After six long years, Top Dawg Entertainment’s secret weapon Ab-Soul is finally releasing his fifth studio album, Herbert. Scheduled to drop on December 16, the album breaks the most extended hiatus between albums from one of the California label’s rappers in a catalog full of them. For comparison: The other two albums released by TDE this year, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers and SZA’s S.O.S., came after five years each. Last year, Isaiah Rashad broke a four-year hiatus with The House Is Burning.
Like Rashad before him, it turns out Ab-Soul had a heartbreaking reason for delaying his latest album for so long. In a new feature in Rolling Stone, he admits that he survived a suicide attempt. Although the story doesn’t go into detail, Soul says that most of the album was completed before this. “Most of what you’ve heard, I wrote before … it,” he says. “I just wanna make it clear: You see me smiling, but it’s not funny. I think that’s just my way of healing from it.”
However, he intends to inspire some positive results by sharing his story. “Me sharing my testimony — if it doesn’t help, it might let you know you’re not the only one going through it,” he hopes. “That’s what ultimately gives me the courage to put it out there.”
Herbert is due on 12/16 through TDE.
