Ab-Soul - These Days…

Ab-Soul isn't dropping an album; he's convening a gathering. But it's not a party where people drink and laugh. Most of the recordings took place in Mac Miller's red room at his home studio in Los Angeles, nicknamed "The Sanctuary." Ab-Soul talks about fun, but what lies beneath is a sonic architecture where every guest is an additional instrument.

The sanctuary as producer

You can't talk about These Days… without naming the place that carried it: Mac Miller's home studio red room. It was there that Sounwave, Tae Beast, Skyhe Hutch, and Tommy Black worked with Ab-Soul.

Gods Reign feat. SZA and Hunnid Stax feat. ScHoolboy Q: collaborations that anchor the project in the West Coast scene

The album isn't just a solo record; it's a geographic map of California rap. Right from the opening with Gods Reign, Ab-Soul introduces SZA. Her presence isn't decorative; she brings a melodic voice that immediately contrasts with Ab-Soul's more laid-back and analytical flow. It's a vocal register contrast, almost as if the female voice is meant to widen the sonic space of the track. Further along, Hunnid Stax welcomes ScHoolboy Q. Again, it's not just a simple layering of flows: ScHoolboy Q brings his own timbre, that deep and laid-back voice that gives the song extra weight, as if the track were taking two bodies to walk down the same melodic line.

World Runners feat. Lupe Fiasco & Nevermind That feat. Rick Ross: extending the collective beyond the TDE circle

There are also tracks where the features are more subtle, like Twact with Jinx and Short Dawg. Here, the collaboration isn't trying to impose a star but rather enrich an already built sonic universe. This is the logic that makes the album work: every guest is chosen for what they add to the track, not for their fame. Ab-Soul orchestrates these presences like one would orchestrate a jazz group: everyone has their part, and it's the sum of voices that creates the whole.

Verdict: a "Top Dawg party" where every guest is an instrument

These Days… isn't an album trying to shine through individual solos or technical flows. It's an album designed as a collective piece, recorded in an intimate space and produced by a tight-knit team. The features aren't just marketing add-ons; they're integrated from the song's conception to broaden the sonic field without betraying the project's identity. The result is an album where every track seems like a page of a shared book, written in the same room, with the same mics and the same ideas.