West Coast rapper Ab-Soul has some swirling conspiracy theories to go along with his ominous and psychedelic tracks. Sometimes it sounds like Ab-Soul is rapping through a bullhorn, which sort of suits his sense of urgency.
He’s obviously interested in the Bible, Egyptian mythology, black history, radical free will, love, numerology and the occult. His last record, “Do What Thou Wilt,” pays homage to Aleister Crowley. Fittingly, the song “INvocation” sounds like what Sun Ra might have done had he decided to team up with a hip-hop artist. The album is maybe even feminist (not something you’d say of many albums by male MCs), with songs about the divine feminine and spirituality.
If Ab-Soul sounds retro, it might be because he was raised in a record store owned by his parents. He was selling singles as a child. A hip-hop traditionalist, Ab-Soul is an artist who views the genre as a source of culture and education, of motion and intelligence. Ab-Soul is on Top Dawg Entertainment label, along with Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q, who, along with Ab-Soul, make up the hip-hop supergroup Black Hippy. This is 21st-century Afro-mystic hip-hop.
Ab-Soul performs at Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven, Sunday, May 7, at 9 p.m. Tickets are $25. 203-624-8623, toadsplace.com.
