American rapper, singer, and composer Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987) is better known by his stage name, Ab-Soul. Born and raised in Carson, California, he signed with independent record company Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007. There, he joined forces with fellow Californian rappers Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, and Schoolboy Q to establish the West Coast hip hop group Black Hippy. His five solo albums, TDE, Longterm Mentality, Control System, These Days…, Do What Thou Wilt., and Herbert, all of which were released to favorable reviews and financial success, are arguably what made him most famous for his reflective lyrics.
| Birth name | Herbert Anthony Stevens IV |
| Born | February 23, 1987 (age 36) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Origin | Carson, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip Hop |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | StreetBeat Top Dawg |
| Formerly of | Area 51 Black Hippy |
Early life
On February 23, 1987, Herbert Anthony Stevens IV was born in Los Angeles. His mother and he then came back to the United States to live in his grandmother’s home in Carson, California. He was born and raised in Korea for the first four years of his life while his father was serving in the armed forces. When he was five years old, he remembered: “At five, I was really into video games and basketball.” Well, video games, anyhow. Five. Nintendo, what was that? Sega. Sonic the Hedgehog. TV show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But like we all did, I can admit that in the beginning, I was a huge fan of Michael Jackson. Infants adored Michael Jackson.” Stevens developed Stevens–Johnson syndrome at the age of ten, which led to his hospitalization and is the source of his light-sensitive eyes and dark lips. Stevens endured a lot of taunting during his teenage years due to his infirmity.
Stevens’ family owned a record store, thus he was exposed to music at a very young age. Stevens also started honing his rapping abilities at a young age: “I was rapping my ass off on BlackPlanet freestyle chat.” Battle via text. It’s an incredibly fascinating universe. I believe it is still possible to freestyle while typing online. It’s referred to as keystyle. I believe that’s where my ability to rhyme originated. I started rapping when I was a little older—maybe 12 [years old]—but that was before I went online and immersed myself in the text-messaging culture. It really inspired me to pursue rap as a career.
Musical Career
2002–10: Career beginnings and signing to TDE
Stevens recorded his debut song in 2002. He signed a recording contract with StreetBeat Entertainment in 2005, but Punch, the President and Chairman of Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), an independent record label located in Carson, met him only a year later in 2006. According to Stevens, Punch “saw more in his music than metaphors and punchlines”. Stevens collaborated with fellow American rapper Snake Hollywood, who was also from Brooklyn, in a rap trio called Area 51 prior to signing with TDE.
Stevens was formally added to the TDE roster in 2007. Stevens made a fleeting cameo appearance in the music video for Jay Rock’s commercial breakthrough single “All My Life (In the Ghetto)” in 2008. Stevens is a TDE mate. He started working on the songs for his first mixtape at the TDE Recording Studio: House of Pain in 2008. Stevens initially uploaded a music video on YouTube for the mixtape song “A Day in the Life” in December 2008.
Longterm, the name of the mixtape, was made available in January 2009. It was the first of a planned four-part series, according to Stevens: “I was aware that there would be four Longterms when I completed the first one. the first time I performed it. Thus, there will consist of the following four: Longterm 1, 2, 3, and 4. Thus, we are currently at two. Waiting for the next one will be necessary. For the upcoming Ab-Soul interview, that is. Along with his regular collaborators and TDE labelmates Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, and K-Dot, he created the band Black Hippy in 2009. On June 28, 2010, Stevens dropped his second mixtape, which was a follow-up to his debut. Stevens sang on multiple tracks on the much praised Longterm 2: Lifestyles of the Broke and Almost Famous cassette.
2011–12: Longterm Mentality and Control System
After revealing in February 2011 that he was working on an album called Longterm Mentality, Ab-Soul went on to release the song “Hell Yeah,” which featured Schoolboy Q. On February 22, 2011, Stevens collaborated with fellow Black Hippy Kendrick Lamar on a promotional track called “Moscato,” which was taken from the album. Murs, another American rapper, recruited Stevens to go on the “Road to Paid Dues” concert tour, which he did in February 2011.
In an effort to promote the album, Stevens released the music video for the song “Nothin’ New” on March 21, 2011. Released on March 25, “Gone Insane” is the fourth single off the album that he has released. Top Dawg Entertainment published the Longterm Mentality trailer on March 30. His “Gone Insane” music video, which was helmed by Top Dawg in-house directors Fredo Tovar and Scott Fleishman, was released on April 1, 2011.
Stevens launched his second independent album promotion on January 17, 2012, following the release of Schoolboy Q’s second album, Habits & Contradictions (2012). The song “Black Lip Bastard” was the first single off the album. Willie B, a TDE in-house producer, produced the song. During their appearance on Sway Calloway’s #SwayInTheMorning radio show on February 28, 2012, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q described “Black Lip Bastard” as “pretty much one of the title tracks. “Showin’ Love,” another track on the album that was produced by Willie B, was the first to be released.
A new song called “Empathy” by Ab-Soul, which was released on May 1, 2012, incorporates vocals by Stevens’s late longtime partner Alori Joh (December 16, 1986 – February 6, 2012), who took her own life earlier in February. Joh’s passing significantly affected Stevens and the Control System’s recording procedure. It was confirmed on May 4, 2012, that “Black Lip Bastard” had been remixed and included Schoolboy Q, Rock, and his fellow Black Hippy. His joint album “ILLuminate” with Kendrick Lamar was released on May 8, 2012. Ab-Soul leaked teases and the track listing for the album the day before it was published. The back cover of the record reads, “Dedicated to Loriana Angel Johnson’s beautiful soul.
2012–18: These Days… and Do What Thou Wilt.
October 2012 saw the announcement of a joint project between American singer-songwriter JMSN and Stevens. JMSN had produced “Nibiru” for Stevens earlier in August, during “TDE Fan Appreciation Week” on Stevens’ label.38 On January 22, 2013, the lead track from their joint album, Unit 6, was formally made available on iTunes. The song “You’re Gone” was produced by JMSN and includes vocals from both performers. It was revealed on March 26, 2013, that Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, and other upcoming rappers would be included in XXL’s 2013 Freshman Class issue.
After a nearly four-month break, Stevens returned with a new song produced by Willie B on August 6, 2013, called “Christopher DRONEr,” which made reference to Christopher Dorner, a former LAPD police officer. He revealed he was working on a new solo project along with the tune. He would subsequently tell XXL that he and JMSN had completed the Unit 6 album, but that it had been postponed for a potential later release because their management could not “see eye to eye.” Stevens added, “As of right now it’s sounding like prequel to my album.” He continued by stating that JMSN and Jhene Aiko will be featured on the next solo release. Stevens said on October 17, 2013, that he was near completing the project. Later that week, he dispelled reports that the project’s title was Black Lip Pastor and acknowledged that it had been sent for mixing. Stevens’ involvement on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ debut album, The Heist, earned him a nomination for Album of the Year, it was revealed with the publication of the 56th Annual Grammy Awards nominations.
Stevens announced on Twitter on May 5, 2014, that his third album would be called These Days. The management of Top Dawg revealed on Twitter on May 30, 2014, that the release date of These Days… is set for June 24. The TDE management also presented the album cover art and a teaser for Stevens’ “Stigmata” music video on the same day. Stevens released the music video for the song “Closure” from These Days on June 21, 2014. With first-week sales of 21,812 copies in the US, the album debuted at number 11 on the US Billboard 200 list. Music critics have mostly given the album positive reviews.
During an interview with Montreality in October 2014, Stevens disclosed that Longterm 3 will be the name of his first in-store retail enterprise. Produced by The Alchemist, Ab-Soul released the song “47 Bars” online for the first time in February 2015. Stevens tweeted that he was “almost done” with his second album in July of 2015. Stevens provided an update on the album in July 2015, saying on Twitter, “My album’s almost done… It’s a love story.” “DWTW”—possibly the acronym for the album title to which he kept making references—was the hashtag he used to finish the message.
2019–present: Herbert
During his performance at the Day N Vegas music festival on November 3, 2019, Stevens made a reference to his album by saying that he has “been cookin’ the bird up slow”. He then freestyled and promised a new album in 2020 as he concluded his performance.
In honor of Anthony Tiffith, the founder and CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment, and to kick off TDE’s Fan Appreciation Week, Stevens released the song “Dangerookipawaa Freestyle” on April 20, 2020.
Produced by TDE in-house producer Kal Banx, Stevens’ song “Hollandaise” was released on April 22, 2022.
Stevens declared that his fifth studio album, Herbert, will be out on December 16, 2022, in conjunction with the release of the song “Gang’Nem” on November 18, 2022.
On December 16, 2022, Herbert was released, with guest
During his performance at the Day N Vegas music festival on November 3, 2019, Stevens made a reference to his album by saying that he has “been cookin’ the bird up slow”. He then freestyled and promised a new album in 2020 as he concluded his performance.Big Sean, Jhené Aiko, Russ, Fre$h, Ambré, Alemeda, SiR, Punch, Zacari, and Lance Skiiiwalker are among the artists who made appearances.
Stevens gave a Tiny Desk Concert performance on NPR in February 2023.
These Days was taken down from Spotify and Apple Music in the US in June 2023 for reasons that are yet unclear. July 2023 saw the album’s re-release on the majority of streaming services, nevertheless.
Personal life
Stevens has stated that one of his favorite books growing up was The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1964). During high school, Stevens dated Alori Joh, a labelmate who was born Loriana Johnson, until her sudden and sad death, when she committed herself by plunging from a Compton, California, radio tower. In the song “The Book of Soul” from his 2012 album Control System, Stevens makes reference to the relationship and the tragic loss. Stevens is said to have dated model Yaris Sanchez since then. He made an attempt to leap from a highway overpass in 2022 in order to end his life. His life was saved by an automobile that broke his fall. He disclosed that he would not typically experience suicide thoughts and that they were caused by drugs.
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