Never seen in public without a pair of shades obscuring his eyes, it’d be fair to describe Ab-Soul as the most cryptic member of Black Hippy. This third studio album, however, offers him the opportunity to capitalise on the West Coast rap collective’s period of intense scrutiny – ie, pretty much anything that happens in the aftermath of Kendrick’s good kid, m.A.A.d city.

“Can’t live without the Benjamins, but I’m interested in the photosynthesis”, Ab spits on Tree of Life. It’s a clumsy but essential lyric, summarising the way he bridges the gap between two potentially conflicting personas: the inquisitively-minded stoner who’s just round the corner from some kind of enlightenment; and the sex-obsessed money-lover whose ego is built with those conquests. Riding over a stylistically diverse bunch of beats, Ab’s restless shape-shifting makes for a wild ride.

Hunnid Stax sees him try to match dirty-minded affiliate Schoolboy Q’s brutally explicit innuendo, yet Closure tells the story an amicable break-up in a disarmingly tender tone; Twact is a pill poppin’, panty dropping hyphy anthem, while Stigmata indulges in heavy religious imagery. Throughout These Days…, Ab-Soul seems elated by the prospect of being in the booth, but once you’ve endured the sound of him pulling and pushing in so many directions, you’ll need to muster up plenty of energy before delving into this album again.

Davy Reed