Control System

Take a cue from biting tracks like \"Pineal Gland\" and \"SOPA\"—rapper Ab-Soul is as clever as he is crass, as sharp as he is straight-forward. Indeed, *Control System* is the high-concept dramedy to the unflinching drama of fellow Black Hippy member Kendrick Lamar\'s *good kid, m.A.A.d city*. (The refrain from \"Mixed Emotions,\" for example, is \"Who got a Sprite?\") Ab\'s rhymes can be unapologetically out-there at times, such as when he\'s rapping about Sumerians or nodding to *Seinfeld* on \"Nothing\'s Something,\" a song about, well, nothing. But a heart beats resoundingly at the center of *Control System*. You hear it most affectingly on \"The Book of Soul,\" on which Ab mourns the suicide of ex-girlfriend Alori Joh; she guests on multiple tracks here.

The least visible member of the Black Hippy collective, who Schoolboy Q has called a "human dictionary" and Kendrick Lamar "a wizardish genius," releases his exhilarating debut.

With his 2012 effort, Control System, Ab-Soul is the fourth and final member of the Black Hippy crew to stake a solo claim, but chalk it up to this album being crafted over time, because here he's matched his teammates (Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, and ScHoolboy Q), and arguably topped them.

Ab-Soul - Control System review: Hip-hop fans have something to look forward to out of the west coast again