Ab-Soul is on the promo run for his forthcoming Herbert album, and he called on some classic 2Pac and Biggie cuts for his L.A. Leakers freestyle debut.
Soulo dropped by the Power 106 show on Monday (December 12) to tap in with Justin Credible and DJ Sourmilk. Taking it from the West to the East, the TDE rapper went in over Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” and Notorious B.I.G.’s “Who Shot Ya
During the freestyle, he shouted out his former TDE labelmate Kendrick Lamar to let the world know there’s no hard feelings since Dot left the label.
“I ain’t trippin’ off of y’all Top 5, save your statements, all your documents are falsified,” Ab-Soul rapped. “We the mafia of the West, I know K.Dot left/ That’s still my partner in crime, respect the family ties
Kendrick announced he was leaving the West Coast label last August to focus more on pgLang, his creative company with his manager Dave Free. Speaking to Mic in February, TDE president Terrence “Punch” Henderson seemed to understand the reason behind it and expressed sentiments similar to Ab-Soul’s.
“I don’t even know if I would describe it that way as ready to leave, as more so ready to build his own thing,” Punch said. “That’s a grown man right now. We watched him grow from a teenager up into an established grown man, a businessman, and one of the greatest artists of all time. So how long do you actually be signed up under somebody? It’s been almost 20 years. So it’s time to move on and try new things and venture out.”
He continued: “He’s doing a great job developing Baby Keem. It’s always been there, but now it’s just time and space where he can actually do it. It’s a beautiful thing to watch because that’s something that started with what we built in the beginning. To see it blossom, it’s a full-circle moment.”
Herbert is set to arrive on December 16 and will stand as Ab-Soul’s fifth studio LP. The album will feature Big Sean, Russ, Joey Bada$$, Jhené Aiko, SiR Punch, Zacari, Fre$h, Ambré, ALEMEDA and Lance Skiiiwalker.
On the production side of things, the TDE rapper has joined forces with Sounwave, DJ Premier, James Blake, Hit-Boy, Boi-1da and DJ Dahi, among others.