Ab-Soul is back at Genius to break down his song “9 Mile.” The track comes from his latest project, 'Soul Burger,' and is said to be his personal favorite. On this episode of Verified, Soul dives into how he likes to complement the music, his gratitude for being alive to share his story, his intricate wordplay, and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00I'm only trying to compliment the music.
00:03I'm the last instrument in the beat.
00:04I'm the last stem in the session.
00:07Versus like, did you hear what I said?
00:08Like, nah, like, you didn't hear what I said.
00:10For me, the music should sound good
00:12whether you understand, whether you speak English or not.
00:16It should still, you should still feel me.
00:18You don't have to be a Cannabis fan
00:21to understand me anymore.
00:23Like, you don't have to be into Lyrical Miracle.
00:27I just want to connect with you.
00:30I had lost my brother, Doe Burger, Armani Stringer.
00:37You feel what I'm saying?
00:38If you know me, you know how dear he is to me, not was.
00:42Soul Burger is me.
00:43I tried to, you know, blend my world with his
00:47because we were just as different as we were the same.
00:50We yin and yang.
00:51So I really did my best to merge the two of us together.
00:57Belly is probably my favorite movie.
00:58If it's not Belly, it's Forrest Gump.
00:59It's also a movie me and Doe both enjoy, right?
01:02I just always wanted to, wanted to use that.
01:04Back to life, back to reality.
01:08And I'm like, whoa, we love, this is a classic song, period.
01:12Even before Belly, like everybody loves that record.
01:21Coming to the stage, this new brother.
01:25I like this brother.
01:27He goes by the name of Soul Burger.
01:29My whole intention was to make it seem like
01:31I was in like a speakeasy, slam poetry, open mic night.
01:35Joey Badass, you know what I'm saying?
01:37He's really like, really family.
01:38He's been killing it on the screen.
01:40So I thought it would be dope to have him
01:43display those talents.
01:45My daughter Carson just said daddy for the first time.
01:49And Callie trying to get up and run track.
01:51Carson and Callie are my daughters.
01:53They're twins, fraternal.
01:55Beautiful works of art.
01:57I at least did two things right on this Earth.
01:59I know that for a fact.
02:00And it was da-da before ma-ma, yeah, ha-ha.
02:03Ha-ha, I won.
02:07I like to call myself the guy that rap.
02:09And all of y'all should call me that.
02:12I hit the studio and talk like that.
02:15Leave that motherfucker and feel like a fraud.
02:17A lot of times in hip hop, a lot of us as MCs,
02:21you know, when we go into the booth,
02:23we act as if we're the one.
02:25Anybody can get it.
02:26So it's like almost directed at everybody,
02:30but no one at the same time.
02:34I be, you know, rhyming like I'm doing all this
02:38and in actuality, bro,
02:42I struggle just like you.
02:43I'm not, you know, don't get it twisted.
02:46And I'm also aware of the fact that
02:48if you learn these lyrics,
02:49every time you say I, you are just as big.
02:53I'm allowing us all to speak highly of ourselves.
02:56In all honesty, I believe the truth will set you free.
03:00Am I an inmate?
03:02I got secrets I'm gonna die with.
03:05Am I the greatest or an ingrate?
03:09Am I a victim or a villain with a moral compass?
03:14You see the duality.
03:15Am I really like great or do I have a lot of work to do?
03:19Like that's something that we all battle.
03:20You know what I'm saying?
03:21Good example is you remember on like,
03:22I think it was the last Equalizer,
03:24Denzel, like he had got harmed
03:25and then this doctor saved him.
03:27The doctor asked him, was he a good man?
03:30He said he didn't know.
03:31Most good people don't say that they're good people.
03:34They don't know.
03:35Did my dirt all by my lonely, no accomplice.
03:39So when the shit hits the fan,
03:42I be sipping a pot thick red, but I won't be whining.
03:47No boo-hoos, more like BB and CC,
03:51church on the move.
03:53You know, I did my dirt all by my lonely,
03:55no accomplice, right?
03:56I'm taking full accountability for myself
03:59and all of my actions as a man.
04:01I won't be whining, a pot thick red.
04:03That's when the poetry just kind of bleeds in.
04:06You know what I'm saying?
04:07It kind of pours in, right?
04:09We talking about whining.
04:10You see how I talk, like it just kind of happens that way.
04:14Right or wrong, my fate was written
04:16way before I started writing.
04:19This ain't a verse.
04:21This an excerpt from a seance.
04:23Ain't really confrontational, but I crave chaos.
04:29Mayday, mayday, melee, melee.
04:33I ain't really confrontational, but I crave chaos.
04:36Mayday, mayday, melee, melee.
04:38That's just chaotic, right?
04:40You know, I'll talk it out at the same time.
04:42I'm with all that.
04:43Way off the chain, like a jeweler's scale.
04:46Fuck all this gold on me.
04:51It ain't hard to tell like Sonic's little homie
04:55that my soul glowing despite the darkness I harness.
04:59You think these silver linings were straps
05:01that keep me from falling.
05:03I am very grateful to still be alive and well
05:08and able to even be able to, you know,
05:11share this story with you at all.
05:13Like that, it could be gone.
05:15So I'm just very grateful to be alive.
05:17I must have some kind of glow around me, man.
05:19That's the only explanation.
05:20Rhyming like I'm flying with angel wings.
05:23I just be crawling.
05:26Jesus Christ.
05:28Am I designed to compete or am I just a pauling?
05:33Peter and Paul, you know, obviously very close to Jesus.
05:38If you're into that story,
05:39very significant players in that testament.
05:43How I manipulated those words.
05:45Am I designed to compete or am I just a pauling?
05:48Am I designed to compete or am I just a pauling?
05:52But still keeping the thread of the duality.
05:55These days I'd rather work out my flaws
05:57than flex on y'all.
06:00A little something's better
06:01than a whole lot of nothing at all.
06:05But all will hope you read between the lines
06:09like when we be spelling wrong.
06:11I thought it was just crazy alone.
06:13Like, you know, like when you spell wrong,
06:14there's a red line under it.
06:16Like when you're typing,
06:17like when you spell it, you have an error.
06:20I saw a great review by this guy.
06:22I think his name is Professor Sky.
06:23And he thought I did this purposely,
06:25but he pointed out I said that grammatically incorrect.
06:28I hope you read between the lines
06:29like when we spell wrong is grammatically correct.
06:33But I said, when we be spelling wrong, which is an error.
06:37Can I keep it going?
06:39Can I talk my shit?
06:40Can I keep it real, real quick?
06:44I am broke.
06:46I am on fucking drugs.
06:47Don't own shit.
06:48I'm paying rent with my baby's moms.
06:51I am broke.
06:52You know, I am on fucking drugs.
06:54These are things that I've expressed.
06:56If you've been listening to me,
06:57if you've been following my journey,
06:59I make a very honest living,
07:00but you know, we chasing generational wealth.
07:03So until then, you know, we hustle like we broke.
07:06I'm broke.
07:16I did have a failed suicide attempt that I survived.
07:20And I truly believe in my heart of hearts
07:25that it's for a reason.
07:28I must have a purpose to serve of some sort.
07:38I'm still standing here screaming, fuck the whole system.
07:41What I took away from my life,
07:42I'm still standing here screaming, fuck the whole system.
07:45What I took away from what Eminem did,
07:48or rabbit, rabbit hip hop.
07:51That was, did y'all ever catch that?
07:52He dissed himself.
07:53Like, what you gonna say about me?
07:55Like that I ain't said, like, I know.
07:57I get another text from my auntie.
08:00She's one of my biggest fans.
08:01Saying that, yo, did you know that your album dropped
08:04on the same day that 8 Mile did?
08:079 Mile.
08:08Couldn't care any less if you judge me, bitch.
08:11You don't know what the fuck I did for this shit.
08:14And I don't know much, but I do know this.
08:19I got the game in a headlock.
08:21I'm like Draymond, you think you fucking
08:24with the squad just a little bit?
08:27Dream on, and then apply for your shit.
08:30I'm like, I don't know what the fuck I did for this shit.
08:33And I don't know much, but I do know this.
08:36Apply for your nimbership, little bitch.
08:40We are the nimbers, man.
08:42We are nim.
08:43We are not them.
08:44Never enough money.
08:45You either nimber or you not, man.
08:47But don't worry about them.
08:48They gonna be, them, them, them, they gonna be cool.
08:51Shit ain't been the same without our mind.
08:53Shit we was on, you'd have thought
08:55that we was out our mind.
08:57Couple of ticking time bombs don't step on our mind.
09:02But he the reason me and Danny spent the block.
09:04We lost Popeye, but Millie with Mommy and Belly with Nas.
09:11So Kha ain't never really left my side.
09:13Now we just a fusion like Trunks and Gohan.
09:20Huey and Riley combined, knowledge and nines.
09:26Bang.
09:27Kha, he never really left my side.
09:29And he really didn't,
09:30cause I have the burger tatted on my side.
09:35Originally though,
09:36we had started working on the TDE compilation
09:38and Top wanted me to do the intro.
09:40Played it for the homies and they was like,
09:43I mean, what this got to do with the squad, dog?
09:46You all right, bro?
09:47You like, are you good?
09:48You good, bro?
09:50Are you straight?
09:51They had to make, you know, I gotta put it all,
09:53I put it all on the table.
09:54That wasn't the best idea
09:56for the whole camp compilation, right?
09:59I immediately had began working on Soul Burger.
10:02When are we getting the TDE compilation?
10:05Get Top on the phone.
10:07You know, he's a perfectionist.
10:08I couldn't even tell you, but it's happening.