TDE

The Top Dawg Entertainment roster — Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, plus new signees Isaiah Rashad and SZA — is full of brainiacs, but among them, Ab-Soul is the smart and spiritual black sheep.

On his bravely emotional 2012 album, he detailed his battle with a debilitating skin disease and mourned the death of his partner. On its follow-up, released last week, he's playful, spiraling though stories about cops, drugs, and the Illuminati, recruiting witnesses to verify his dreams. He's also agitated, sometimes literally — the album ends with a 20-minute rap battle.