Sometimes you hear a song and it just sticks to your ribs… it keeps you pressing rewind because it just hits you in a certain kinda way. Or maybe it throws a crazy combo from the beat, to the lyrics, to the flow, to the sample, to the chorus, to the message, to the passion, to the cadence, to…. you get it… when a track can check a ton of boxes it forever will be stained in my mind… I first heard Ab-Soul’s track “Do Better” back in October of 2022… I knew from the first 30 seconds that it would be one of my favorite rap tracks from the 2020’s. It might just be on my favorite rap tracks of all time list though. It is truly a masterpiece.
Ab-Soul always lays it all out over dope instrumentation and this just saw him level up. But what is great about Herbert Anthony Stevens the IV is how he really lets you know what’s going on with himself mentally. to me he is curt cobain on the mic and i always admire how he opens up and let’s you see his life… if the lyrics didn’t catch you on the video then here they are for your viewing pleasure… follow along
But then look at the artwork… how amazing is this artwork? i see this image and i see a part of myself… so now i have the visuals with the music video, I have the lyric video… and now I can listen to “DO BETTER” while seeing the album artwork for HERBERT. It’s a sight to see… or a site to see? see… sometimes i feel I’m soulo…
then there just seemed to be a steady flow of content around the song that helped keep the track in my mind. Then seeing him spitting the lyrics to Genius and talking to each verse was so sick… wow… this is a damn riddle… with each piece of content you learn new parts of the message and the rhyme… and the story…
even just seeing the lyrics hits me in a different way… this is a mantra… this is motivational kinda rap for anybody looking for a little therapy in their hip hop… this is the type of shit I would write in my journal… how dope would a journal of dope written raps be though? somebody give me a budget… i’ll crush it…
The way Ab-Soul keeps saying “I Gotta Do Better” just hits me every Fall/Winter season where I typically fall into my hole… but whenever days get a little darker i start listening to this track and it helps me cope with whatever my mind is telling me… and my hope is that me talking about a track as beautiful as this could bring you something as well… this track hits me and if it hits you, that’s dope. that is hip hop to me… it’s a tool to help people heal through bad times.
If you like this track, or if you like this music, or if you like the message I’m trying to put down, go ahead and follow DO BETTER on Spotify… AB-SOUL “DO BETTER” to be exact… I’ll start loading up the playlist with some good mental health rap if it’s something you would enjoy. If it helps me, I want it to help you.
I have these lyrics right by my side and they help me crawl when I don’t feel like getting up.