Ab-Soul Says He's "Heavily Inspired" By Kendrick Lamar

[flyingmonkey10]

Ab-Soul explains how his TDE partner Kendrick Lamar pushes him to be a better emcee.

With listeners still buzzing about Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city, the Top Dawg Entertainment crew is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after collectives in Hip Hop. Now, Kendrick's cohort Ab-Soul discusses his relationship with his break-out Black Hippy partner.

In a recent interview with Hot 97's Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg, Ab-Soul recalled being humbled by Kendrick the first time he heard him rap. Since then, Soul says he has been "heavily inspired" by the work of his TDE collaborator.

"When I first heard K. Dot, I thought that he…could potentially be one of the best ever, first time I heard him," he recalled. "We were so young at the time and you know, we're talking about pride - I'm a rapper too, and I aspire to do well, so listening to him for the first time really kind of humbled me. [He] let me know, like, 'Okay, I'm not the only one that's really serious about my craft.' He's continued to be that consistently throughout our entire relationship. I'm still heavily inspired by him all the time."

Ab-Soul is currently working on an collaborative album with singer-songwriter JMSN, titled Unit 6. Soul is also slated to perform this Wednesday, February 27th at S.O.B.'s in New York City.

Check out the full interview below:

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.23029/title.ab-soul-says-he-s-heavily-inspired-by-kendrick-lamar

[King Lance]

New music pls.

I think that his album on interscope will be released after Schoolboy Q's album

[King Lance]

New music pls.

I think that his album on interscope will be released after Schoolboy Q's album

Is there a plan for dropping a mixtape before that? I hope it doesn't get pushedback because we all know that's wht usually happens to Interscope rappers.

hmmm I think he'll release a joint LP with JMSN before his debut on interscope. (you can already listen to a song : "You're Gone" )

In fact, TDE is now heading the rap department at Interscope and The Black Hippy (kendrick, Ab-Soul, SchoolBoy Q & Jay Rock) as a whole closed a joint venture deal with Interscope Records and Aftermath. Kendrick Lamar's debut studio album was jointly released via Aftermath, TDE and Interscope, while releases from the rest of Black Hippy are to be distributed via TDE and Interscope.
TDE is a very serious label

SchoolBoy Q is supposed to release his album this year and he is already scheduled to appear at the 2013 BET Experience music festival, with Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg & Beyonce.