Curtiss King, who says he’s been working with Ab-Soul since 2006, continues his work with the Top Dawg Ent. star on the emcee’sThese Days… album. King, who produced “Tree Of Life” on the project, says he remembers the day he met Soul. 

“Back when I was recording music on my grandmother’s patio, this dude [Ab-Soul] comes in,” Curtiss King says in an interview with HipHopDX. “We working on a song together with a few of the artists from the neighborhood, and the dude just sits there in the chair and everybody else is writing on the pad and he’s just kind of sitting out looking into the distance. I’m asking this boy if he writes and he’s like, ‘Yeah, he’s writing,’ and then 15 to 20 minutes later, this dude has a verse.” 

Their recent collaboration, “Tree Of Life,” is the second song on the tracklist for These Days… and it sparked Soulo to work on a concept he was thinking about before hearing the beat. 

AD

AD LOADING...

“I sent off that and three other beats via email and he called me the next day,” King, who recently released Shut Your Trap with Murs, says. “He was like, ‘Yo that “Tree of Life,” I was already building up a concept and it’s just right on time.’ So just good timing on that one was how that one came together.” 

The tracklist notes that “Tree Of Life” was also produced by DJ Dahi, however King and Dahi did not collaborate on the beat.

“If you listen to the very end of this version, there’s a bonus track and DJ Dahi did pretty much what a lot of people, I guess, are considering a verse but it really is just a bonus track at the end,” King says. 

AD

AD LOADING...

While he may not have worked on the cut with Dahi, he is still pleased with the end result, he says. 

“DJ Dahi is a beast,” King explains. “I definitely see the significance of having that bonus track at the end because, like I said, DJ Dahi just went beastly on that one.” 

Beyond King’s praise for Dahi, the producer-emcee also says he is proud of Soul’s work on the cut. 

AD

AD LOADING...

“He’s gliding,” King says. “He’s just showing out and I loved it, man. I love anytime I get to work with the kid…So when I heard it, it wasn’t what I initially expected, but that’s Soul doing Soul and he killed it.” 

Ab-Soul’s These Days… can be streamed on HipHopDX. 

RELATED: Ab-Soul “These Days…” Release Date, Cover Art, Tracklist & Album Stream