Ab-Soul has cleared up the confusion surrounding an alleged Kid Cudi diss on his new album Herbert ahead of the project’s release.
In an interview with the Rap Radar Podcast, the Top Dawg Entertainment rapper was quizzed about a few lines on the album, which co-host Brian “B.Dot” Miller interpreted as a shot at Cudi.
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“It seems like you still have the competitive spirit on there, like you’re firing some shots off in the verse,” Miller said. “It sounded like you were talking to a specific rapper… It sounded like you were talking about Kid Cudi. You mentioned a name, and you said a lot of things in there.”
A slightly perplexed Ab-Soul clarified that he was not dissing the Man on the Moon rapper on the track, before explaining that the term “Cudi,” which he used in the song, is Crip slang.
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“You think I would diss Kid Cudi? The great Kid Cudi? On a song called ‘Church on the Move’?” he replied. “Peace be unto you. Come on, B.Dot. And y’all trust this guy with the lists?
He added: “No, look. Listen: Cudi is a term that we use, it’s kinda on some Crip shit, you know what I’m saying?”
The interview comes one day after Ab-Soul premiered a new song called “No Report Card” in a Vevo CTRL performance, the fifth offering to emerge from Herbert, which drops Friday (December 16).
The Carson, California native’s upcoming LP includes appearances from Big Sean, Joey Bada$$, Russ, Jhené Aiko, SiR, Punch and more. Production comes courtesy of DJ Premier, Hit-Boy, Sounwave, Boi-1da, DJ Dahi and James Blake, among others.
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The TDE lyricist recently sat down for an interview with Rolling Stone and said he hopes Herbert and its vulnerability will inspire others to heal from whatever pain they’re experiencing.
“We’re all going through things, all of us,” he said. “Me sharing my testimony — if it doesn’t help, it might let you know you’re not the only one going through it. That’s what ultimately gives me the courage to put it out there.”
Ab-Soul also stopped by Power 106 to see the L.A. Leakers this week, making his freestyle debut on the show. He took on 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” and The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Who Shot Ya,” shouting out his former TDE labelmate Kendrick Lamar to let the world know there are no hard feelings over K. Dot’s departure from the label.
“I ain’t trippin’ off of y’all Top 5, save your statements, all your documents are falsified / We the mafia of the West, I know K. Dot left / That’s still my partner in crime, respect the family ties!” he rapped during the impressive lyrical display.
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As the release of Herbert creeps closer, Ab-Soul recently admitted that DJ Premier made him re-record their collaboration multiple times to match the “frequency” of the beat, which was one of the legendary producer’s favorites.
“I knew I needed him this time around. He definitely put me to work. I had to do it about five or six times until he found the right frequency,” he told Vulture. “Not rewriting. He liked the verse, but I had to match the frequency of the record, because I guess that was one of his favorite beats.”
He added: “So he wanted to make sure I came correct. That was the first time anybody ever made me rerecord. So that was humbling. But it’s Preemo.”
