Ab-Soul - Soul Burger: REVIEW

Ayo, ayo, ayo, what the heck's poppin' y'all! It's ya boy Denzel, back in the booth 1nce again, here to bless y'all kiddies wit' that real talk on all of these fresh albums that be droppin' out here, word!! Word is bond, ya boy was out the game for a minute, thanks to some mad annoying power outage and snowstorm combo—ain't got wifi or nuthin' for days, namsayin'? But YO, the King's back, and tonight we gonna be breakin' down Ab-Soul’s new joint, Soul Burger. Ab-Soul's one of Kendrick LAmar's homeboys from the Black Hippy/TDE clique, from way back in the day, so there's been mad noise about it on the block. But hol' up a minute son! Y'all know what we go by after all this time of writin' the dopest reviews known to man-frickin'-kind - "Don't believe the hype!" Word! Aight, let’s throw this joint on n' see if it lives up to that aforementioned hype.


9 Mile – This startin' out PURE HIPHOP. We kickin' it off raw with summa them acapella bars, and yo, that Marvin Gaye sample is hittin'! Soul’s flow on this be mad nice, ya feel me? That line about Sonic n' Tails is kinda played out, but yo, son's doin' a freestyle, so we gonna let it slide. Dude’s flowin' like water over that sampled beat—mad smooth, word.


- Beats: 8/10

- Lyrics: 8/10

- Total: 16/20


Paiday – This getting off to a solid start, the trap beat goin' tight wit' the man's lyrics. Soul’s bars got that hypnotic vibe, I'm thinkin' it's cause of vocal effects. Effects or not son, this beat’s layered up like crazy. Whoever was on production went wild with them scratches, b.


- Beats: 8/10

- Lyrics: 6/10

- Total: 14/20


All That (feat. Jason Martin; Thirsty P) – This one got a reeaaalll smooth vibe. Soul did a sample off of that Digable Planets track from the 90s, Rebirth of Slick. Y'all know the one. Word up, that’s straight nostalgia. Hook’s mad tight, n' I'm lovin' this flow son's doin'. Flow's smooth like we just sittin' back on the porch, listenin' to some friend rhymin', just straight vibin'.


- Beats: 7/10

- Lyrics: 8/10

- Total: 15/20


California Dream (feat. Vince Staples; Kamm Carson) – This guy in the first verse got mad talent and Kamm came through on that freestyle type of rappin'—son was spittin' flames. It's aight, I like it pretty well.


- Beats: 7/10

- Lyrics: 6/10

- Total: 13/20


B.U.C.K.O - Jr. – This joint kinda soundin' like this Nigerian rapper, CartiAir. It's still great though. Soul's just coasting over this beat with mad style, throwin’ out them bars about cash, ladies, and livin' life like a king. This is little kid rapper stuff but he's makin' it sound mad dope, word. I'm thinkin' alotta this is off the dome.


- Beats: 7/10

- Lyrics: 7/10

- Total: 14/20


I, Myself & Me (feat. Doechii) – Starts off with a voicemail sample, beat's mellow but it works. Doechii slid in nice, just floatin' over the beat. That lilting part on the hook, that's chef's kiss.


- Beats: 8/10

- Lyrics: 9/10

- Total: 17/20


DND (feat. Notorious Niq) – They've got a solid flow on this n' the hook's goin’ hard. Niq’s verse mainly did the work of holdin’ it down tho.


Woah, this outro's pretty clever. I'mma save that for y'all to listen to yaselves.


- Beats: 7/10

- Lyrics: 6/10

- Total: 13/20


Don Julio 70 (feat. Fre$h) – Ayo, this Fre$h character's got some heat, namsayin'. Soundin' a bit like Kenny Mason up in here. Ab-Soul and him make a tight combo, and that lil’ fake flub at the end was mad slick.


- Beats: 7/10

- Lyrics: 8/10

- Total: 15/20


Go Pro (feat. Ty Dolla Sign) – Ayo b!! When y'all record labels gonna get some brain matta n' figure out hirin' Ty Dolla Sign for every record jus' don't cut it??! This guy's a BACKSEAT RAPPER son, ain't no use for this autotuned sangin' kid. Guys like Ty Dolla Sign keep on tryna jump in the front seat n' grab the wheel takin' the car off into summa that sangin' n' dancin' mess.


Aight, here we go. Ty Dolla Sign jumpin’ in tryna to steal the spotlight but ends up lookin' mad basic n' annoyin' of course. Ab-Soul, being a professional rapper, he's eatin’ him up on the track, but even Soul can’t fully save it. This ain't it.


- Beats: 7/10

- Lyrics: 5/10

- Total: 12/20


Saudi Sweats – Dope intro, a bit long though. This song taken lyrically, yo, it's on point. But this beat up in here soundin' like the third Congregational Church of the Nazarene in Arkansas's tambourine choir for girlies or somethin’. Dayum this beat mad annoyin'. Also, I ain't got a clue why, but yo, Denzel ain't able to take the first verse serious AT ALL, nahmean? Shit had me crackin' up y'all! Outro slaps though.


- Beats: 5/10

- Lyrics: 7/10

- Total: 12/20


Squeeze 1st – This track aight. We got some clever lines like that "pica de gallo" that hit just right. I'mma swear I heard this ish before b. Oh yea, I heard this on the "On the Radar" freestyles. Son freestyled part of this there.


Soul’s flexin' nicely, but it's a lil’ bit of that classic conscious vibe. I vibes wit' it.


- Beats: 7/10

- Lyrics: 9/10

- Total: 16/20


Crazier (feat. JID) – Yo, my guy JID’s on here and he brought the heat. Son's been really rackin' up great feature verse, switched up his flow somethin’ fierce here. Ab-Soul stepped in hard too. Word is bond, this one's probably the best verse he spit on the album.


- Beats: 7/10

- Lyrics: 10/10

- Total: 17/20


Peace (feat. Lupe Fiasco; Punch) – Soul's got some solid bars here. That hooks mad hallucingenic though b, got ya boy feelin' like we floatin' round or sumthin'. But Lupe came through like a thief in the night, took over the whole vibe. Outro was dope too.


- Beats: 7/10

- Lyrics: 8/10

- Total: 15/20


The Sky is Limitless (feat. Blxst and Asian Holiday) – The intro's comin' in aight. This joint got that R&B soul vibe, some kinda sangin' stuff. Ab-soul's droppin' bars now n' it's okay. Love how he tied everything back up to that throwback Biggie track, word.


- Beats: 7/10

- Lyrics: 7/10

- Total: 14/20


Righteous Man – This startin' out kinda interestin'. There's a lotta samples in this beat yo, I'mma swear I heard this before someplace, y'all. Mad nice first verse, this one's lovely.


- Beats: 8/10

- Lyrics: 7/10

- Total: 15/20 

 

That was mad fun to listen to yo. Let's tally it up:

218/300

73% 


Overall, I'm lovin' this album. Soul Burger's got summa them bad points, but it's got enough of them good ones to even it out. This album feels like that real grown-up wisdom, a lil' piece of heaven in the middle of the world's madness. Soul was up in here deliverin' with finesse, murdering them beats, n' droppin' bars like it's a heavyweight bout. Forget whateva Fantano was sayin', this album’s got substance, smarts, and skill. Only thing I AIN'T feelin' is the sangin' mess on summa these tracks. Like, yo, if ya wanna have sangin', hire a good guy or chick to do it. Ain't nobody gonna be likin' that pop mess on a rap album. But yo, other than that, this shit slaps for real y'all. Ab-Soul, stay winnin'.

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