In 2005, he signed a recording contract with StreetBeat Entertainment, but just a year later, in 2006, he met Punch, President and Chairman of Carson-based indie record label, Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), who as Stevens says, 'saw more in his music than metaphors and punchlines'. In 2002, Stevens recorded his first song. Musical career 2002–10: Career beginnings and signing to TDE Ab-Soul in 2011. It was not until Stevens graduated from high school that he began to take a career in music seriously. Rapping continued on as a hobby for Stevens, whose parents 'saw a bright, college-type future' for him and enrolled him in advanced classes. Stevens claims to have written his first verse when he was 12 years old, to the beat of Twista's ' Emotions'. It really got me going as far as being a rapper.' I had been rapping a little earlier, maybe around 12, but when I hopped online and into that culture, that textcee culture. I think that is where I developed my rhyming skills.

I think that it still exists online, where you freestyle but you type it. Stevens also began crafting his rapping skills at an early age: 'I was on BlackPlanet freestyle chat, rapping my ass off. Stevens encountered music at a very young age, due to his family owning a record store. In his adolescent years, Stevens was severely teased about his condition. Newborn babies loved Michael Jackson.' At the age of 10, Stevens contracted Stevens–Johnson syndrome, which caused him to be hospitalized and is the origin of his dark lips and light-sensitive eyes. But I know early on, I really, really liked Michael Jackson, like we all did. He once recalled being five years old: 'I was serious into video games and basketball, at five. He spent the first four years of his life in Korea while his father was in the military, right up until his parents split and he and his mother subsequently moved back to the United States, to live in his grandmother's house in Carson, California.

Herbert Anthony Stevens IV was born on February 23, 1987, in Los Angeles. He is perhaps most known for his introspective lyrics and his five independent albums under TDE, Longterm Mentality, Control System, These Days., Do What Thou Wilt., and Herbert, which were all released to positive reviews and commercial success. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where he eventually formed West Coast hip hop group Black Hippy, alongside fellow California-based rappers Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q. Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter.

Ab soul on kendricks album cover