Ab-Soul has teased a JAY-Z feature on his upcoming Herbert album ahead of its release in December.
The Los Angeles rapper took to Instagram on Wednesday (November 30) to share a photo of him sitting next to Hov at a table at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City. “SOUL DID,” he wrote in the caption, referencing Jay’s “GOD DID” collaboration with DJ Khaled.
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Soulo’s label, Top Dawg Entertainment, shared the same photo on social media along with a caption hinting at a JAY-Z appearance on his upcoming project. “Hov x Soulo #Herbert Dec.16th!” it read.
TDE founder, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, added in his own Instagram post: “@souloho3 asked me to connect him with Hov ….. aye soul did u do ur part ? I guess we will find out when the album drop. Y’all think he got it ? #TDE.”
Dreamville’s J.I.D also reacted to the news of a possible Ab-Soul and JAY-Z collaboration on his Instagram Stories, writing: “Nah this shit got me gassed !!!!!! let’s go @souloho3.”
Ab-Soul is set to release his new album Herbert on December 16. It will serve as the follow-up to 2016’s Do What Thou Wilt and his fifth studio effort overall.
The Carson-bred rapper has dropped a number of singles in 2022 including “Hollandaise,” “Moonshooter,” “Do Better” featuring Zacari and “Gang’Nem” featuring Fre$H, although it’s unclear if any of the songs will appear on his next project.
In 2012, Ab-Soul famously rapped: “I used to wanna rap like JAY-Z / Now I feel I could run laps ’round JAY-Z,” on the Kendrick Lamar-assisted “ILLuminate” from his Control System album. Some interpreted the line as a diss at Hov, but as Soulo explained, the whole situation was taken out of hand.
“Everybody is talking about my JAY-Z line off ‘Illuminate’ but, the majority of the song was inspired by JAY-Z,” he told Complex at the time. “If you’re a big fan of JAY-Z you can hear it. That’s what it was about. And I hope Jay gets a chance to hear it.
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“If he is who I think he is, then he should understand exactly what I intended to do with that. I was paying homage but letting him know, we coming. You got some new young cats on your heels now. That’s all.”
He added: “My favorite rapper of all time is JAY-Z, hands down. I probably have been the most inspired by him lyrically. It doesn’t feel like it’s jocking or biting [when I quote JAY-Z in my rhymes]. It’s not. Being a fan of Hip Hop, just what I’ve seen done time and time again.”
