Saba (prod. No ID) - From The Private Collection of Saba and No ID, Review and Rating
Saba (prod. No ID) - From The Private Collection of Saba and No ID Review and Rating
By Chilly Oppa
In my mind, Saba is the king of feel good Chicago rap with a sound that often gives me the feeling of a nostalgic spring day in the hood. To be completely honest, I regretfully hadn't been following Saba's career as closely the past few years, so I had no idea that Saba was planning to drop a project, but I was very pleasantly surprised! He's someone that I've listened to in so many different eras of my life, and has proven to be one of the best poetic Chicago rappers alive (in my humble opinion). I haven't been this excited to dive into a project in quite a while, so lets get to it.
Every Painting Has a Price (feat. BJ the Chicago Kid & Eryn Allen Kane) -
Saba and No ID start the album off charmingly with a soulful, piano-heavy instrumental, delivering humble yet vulnerable lyrics. Right away, I love how he humanizes the idea of idols, speaking on the fact that greatness does not equate to godliness or a higher status. He also speaks heavily on life as a musician in the ever-fleeting spotlight, the influence between his fans, friends, and family and how that's all affected his perspective in life. BJ The Chicago Kid brings his classic gospel inspired melodies for an angelic bridge, singing of a connection that "feels like everything" with someone, describing how good they make him feel. This song felt like the perfect way to start this album, it's definitely a good "tone setter" in my book.
Breakdown -
With an instant trumpet beat drop, this song catches the ear right off the bat! No ID really shows off his skills as a producer on this one, mixing a heavy kick drum with a bright and motivational melody to compliment the drums and bring a little of contrast to the beat. Saba brings a direct sense of confidence on this track and especially in the first verse, speaking on utilizing his success and wealth in a positive way. He also speaks on how good it feels to be where he is now, especially coming from his old circumstances. In the chorus, Saba narrates a conversation between him and his girl, contemplating what they both benefit from in the relationship. On the second verse, we get to hear Saba bar out and truly utilize his flow. Starting out strong with "Gold chain on Darryl Dawkins, leveled up like one of the final bosses", and continues to show his penmanship in a fun and upbeat way. This track definitely has my favorite utilization of flow and working with the beat rather than over it, and holds a lot of replay value.
Crash (feat. Kelly Rowland) -
A nice little love/lust song with a groovy beat and a smooth delivery from Saba. Saba sends a lustful message to someone that he's interested in, proclaiming that his home is always a safe space for them to crash for the night. Not only for the aspect of safety but also because he genuinely enjoys this persons energy & feels he might have strong feelings for them. Kelly Rowland accompanies Saba on the chorus with beautiful vocals, that really ties together the image of two people falling for each other while spending time together. I really like the continuity and consistency of this song, and I love how well the story was portrayed to the audience. This one will definitely be added into my kick back and smoke playlist.
Woes Of the World -
Woes of the World shows the well known introspectiveness that drew so many of us to Saba in the first place. In the first verse, he sets the scene of how things have progressed immensely for him since his upbringing, and how his environment has changed over time. He speaks on noticing the genuine passion of his fans and how it makes him emotional. He then speaks on the change of perception that comes along with that fame and traveling the world as a performing artist. Though he's aware of all of the current troubles of the world, but the more money that he makes, the more disconnected he feels from the worlds problems. Though this is more of an introspective song, the instrumental is more banger-esque with catchy/bright flute and voice samples curtesy of No ID. I enjoyed the overall idea of this song, but it didn't stand out to me as much as some of the other songs on this project.
Stop Playing With Me -
This track feels more like an interlude than anything, capping off at a 1:03 run time. Though its a short track, it still feels memorable and essential to the project. With a thumping baseline and a joyful piano riff, Saba enters the track with a braggadocious verse paired with a humble flow. With no drums to accompany the melody, Saba's delivery comes through very poetically, which is personally the delivery that I enjoy most when it comes to rap music. Because of the nature of the lyrics along with the peaceful instrumental, I find this track very tastefully dualistic, which is always refreshing!
Westside Bound Pt. 4 (feat. MFnMelo) -
This song is the newest addition to Saba's Westside Bound series, an homage to his home, the west side of Chicago. Westside Bound 3 was actually one of the first songs that I ever heard from Saba, and it quickly became one of my favorites, so for me checking this song out was highly anticipated. Saba comes in strong on the first verse of the song, tipping his hat to the great Malcolm X and continues on to call out greed, deception, and fabrication. He then follows up by speaking on the pain within in his city, speaking on gun violence, growing up in poverty, and working hard to make it to where he is today. All while showing love to his city. As the trumpet drops, MFnMelo assists the track with a quick and punchy flow, that works perfectly with the bouncy and soulful beat from No ID. This felt like a great addition to the Westside Bound series, especially since it really did feel like a testament and love letter to the West Side of Chicago.
head.rap (feat. Madison McFerrin, Ogi, and Jordan Ward) -
Saba gives us an absolutely gorgeous song about the beauties of black hair and culture brought together by amazing background vocals from Madison McFerrin with a classic boom bap drumline and warm melody from No ID. Saba raps poetically on his journey with dreadlocks, what inspired him to do so, and the political/derogatory response from society. In his second verse, he delivers amazing imagery of the nostalgia and memories tied to his hair, this style of writing is one of my favorite traits when it comes to Saba's penmanship. One of the things that matters most to me in any genre of music, is cultural representation, and this song did that in a way that really stood out to me. Saba has always been poetic in his writing and thinking, but I love when he pairs that with his flow and delivery, as he did on this song. I feel that it really shines through and represents who he is at his core. Ogi and Jordan Ward team up for a beautiful chorus, using 'growing your garden' as an analogy for, proud fully growing your natural hair. This might be the most gracefully executed track on the album.
Acts 1.5 -
No ID brings a funky jazz baseline with a subtle looped sample of trumpets for Saba to float over with some flashy and clever lyrics. It's always nice to hear Saba talk his shit like he did on this one! He may be a humble and poetic man, but he will lyrically flex on anyone if motivated to do so, and this track proves that. He also brings some controversial bars by pulling out lines like, "And the beat is by the actual GOAT, y'all get so caught up on hype, y'all giving Grammy's out to ____". Due to the rhyme scheme and prior near rhymes, were led to believe that he's throwing shade at Chappell Roan for getting the Grammy for Best New Artist over DoeChii. I definitely wasn't expecting to hear Ms. Roan catch a stray like that! I'm sure it was all in good fun though, and it made for a good chuckle. Overall this was a decent, fun/braggadocious style track.
Reciprocity (feat. Ibeyi) -
With another short interlude-style track, Ibeyi joins Saba to radiantly harmonize over a simple yet heavy hitting piano + drum loop. This song is essentially an affirmation of reciprocating the love that is given to you, accompanied by a comforting reassurance that its okay if the other person feels differently. I can sense the melody of this one getting stuck in my head in the near future. In essence, this felt like a very nurturing and smooth track.
Stomping -
I love the heavy base, psychedelic distortion and the funky guitar that No ID brought to the table on this one. That being said, I see this as one of the more skippable tracks to me on this album due to Saba's delivery and the repetitive nature of certain bars. I caught myself losing interest due to the tonality as well, especially during the repetitions of, "stomping, stomping, stomping" in the beginning of the track, and "artsy-fartsy mami, mami, mami" towards the end of the track. Essentially this is another song about a girl which is cool, but I just wasn't really feeling the concept on this one and it unfortunately felt like a filler track to me.
BIG PICTURE (feat. Ogi) -
This track opens with Ogi's alluring vocals creatively being used as a loop by No ID. As the drums drop Saba delivers his well known emotional and nostalgic flow. With his first verse, Saba brings a deep, extremely poetic and somewhat unclear analogy to his audience. Using theatre, film and camera metaphors to paint a picture. As the end of the first verse approaches he makes it clear that the verses opaque nature was purposeful, saying "Look I could say it simple, no rigamarole. But the artist in me isn't sold". This truly shows Saba's genuine intelligence, as well as his confidence to present that to his listeners. Saba and Ogi share the chorus singing that the things behind them are a blur due to them focusing on the big picture, another awesome camera/lens metaphor. In the second verse Saba truly brings forth the "big picture" of the song, rapping in a way that the listener can digest much easier compared to the first verse. He continues on with the theatre/film metaphors but this time clearly speaks on life after fame and how the show goes on without you, but also how with the right attitude and hard work you can bring that success back. This is definitely one of my favorite songs from the project.
30secchop (feat. Joseph Chilliams and Jean Deaux) -
Saba teams up with fellow Chicago rappers Joseph Chilliams and Jean Deaux and brings a spotlight to the versatility and sheer talent of his peers. One thing that sets the Chicago rap scene apart from other collectives, is the unconditional support and love that they all show each other as artists. Since I've been familiar with Chicago rap for 10+ years, I was so excited to see both Joseph Chilliams and Jean Deaux on this track! Both of which I was introduced to through other Chicago rappers music (Noname and Mick Jenkins to be specific). Though there wasn't much of an overall theme on this song, it was still very well put together and created a lane for each artist to showcase their lyrical prowess. Each artist showed off poetic lyrics and witty rhyme schemes in a way that shows the audience what Chicago rap is really about. This wasn't necessarily a "stand out" track for me, but I absolutely loved to see the same comradery and chemistry that made Chicago rap as solidified as it is today.
How to Impress God -
As the album approaches its end and arrives at its final 3 tracks, Saba hits us with potentially his most spiritually heavy track to date. As someone who's in their most spiritually in tune era of life to date, this one really hit home for me. No ID brings us a simple yet crisp and esoteric instrumental which is a perfect pair for the subject matter ahead. Saba guides the listener though an enlightening journey of his relationship with God, and living to impress him rather than the people around him. He speaks on the fact that God isn't impressed by the material things, or accolades that Saba has earned through his success and goes on to write as though its Gods words to him. To the listener it initially sounds like god is downplaying or invalidating Saba's success and hard work, but as the verse concludes we realize that's not the case. The verse ends with "Don't you know you're enough?", proclaiming that God doesn't love you for your achievements, God loves you for who you are. In the second verse, Saba writes as though god is speaking again but this time in a way of personification, explaining it's true nature of existence. They explain that they are not a physical being, but is within us and with us at all times. That they are the good, the bad and the ugly, explaining that they give us roadblocks so that we learn and grow. "God" ends the verse by expressing that the love Saba showed them led to that love being reflected back to him. This song surprised me with how impactful it was for me personally, I'm thoroughly impressed (but not surprised) by how well constructed and presented it was.
She Called It (feat. Frsh Waters) -
With a bright and uplifting melody, Saba opens the track with a catchy chorus, paired with graceful piano notes. In this track, Saba speaks on faith in a few different ways. At the end of the chorus, Saba raps, "Don't stop, don't stop. Why would he ever do it? Granny said, 'He'll be good', yeah you ain't gotta tell me twice. She called it." Showing the inner dialogue of having to believe in himself when others were doubting him, and on the other end having a grandmother that always had faith in him making it as a musician. In his first verse he flows confidently on the beat with creative ear catching lyrics, speaking on how having faith in himself amongst the doubters paid off in the long run. He also credits a big amount of his success to the faith and love he got from his team and close friends along the way. Frsh Waters unwaveringly opens up the second verse with a buttery flow, then quickly tags Saba back in to finish off the verse with a continuation of sharp, simile savvy lyrics. The best way I can explain how I feel about this one is that this felt a lot like, 'Bucket List Project' Saba, which is my absolute favorite era of Saba. The vibe of the song is so positive and so... Chicago! Loved this one to its core.
a FEW Songs (feat. Love Mansuy, Ogi, and Smino) -
For the final song on the album, No ID brings us possibly the strongest and most elegantly constructed instrumental of the project, utilizing a crispy boom-bap drum loop, enchanting piano riff and a breezy vocal sample. For his final verse of the project, Saba concludes the album by giving commentary on the hood, it's culture, politics and the trauma surrounding it. Making sure to present us with a unique flow all while dealing out tasteful food for thought. Love Mansuy brings us a vulnerable and silky chorus, that perfectly sews the verses together, singing "A few wrongs, a few songs, a few pulls and I'm in the zone". Smino enthrallingly enters the room for the second verse on the track. Casually talking his shit in spectacular Smino fashio, he speaks on the life he's made for himself through hard work and patience. Though this song didn't feel like a grand finally to me, it did have a lovely "roll credits" sentiment to it, and I always prefer that over the placement of an overwhelming in your face ending to an album, especially with albums like this that have a more poetic tone to them. Thus, I think this was a great ending to the project.
Overall this album was kind of a lot to take in for me, and I really had to sit with it for a while before truly landing on a solid opinion and rating. I honestly believe that its due to the immense amount of respect that I have for Saba as both an artist and a human being. I have so many memories tied to his music and a lot of it has helped me through things I was struggling with, so I wanted to be extremely mindful of giving an honest yet respectful review. At the end of the day I loved this album. Not only did Saba present us with his impressive poetic lyrics and prominent creative flows, but its clear that his sound also works in amazing synchronicity with No ID's production style. Together they had so much creative chemistry, and perfectly represented the beauty and culture of Chicago's independent rap scene. Though I would not put this at the very top of my list for Saba projects compared to his earlier work, I do feel that I saw fresh & new sides of Saba that show me he's constantly getting better and refusing to become stagnant as an artist. This album also had a few themes that really resonated with where I'm currently at in life, and that added a lot of sentiment to how I feel about the project. After sitting with it for a while, I landed on a 7.4 for the album (which is a high rating in my book!). The only thing that stopped it from being a 7.5-8 for me, was the few songs that didn't feel like they needed to be there and interrupted the overall flow of the album. Regardless I had a great time with this project, and I love that Saba continues to bring fresh, creative ideas to the table while representing his culture and passion for the game.
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