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.

He is perhaps most known for his introspective lyrics and his six independent albums under TDE, Longterm Mentality, Control System, These Days..., Do What Thou Wilt., Herbert, and Soul Burger, which were all released to positive reviews and commercial success.

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.

"[3] 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.

[6] Rapping continued on as a hobby for Stevens, whose parents "saw a bright, college-type future" for him and enrolled him in advanced classes.

[7] Before signing to TDE, Stevens was a part of a rap group called Area 51, alongside Brooklyn-native and fellow American rapper Snake Hollywood.

In 2008, Stevens made a brief cameo appearance in the music video for his TDE-mate Jay Rock's commercial debut single, "All My Life (In the Ghetto)".

[11] In 2009, he formed supergroup Black Hippy, with his frequent collaborators and TDE label-mates Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock and K-Dot.

The tape, titled Longterm 2: Lifestyles of the Broke and Almost Famous was highly acclaimed and featured Stevens singing on several songs.

[12] In February 2011, Ab-Soul revealed he was working on an album titled Longterm Mentality, and subsequently released "Hell Yeah", a track featuring Schoolboy Q.

[13] On February 22, 2011, Stevens released another promotional recording taken from the album, "Moscato", a collaboration with another fellow Black Hippy, Kendrick Lamar.

[14] In February 2011, Stevens also embarked on the "Road to Paid Dues" concert tour, after being enlisted by fellow American rapper Murs.

[18] On April 1, 2011, he released the music video for "Gone Insane", directed by Top Dawg in-house directors Fredo Tovar and Scott Fleishman.

The song features frequent collaborator Jhené Aiko and fellow American rapper Danny Brown, who proclaimed on Twitter that "Black Hippy the new Beatles and I'm Harry Nilsson".

The song, produced by Nez & Rio, references the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a United States bill introduced by U.S. Representative Lamar S. Smith, that would have allowed the U.S. government to control the Internet.

The album, as written on the back cover, is "Dedicated to the beautiful soul of Loriana Angel Johnson aka Alori Joh".

[36] In late 2012, Stevens was featured on Joe Budden's mixtape A Loose Quarter on the track "Cut From a Different Cloth".

[40] On March 26, 2013, it was announced that Ab-Soul would be featured on XXL's 2013 Freshman Class issue, alongside Schoolboy Q and other up-and-coming rappers.

[44] Then later that week, he confirmed that the project had been turned in for mixing and cleared up rumors that it was titled Black Lip Pastor.

[48] On January 6, 2014, in an interview with Bootleg Kev, when speaking on the album Stevens stated: "Ali is mixing it right now," and that they were waiting on the perfect way to present the project, as a result of creative releases such as Nipsey Hussle's Crenshaw.

[49] He also revealed the album is about progression and confirmed there would be appearances from his TDE label-mates, as well as production from hip hop producer Statik Selektah.

That same day, TDE management also unveiled the cover art for the album and released a snippet of a music video for Stevens' song "Stigmata".

[66] On April 20, 2020, to celebrate Top Dawg Entertainment founder and CEO Anthony Tiffith's birthday, as well as start off TDE's Fan Appreciation Week, Stevens released the single "Dangerookipawaa Freestyle".

[69] Herbert was released on December 16, 2022, featuring guest appearances from Joey Bada$$, Big Sean, Jhené Aiko, Russ, Fre$h, Ambré, Alemeda, SiR, Punch, Zacari, and Lance Skiiiwalker.

[73] Stevens dated fellow label mate Alori Joh (born Loriana Johnson) from high school until her untimely and tragic death, where she took her own life by jumping off of a radio tower in Compton, CA.

Stevens references the relationship and the fatal loss on his song "The Book of Soul" from his 2012 album, Control System.