The last time Ab-Soul’s camp got a new album from the Black Lipped Bastard was in 2016 with Do What Thou Wilt, which by modern-day rap standards is the equivalent to a lifetime ago.
However, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith took to Instagram on Tuesday (April 12) to confirm a new Soul album is imminent and gave a rare glimpse at the Los Angeles-bred rapper cooking something up in the studio.
“@souloho3 in the Stu getting ready… #TDE on the way,” Tiffith wrote alongside a clip of Soulo hard at work. In the clip he can be heard rapping about how “they wanna chop it up with Soul like the old Kanye,” referring to Kanye West’s affinity for criticizing people who want him to go back to his old ways.
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Soulo has remained incredibly elusive since 2016, but he did drop off a new freestyle titled “Danger00kipawaa Freestyle” in 2020. Ab-Soul was also seen reuniting with his TDE brethren in the studio earlier in April to celebrate Jay Rock’s 37th birthday.
“Love y’all no questions bday vibes with my brothers!!!” Rock wrote of the reunion on his Instagram Story.
Producer Cardo later confirmed the reunion wasn’t just for kicks, as they also made a song together.
“N-ggas made a stanger last night,” he wrote on Twitter along with several traffic light emojis.
Niggas made a stanger last night 🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦🚦 https://t.co/9koBZh1scD
— 🚦 37.563936, -116.85123 (@CardoGotWings) April 1, 2022
Ab-Soul had previously given a brief status update on his new project in December, writing “80%” in one of his Instagram Story clips, which fans took to mean the new album was nearing completion. Soul previously said it had been “70 percent” done in 2019.
While Ab-Soul and Kendrick Lamar continue to hold out on new music, Schoolboy Q recently returned with his first new track since 2019. Q dropped off his new single “Soccer Dad” on April 6, which arrived after the rapper previewed a few unreleased tracks last August during a Twitch live stream. Schoolboy closed out his livestream by referring to Top Dawg Entertainment as “better than everybody.”
“You will never meet another fucking artist like me, let me tell you that,” he said. “I don’t sound like nobody, I don’t move like nobody…I’m gonna constantly show that I’m better…I’m not out on the scene. I’m minding my business, and I come home to my kids.”
