay admission." Another great message you don't hear on the radio. There's a lot of public school kids who don't pay tuition. It shows if you take advantage of a free education, people will pay you well to perform at your job whether you are on stage or sitting in a cubical as long as you take your education seriously.

Another standout from the album was Closure. A lot of people hated Closure but I liked it. I always like when artists get introspective and I appreciated this from Soulo. He is still shaken up by the loss of Alori Joh and is not even pretending that he has gotten over it. Even his rebound girl (sorry Yaris) can't help him overcome the loss. People didn't like that he was crooning the whole time but I liked the change of pace. It shows versatility.

It took me a while, but These Days has grown on me a lot. At first, I thought it was a good album but I was mad that it wasn't as good as Control System. Although I wasn't expecting it to be the same album, I was expecting some of the same content but with more radio friendly beats. After realizing how stupid I was for expecting that kind of album, I listened to it again and really couldn't believe all the hate that it as been getting so far online. This is one of the better albums of 2014 for me. It isn't at the top but it's in the top 6 or 7 for me personally. I'd give the album a B-

Check what Talib Kweli had to say about the album, pretty dope.

Also 2014 been a pretty dope year so far for Ab-Soul features, check some of the favorites.

Nitty Scott- Apex Feat Ab-Soul



Smoke DZA- Hearses feat Ab-Soul



Common- Made In Black America feat. Ab-Soul

Schoolboy Q...Oxymoron

After what seemed like forever and then some, Schoolboy Q finally released his "debut" album, Oxymoron. It's actually Q's third album released for sale but this is his first mainstream release. Oxymoron is also the second out of a supposedly six albums that are rumored to be dropping his year by Top Dawg Entertainment, the first being Cilvia Demo by Isaiah Rashad. Check out my review for that one if you have not already. Speaking of Schoolboy Q and Isaiah Rashad, they will be going on tour and will be joined by Vince Staples so go out and support them. Anyways, back to the main focus of this post. Q's been hyping this album ever since he let news out that this is what it was going to be called. He was calling himself the best rapper in Black Hippy and how Oxymoron was going to be better than Good Kid mAAd City but anyone who has ever seen an interview with Schoolboy Q knows he was just talking mess. If you were expecting an album on par lyrically with Kendrick Lamar's debut then you need to go listen to Setbacks and Habits & Contradictions. Q and Kendrick are two completely different rappers but from the responses I have seen so far, it seemed like people were expecting Q to do lyrical gymnastics. It's like expecting Tony Romo to be clutch in the 4th quarter. I guess it could happen in theory but it just won't. What I'm expecting out of this is an album of bangers. This is who ASAP Ferg strives to be. Someone who can knock speakers and not be complete trash while spitting in the vain of Get Rich Or Die Tryin, an album that Q has mentioned was very influential for his style. After the success of Habits & Contradictions, this album has been on everyone's most anticipated list, so we'll see if Schoolboy Q delivered.

 

To put it bluntly, I enjoyed this album. I still like Habits & Contradictions more and I like Setbacks more as a complete project but I like Oxymoron more for individual tracks. Obviously I was not there for the crafting of the album but it seemed to me that Q made a sacrifice searching for the big hit versus making a top notch project from front to back. He said in his interview with the Breakfast Club that he just wants that one hit to put him in that upper echelon and there were several tracks on here where that was a clear case. However, Q still did him which is being a street dude that can make the trunk bump. He's like what Tyga and French Montana hope one day they could be as rappers, which is ironic because Q wants to reach their status as club hit-makers.

Out of the 15 tracks on the album there were only 3 that I'll hit the skip for sure. One of the unholy trifecta was Los Awesome and I have no idea what in the blue hell that was supposed to be. It was also disappointing too because that was the first time in a very long time where I feel Jay Rock did not kill his verse. He has been on a roll lately after being an afterthought with TDE, but his verse on this did not do him any favors. Keep doing your thing though Jay Rock, I can't wait for that album. I also was not feeling Prescription-Oxymoron, no comment on that. The last track on the album, Fuck LA, was the last that I skip for sure. I don't like Q on that trap sound. Leave that for everyone else Q, you're better than that. The production was cool, but I preferred the beats that he had on his previous two albums. I feel like Q's pocket is better when it sounds like Habits & Contradictions but at the same time, I understand he is trying to evolve and all that good stuff. Like I said earlier, this album felt more like a collection of singles more so than an album. Q has stated that there is a theme with Oxymoron and that is he had to do bad in order to provide good for his daughter and I could see it, but it's getting a little old for me. I know rappers stick to what they do, but it seems like Q has been saying the same thing for 3 albums now. The theme for Setbacks was all the bad stuff he did set him back. The theme for Habits & Contradictions was that his habits were contradicting the positivity he was trying to inject into his life. You see the redundancy here.

With all this bashing, it seems like I didn't even like this album. As Charlie Murphy would say in regards to Rick James....WRONG. I really do like this album. If I put all that crap aside from what I just said and just listen to the album and let it be candy to my ears, it delivers. I could go on about the rest of the tracks that I like but I'll just give the ones I go out of my way to slap: Gangsta, Collard Greens, Hoover Street, Studio feat BJ the Chicago Kid, Blind Threats, Hell Of A Night, Break The Bank, and Grooveline pt 2 (Suga Free still got it). Like I said earlier, if you're expecting Q to hit you with some Kendrick bars just because he is in the same crew, then I'm just assuming you never listened to Schoolboy Q and I'll let that ignorance slide and give you a pass. Q is doing what he does on this album. The best comparison I could come up with is a more party orientated 50 Cent. Let me know if that is way off but if you're going to tell me how stupid I am for that comparison at least give me someone who he compares to.

Completely random thought, but how hard did Trinidad James fall off. He had to create some stupid ass controversy for him just to get semi-relevant again.

In conclusion, Oxymoron was a good album, but not as good as Habits & Contradictions for me at least. People will say it's disappointing because Q was hyping it up a lot, it was the first "album" release by TDE after Good Kid mAAd City, and it was delayed for the longest time. I guess I would call it disappointing too but for an album where I liked 12 out of the 15 tracks, that either says I'm a Russian judge or that was how highly I anticipated the album. I don't really know where Q goes from here. Does he continue to search for that hit that just moves units or does he do a reevaluation and try to craft a solid all around project? I hope he expands his subject matter repertoire but I'm not going to complain if he can deliver trunk bangers that don't make you feel light in the ass. Anyways, if you like this album go support Q, he's got a daughter to feed. Hopefully we get those other four TDE albums this year too. peace

Forgot to give it a grade. Its a B-. Weird because I enjoyed 12 out of 15 tracks but it still left me wanting more.


Damu The Fudgemunk feat. Raw Poetic- Hole Up


ILLFIGHTYOU- Potty