Control System
A control system is a configuration of interconnected components designed to manage, command, direct, or regulate the behavior of other devices or systems in order to achieve a desired output or response.[1][2] These systems operate through control loops, where inputs are processed to influence outputs, often incorporating sensors for measurement, actuators for adjustment, and controllers for decision-making.[3] Control systems underpin modern engineering across disciplines, enabling precise automation in applications ranging from industrial processes and robotics to aerospace and consumer electronics, where they maintain stability, optimize performance, and compensate for disturbances.[4] They are classified primarily into open-loop systems, which execute predefined actions without feedback verification and thus lack self-correction, and closed-loop (feedback) systems, which continuously monitor outputs against setpoints to minimize errors via mechanisms like proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control.[1][5] Key theoretical advancements, including frequency-domain analysis by Nyquist and Bode in the 1930s-1940s, revolutionized stability assessment and design, particularly during World War II for servomechanisms in military applications.[6] While early precursors date to ancient devices like water clocks with float regulators over two millennia ago, systematic development accelerated in the 20th century, yielding robust frameworks for causal prediction and empirical tuning that prioritize measurable dynamics over unverified assumptions.[6]Background
Concept and development
Ab-Soul developed the central metaphor of Control System as a critique of mandatory structures inherent to American society, including economic dependencies, social norms, and political apparatuses that dictate individual behavior and limit autonomy. Drawing from personal observations of these "control systems," he articulated in a May 2012 interview that the title encapsulates "everything that is mandatory in this country," with much of the economy, society, and politics functioning as mechanisms of imposed control.[7] The album's planning commenced after the April 5, 2011 release of his debut Longterm Mentality, shifting Ab-Soul's approach from the freer, mixtape-derived style of prior releases toward a cohesive, concept-driven exploration of human consciousness, perceptual manipulation, and resistance to external forces.[8] This evolution reflected his intent to produce a structured sophomore project amid personal existential reflections, aiming to dissect how systemic influences shape reality and individual agency.[9] Initial conceptualization from late 2011 into early 2012 incorporated esoteric motifs to symbolize hidden power dynamics and inner liberation, with planned tracks alluding to Bohemian Grove as a stand-in for elite conspiracies and the pineal gland as a vehicle for spiritual decalcification and awakening beyond societal programming.[10] These elements stemmed from Ab-Soul's broader inspirations in fringe cultural critiques, positioning the album as a call to recognize and transcend manipulative frameworks.[11]Ab-Soul's prior work and TDE context
Herbert Anthony Stevens IV, known professionally as Ab-Soul, signed with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007 after emerging from the Carson, California hip-hop scene. In 2008, he co-founded the Black Hippy collective with labelmates Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, and ScHoolboy Q, a group rooted in South Los Angeles' underground rap culture that emphasized lyrical prowess and mutual artistic elevation. This affiliation provided early collaborative opportunities, including shared performances and features that honed Ab-Soul's dense, introspective style amid the collective's raw, street-informed sound.[12][13] Ab-Soul's pre-Control System output included the mixtape Longterm Mentality, released on April 5, 2011, via TDE, which compiled tracks from his earlier "Long Term" series and showcased his conceptual wordplay over production from label affiliates. He further gained visibility through contributions to Kendrick Lamar's Section.80 (July 2, 2011), notably on "Ab-Soul's Outro," where his verse reinforced themes of generational insight and hip-hop authenticity. These projects marked a shift from local mixtape circuits to TDE's strategic amplification, bolstered by founder Anthony Tiffith's commitment to developing multifaceted artists beyond mainstream formulas.[8][14] At age 10, Ab-Soul contracted Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a severe reaction that hospitalized him, scarred his cornea causing light sensitivity and partial vision loss, and altered his facial appearance with darkened lips and partial paralysis. Originating from Carson's working-class environment, these hardships cultivated a resilient, philosophically inclined perspective in his music, prioritizing intellectual depth and causal self-examination over narratives of grievance. TDE's infrastructure under Tiffith enabled this trajectory, supplying resources for ambitious recordings that capitalized on Black Hippy's momentum following Section.80's independent success, setting the stage for Ab-Soul's major-label debut.[15][16]
Recording and production
Studio sessions
Recording for Control System occurred primarily in Los Angeles-area facilities affiliated with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), including the label's headquarters in Carson, California, over several months from late 2011 into early 2012.[17][7] Ab-Soul began focused work shortly after completing his 2011 mixtape Longterm Mentality, transitioning seamlessly within TDE's collaborative environment shared among Black Hippy members.[18] Ab-Soul adopted a hands-on role in the process, personally curating beats and coordinating guest appearances to foster authentic interactions, preferring live in-studio sessions over remote methods except when necessitated by geography, as with features from out-of-town artists like Murs.[7] This approach prioritized organic chemistry among TDE affiliates and select collaborators, reflecting the label's emphasis on internal synergy rather than external commercial mandates during its independent phase.[19] The album was finalized by spring 2012, timed with TDE's accelerated rollout of projects amid rising label momentum, including concurrent efforts on Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city.[19][18] Sessions benefited from the label's centralized setup, enabling frequent cross-artist input without rigid schedules.[17]Key collaborators and production techniques
The production of Control System was primarily handled by TDE's in-house Digi+Phonics team, consisting of producers Sounwave, Tae Beast, Willie B, and Dave Free, who provided the album's core beats and maintained a cohesive sound aligned with the label's aesthetic.[20][21] Tae Beast contributed to multiple tracks, including "Pineal Gland" and "Mixed Emotions," utilizing soul-infused instrumentation to underpin Ab-Soul's delivery.[21] Sounwave and Willie B similarly shaped eerie, atmospheric elements on several cuts, drawing from the collective's early-2010s workflow that emphasized internal collaboration over external hires.[22] Guest features integrated into the production included Jhené Aiko and Danny Brown on "Terrorist Threats," produced by Dave Free, where their layered vocals complemented the track's tense, minimalist beat structure.[21] This in-house approach by Digi+Phonics enabled precise tailoring of production to Ab-Soul's style, as the team handled the majority of TDE's output during this period, fostering artistic control and avoiding dilutions from mainstream pop-rap trends.[20] Mixing duties fell to MixedByAli, who applied a consistent polish across TDE projects, ensuring clarity in the dense arrangements without over-commercializing the raw hip-hop foundation.[23][22] This technique preserved the album's introspective edge, with beats often built around sampled loops and subtle builds rather than formulaic drops.[21]Composition and lyrics
Musical style and instrumentation
Control System exemplifies a fusion of conscious hip-hop with experimental sonic textures, characterized by layered sampling and dynamic beat structures that prioritize atmospheric depth over mainstream accessibility. The album's production draws on boom-bap drum patterns, evident in tracks like "Pineal Gland," which incorporates samples from Mobb Deep's "Survival of the Fittest" for a gritty, head-nodding rhythm section.[24] Atmospheric synths and echoing effects further enhance a sense of unease and introspection, as heard in the shuddering, lurching beats of "SOPA," evoking mechanical dysfunction and isolation.[25] Instrumentation leans toward organic, live-feel elements blended with minimalistic loops, distinguishing the album's sound from Ab-Soul's rawer mixtape era in Longterm Mentality. Piano loops and jazzy undertones provide melodic anchors on cuts like "The Book of Soul," while soul-infused samples add warmth without overpowering the sparse arrangements.[23] Tracks average around 4 minutes, allowing beats to build gradually through subtle percussion shifts and sampled interludes, fostering narrative immersion rather than instant hooks.[26] This approach marks a deliberate departure from trap-dominated contemporaries in 2012 hip-hop, favoring intellectual, boom-bap-rooted flows over bass-heavy party anthems. In contrast to the visceral aggression of TDE labelmates like ScHoolboy Q, Control System's beats emphasize cerebral tension through dystopian sonic palettes—such as lonely, ping-pong-like echoes in "Terrorist Threats"—creating a more internalized, experimental vibe within the Black Hippy collective's shared aesthetic.[25][23]Lyrical themes and content
The album's central motif revolves around the "control system" as a pervasive mechanism of manipulation exerted by governments, media, and elite institutions over individual consciousness and society. Ab-Soul employs intricate wordplay to expose these influences, portraying them as engineered systems that suppress spiritual and personal autonomy, often drawing on conspiracy-adjacent references like Bohemian Grove—a real annual retreat for influential figures in California since 1872, depicted in lyrics as a site of ritualistic elite networking and power consolidation.[27][26] In tracks such as "Bohemian Grove," he raps lines critiquing governmental overreach and societal double standards, urging resistance against normalized narratives of authority.[27] Lyrical content emphasizes self-mastery and spiritual resistance as countermeasures to conditioning, with the pineal gland symbolized as a dormant "third eye" for awakening beyond material controls—a concept rooted in historical esoteric traditions but framed here as a tool for rejecting elite-imposed illusions.[28] Ab-Soul admits personal vulnerabilities to industry temptations, such as fame's seductive pull, while dissecting broader societal hypocrisies like the mislabeling of domestic threats versus state-sanctioned violence in "Terrorist Threats" and "Double Standards." These themes highlight causal chains of power, where economic policies and media framing perpetuate unaccountable progress, contrasting empirical realities of inequality with aspirational myths.[29] Wordplay often layers double entendres to convey agency amid determinism, as in admissions of lust demons and emotional turmoil intertwined with calls for paradigm shifts away from institutionalized narratives.[25] This approach underscores critiques of terrorism's selective application—equating gang violence or personal rebellion with systemic "terrorism" by authorities—without endorsing violence but probing inconsistencies in labeling. Overall, the lyrics prioritize undiluted examination of elite influences over sanitized progress tales, attributing societal inertia to unexamined conditioning rather than inherent advancement.[26]Release and promotion
Marketing strategies
Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), operating independently without major label distribution for Ab-Soul's project, generated pre-release anticipation for Control System through targeted digital premieres of promotional singles on hip-hop media sites and social channels. Tracks such as "Terrorist Threats" featuring Danny Brown and Jhené Aiko, "Illuminate" with Kendrick Lamar, and "SOPA" with ScHoolboy Q were shared in early 2012 to showcase collaborations and lyrical depth, circulating via outlets like Complex to engage underground audiences and mixtape networks.[30][31] This approach leveraged low-cost online dissemination over traditional advertising, aligning with TDE's resource-constrained yet organic model for building fan loyalty in a digital era.[32] Cross-promotion within the Black Hippy collective amplified reach, capitalizing on Kendrick Lamar's momentum from his 2011 mixtape Section.80 to draw listeners to Ab-Soul's features and vice versa, without relying on external endorsements.[18] TDE emphasized intra-roster synergy, positioning Ab-Soul as a philosophical counterpoint to the group's street-oriented narratives, which helped sustain buzz through shared performances and online mentions.[18] The album's artwork and tracklist reveal further underscored thematic integrity, with the cover—designed by Ab-Soul and inspired by Kabbalistic Tree of Life motifs—evoking enlightenment against systemic oversight, revealed alongside the 17-track lineup to intrigue fans intellectually rather than through spectacle.[30] This focus on substantive previews avoided viral gimmicks, reflecting TDE's commitment to artist-driven content over commercial shortcuts.[32]Singles and music videos
The lead promotional single for Control System was "Black Lip Bastard (Electric Blue Funk)", initially released on January 17, 2012, ahead of the album's launch, with a remix featuring Black Hippy (Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, and ScHoolboy Q) included as a bonus track on the project.[33][34] This track previewed Ab-Soul's introspective style and TDE affiliations, positioning it as an entry point for listeners familiar with the collective's output. "Terrorist Threats", featuring Danny Brown and Jhené Aiko, followed as a key single, with its official music video directed by Scott Fleishman and Fredo Tovar and released on May 18, 2012, one week after the album's May 11 debut.[35] The video employed stark, unpolished visuals—including dimly lit interiors and fragmented narrative elements—to underscore the track's ominous tone, prioritizing atmospheric tension over high-production effects and featuring appearances by the collaborators to highlight interpersonal dynamics within the TDE ecosystem.[35] Additional promotional videos tied to album tracks amplified rollout efforts, such as "Pineal Gland" on April 17, 2012, and "Empathy" featuring Alori Joh and JaVonte' on May 1, 2012, both emphasizing minimalist aesthetics and direct-to-camera delivery to engage underground hip-hop audiences rather than broader commercial markets.[36][37] A remix video for "Black Lip Bastard" surfaced on August 9, 2012, via Rocksmith Presents, incorporating group performance shots to reinforce Black Hippy solidarity.[38] These visuals collectively served to tease thematic consistencies like introspection and external pressures, directing focus toward dedicated fans through TDE's independent distribution channels.Commercial performance
Chart performance
Control System achieved a peak position of number 91 on the US Billboard 200 chart following its May 11, 2012 release.[39] It simultaneously reached number 12 on the Top Rap Albums chart, reflecting stronger performance within the rap genre category.[40] The album's chart entry occurred amid Top Dawg Entertainment's growing visibility, though constrained by the label's independent status and the era's exclusion of streaming metrics from Billboard tabulations.Sales and certifications
Control System sold approximately 5,000 units in its first week of release in the United States on May 11, 2012.[41] Total album sales remained modest thereafter, reflecting Top Dawg Entertainment's independent distribution model without major label backing for certification thresholds at the time.[42] The project has not attained any RIAA certifications, as confirmed by the absence of records in official databases despite eligibility criteria for gold status at 500,000 units or equivalent.[43] In comparison to TDE contemporaries, Control System's figures trailed Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city, which moved over 72,000 units in its debut week the same year, underscoring Ab-Soul's niche appeal over broader commercial peaks. Yet, fan-driven loyalty persisted beyond initial physical and digital purchases, with the album amassing over 125 million streams on Spotify by late 2025, bolstering equivalent units in the streaming era.[44] This shift highlights a divergence from hype-dependent sales cycles, favoring long-term engagement with introspective content over mass-market volume.[45]Critical reception
Contemporary reviews
Pitchfork's Jayson Greene rated Control System 8.1 out of 10 in a June 5, 2012, review, commending Ab-Soul's cerebral lyricism—exemplified by introspective boasts like "I used to wanna rap like Jay-Z, now I feel I can run laps around Jay-Z"—and the album's innovative production, such as the shuddering beats on "SOPA."[25] The review emphasized the rapper's self-possession and the cerebral-visceral tension distinguishing him within Black Hippy, positioning the project as an exhilarating showcase of intellectual depth in conscious rap.[25] DJBooth's May 16, 2012, assessment praised Ab-Soul's distinctive delivery of revolutionary ideas and soul-infused production on tracks like "Lust Demons" featuring BJ the Chicago Kid, while noting the album's personal navigation of global issues and romance in "Empathy."[23] However, it critiqued the initial inaccessibility, stating the music "didn't overly impress me on my first listen" due to esoteric references requiring multiple plays to decipher, potentially overwhelming newcomers.[23] RapReviews assigned an 8.5 out of 10 on July 31, 2012, highlighting Ab-Soul's lyrical presence and the dark, atmospheric production from the Digi+Phonics crew, as on the Paul Simon-sampled "A Rebellion."[26] The outlet recognized strengths in introspective density but faulted tracks like "SOPA" and "Showin' Love" for averageness and the overall 70-minute length for occasional drag, suggesting removal of two or three songs to elevate it further.[26] Critics generally lauded the album's advancement of hip-hop's intellectual strain through dense bars probing control, societal threats, and personal demons—evident in "Terrorist Threats" and "Illuminate"—yet noted that conspiratorially tinged, abstract motifs could limit appeal beyond dedicated listeners seeking layered conscious rap over mainstream accessibility.[25][23][26]Retrospective assessments
Retrospective assessments of Control System have solidified its status as a conceptual high point in Ab-Soul's career and a standout within Top Dawg Entertainment's early output, with post-release analyses emphasizing its intellectual rigor and thematic foresight. In 2022 discussions marking the album's 10-year anniversary, hip-hop enthusiasts on forums like Reddit described it as TDE's "underrated gem," praising its superior coherence compared to contemporaries like ScHoolboy Q's Habits & Contradictions, which prioritized stylistic variety over unified narrative.[46][47] These views align with user sentiments highlighting tracks like "Terrorist Threats" for innovative bar exchanges that elevated the project's replay value.[47] Aggregate review platforms report an average critic score of 83/100 on Metacritic, derived from 10 professional evaluations, underscoring praise for Ab-Soul's dense lyricism and production interplay with collaborators like Kendrick Lamar.[48] Similarly, Album of the Year aggregates yield an 80/100 critic consensus from 11 sources, with retrospective nods to the album's prescient examinations of media manipulation and institutional skepticism—elements that gained traction amid post-2010s rises in public distrust toward elite narratives.[49] A 2020 analysis affirmed this evolution, noting the record's heightened relevance as its warnings about perceptual control resonated with real-world shifts in information ecosystems.[50] While achievements in promoting alternative viewpoints—such as interrogating systemic influences on individual agency—have fostered a dedicated following, detractors maintain its esoteric references limit broader accessibility, confining appeal to niche conscious-rap audiences.[51] Nonetheless, sustained forum activity and Ab-Soul's recent listener surges, including over 1,500 new Spotify monthly users in a single October 2025 day amid discography revisits, indicate expanding streams and reevaluation beyond initial sales constraints.[52] This consensus portrays Control System as a foundational text for Ab-Soul's oeuvre, aging effectively through its causal dissection of power dynamics rather than transient trends.[46]Legacy and impact
Cultural influence
Control System's thematic depth, delving into esoteric concepts like the Illuminati, psychedelic consciousness, and societal control mechanisms, has cultivated a dedicated following among hip-hop subcultures attuned to metaphysical and conspiratorial narratives.[53] Tracks such as "Pineal Gland" and "Illuminate," which reference alternate states of awareness and occult symbolism including Aleister Crowley and Terrence McKenna, positioned the album as a touchstone for listeners exploring spiritual dimensions within rap.[53] This resonated particularly post-release amid growing public discourse on hidden power structures, aligning with revelations like Edward Snowden's June 2013 leaks on NSA surveillance programs that echoed the album's motifs of pervasive monitoring and manipulation. Within the broader hip-hop landscape, the album bolstered Top Dawg Entertainment's (TDE) early 2010s ascendancy by exemplifying substantive lyrical introspection over populist spectacle, reinforcing the label's ethos of intellectual rigor during Black Hippy's collaborative peak.[54] Ab-Soul's cerebral approach, as highlighted in analyses of his role as TDE's "philosopher outsider," influenced perceptions of rap as a medium for philosophical inquiry rather than mere entertainment.[54][11] Its enduring status as a modern classic underscores this shift, with retrospective reviews crediting it for elevating West Coast hip-hop's engagement with abstract paranoia and systemic critique.[55] The album's impact extends to inspiring subsets of esoteric rap, where artists draw on similar critiques of "matrix"-like controls and spiritual awakening, though direct lineages remain anecdotal amid hip-hop's opaque influence networks.[53] By prioritizing unfiltered first-principles examination of personal and societal bondage—evident in the title's invocation of engineered human constraints—it fostered a listener base prioritizing enlightenment over escapism, contributing to rap's evolution toward hybrid intellectual-spiritual expressions in the decade following its May 11, 2012, release.[11]Comparisons within TDE and hip-hop
Within Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), Control System distinguishes itself through Ab-Soul's prioritization of abstract philosophical inquiry over the narrative cohesion that propelled Kendrick Lamar's early breakthroughs, such as Section.80 (2011), which addressed broader generational struggles via structured storytelling. Ab-Soul's approach, blending dense references to societal control mechanisms—like economic and political manipulations—with personal introspection, fostered peaks of lyrical complexity but lacked the accessible, plot-driven arcs that enabled Lamar's wider commercial resonance.[23][56] This emphasis on first-principles dissection of power structures provided intellectual depth absent in more linear TDE outputs, yet contributed to muted crossover success relative to Lamar's sales exceeding 1.1 million for good kid, m.A.A.d city later in 2012.[29] Compared to ScHoolboy Q's Habits & Contradictions (2012), which leaned into raw street narratives and gangsta elements for radio viability—yielding tracks like "Hands on the Wheel" with over 10 million streams—Control System's esoteric, multi-faceted bars proved less immediately palatable, trading visceral immediacy for layered explorations of illusion and reality. Ab-Soul's "weirdo" persona within Black Hippy amplified innovative conscious elements, such as psychedelic influences on tracks like "Illuminate," but sacrificed the gritty, hook-driven tales that aligned Q with prevailing West Coast trends.[57][58] In the hip-hop landscape of 2012, amid pop-rap's ascendancy via artists like Drake whose melodic, introspective singles dominated charts (e.g., "Headlines" peaking at No. 13 on Billboard Hot 100), Control System advanced the conscious subgenre by confronting elite-driven control systems—politics, media, and illusion—without diluting into performative social messaging. Its unvarnished causal framing of systemic influences offered a counterpoint to sanitized activism, prioritizing empirical skepticism over mainstream palatable narratives, though this niche focus limited chart penetration compared to pop-rap's 2012 dominance in over 40% of top hip-hop tracks.[29][58]Track listing
Standard edition tracks
The standard edition of Control System, released May 11, 2012, comprises 13 tracks with a total duration of 71:51.[59] This configuration applies to both physical CD releases and primary digital platforms like iTunes, without deluxe variants or additional bonus tracks in the base version. The album is designated as explicit due to lyrical content involving profanity and mature themes across all tracks.[60]| No. | Title | Featured artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Soulo Ho3" | Jhené Aiko | 3:57 |
| 2 | "Track Two" | 4:03 | |
| 3 | "Bohemian Grove" | Alori Joh | 4:23 |
| 4 | "Terrorist Threats" | Danny Brown, Jhené Aiko | 4:24 |
| 5 | "Pineal Gland" | 4:13 | |
| 6 | "Double Standards" | ScHoolboy Q | 4:21 |
| 7 | "Mixed Messages" | 4:15 | |
| 8 | "Soul Overflow" | Jay Rock | 3:59 |
| 9 | "Lust Demons" | Jay Rock, BJ the Chicago Kid | 3:39 |
| 10 | "Illuminate" | Kendrick Lamar | 4:48 |
| 11 | "A Rebellion" | Alori Joh, Top Dawg | 3:39 |
| 12 | "The Book of Soul" | Rick Ross | 4:02 |
| 13 | "Control System" | 5:00 |