Ab-Soul, Black Hippy’s long-haired, human dictionary member, says he got so brainy just from listening well. He prefers watching educational YouTubes to reading novels and observing people to talking over them. On a recent visit to New York, he stopped by to talk about his album Control System, finding his own lane within the Black Hippy crew and turning frowns upside down. He returns to the city next Thursday for a headlining show at SOBs. Buy tickets here.