New album by the Chicago rapper is truly stunning imo. Saba's production has kind of defined the sound of left-of-center Chicago rap, equally influenced by gospel and jazz, with gorgeous harmonies and some daintily whirring electronics. CARE FOR ME is some dark night of the soul shit, as Saba grapples with the death of his cousin Walter aka John Walt aka dinnerwithjohn. there's a lot to love on the album, but the true standout is "PROM / KING," where he summarizes his relationship with his cousin and viscerally recreates the terror he felt the night he wouldn't respond to calls.
just listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6ZsSWlcEDo
― 808s & Deep States (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 16 May 2018 12:44 (six years ago) link
this is great, Kendrick, Chance and Drake comparisons seem inevitable
PROM / KING is a hell of a standout, very powerful storytelling
thanks for the recommendation
― niels, Wednesday, 16 May 2018 19:57 (six years ago) link
Thanks for starting this thread need to listen to this
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 17 May 2018 12:33 (six years ago) link
Damn, only got 3 posts? Pretty sure this will be album of the year for me...
― Soundslike, Friday, 22 June 2018 23:52 (six years ago) link
yeah my fault for not evangelizing enough. the album is brilliant
― paul mccartney & whinge (voodoo chili), Saturday, 23 June 2018 04:55 (six years ago) link
Kind of a rightful heir to both Acid Rap and DAMN, maybe it's not its own thing enough but I won't hold it against a sophomore record, and all in all I doubt I'll hear a better hip-hop record this year. Last three tracks are some sort of rollercoaster.
― Van Horn Street, Tuesday, 21 August 2018 17:18 (six years ago) link
yep, still loving this record. i relate so hard to the quiet desperation in his voice on "busy day"
― ant banks and wasp (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 21 August 2018 17:27 (six years ago) link
agreed
― niels, Tuesday, 21 August 2018 17:41 (six years ago) link
Noname actually also quite similar flow, maybe it's a chi-thing
― niels, Friday, 14 September 2018 07:43 (six years ago) link
Awesome album that'll definitely make my end of year list if I go down that route. I was surprised by the lack of discussion here when I first heard it back in April (not that I did anything about it, mind you).
― pomenitul, Friday, 14 September 2018 10:27 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACBKg0bmsXY
new song is great.
CARE FOR ME is one of my five or six favorite albums of the year
― fred-a van vleet (voodoo chili), Friday, 9 November 2018 22:42 (five years ago) link
I was more sort of appreciating this than really feeling it, but then PROM/KING just slayed me.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 25 November 2018 11:59 (five years ago) link
'Busy/Sirens' is track of the year for me, easily; and the album is my album of the year. Just felt like a back-to-front, long-term stunner classic to me from the first listen, and the emotional depth, lyrical and flow artistry, production craft and perfect fit to the lyrics have only grown in their appeal after 30+ listens since it was released. Really hope some magazines/journalists/blogs besides mine know/remember in their year-ends.
Chicago or Chicago-diaspora hip-hop has really been dominating my listening in general this year beyond 'Care for Me'--multiple releases from Lando Chill, Noname's 'Room 25,' Mick Jenkins' 'Pieces of A Man,' and possibly most impressive of all Roy Kinsey's 'Blackie' which I know will be massively underheard but is a real masterpiece. https://notnormaltapes.bandcamp.com/album/nnt-064-roy-kinsey-blackie-cs. If they did a group tour it would be legendary.
― Soundslike, Sunday, 25 November 2018 13:59 (five years ago) link
I was more sort of appreciating this than really feeling it, but then PROM/KING just slayed me.that was my first impression too
― niels, Sunday, 25 November 2018 16:46 (five years ago) link
https://m.chicagoreader.com/chicago/john-walt-day-foundation-pivot-gang-saba-chilliams-dinner/Content?oid=63379691
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Sunday, 25 November 2018 18:44 (five years ago) link
The Roy Kinsey album is definitely my favourite of those mentioned by Soundslike - also one of my favourite albums of the year.
― Tim F, Sunday, 25 November 2018 22:05 (five years ago) link
Chicago wise....Chris Crack’s projects this year have been amazing as well
And while they haven’t dropped any great full lengths yet, el hitta, Calboy, polo g, zay osama are all on the verge of breaking out on the street rap side
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Monday, 26 November 2018 01:56 (five years ago) link
And cupcakke of course, who is definitely a Chicago artist
The Roy Kinsey joint that flips the “picture me rollin” sample 🔥
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Monday, 26 November 2018 02:03 (five years ago) link
haven't heard all the chris crack releases but being woke ain't fun is rly great yeah
― lowercase (eric), Monday, 26 November 2018 02:35 (five years ago) link
yeah that one's great
never realized cupcakke was from chicago
― niels, Monday, 26 November 2018 10:07 (five years ago) link
she went to elementary school with chief keef lol
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Monday, 26 November 2018 10:14 (five years ago) link
Fun fact of the day!
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Monday, 26 November 2018 10:20 (five years ago) link
haha that's great
― niels, Monday, 26 November 2018 13:57 (five years ago) link
posted about it in the rap thread, might as well cross post here. check out the pivot gang record if you haven't yet, it's a lot of fun, and it's great to hear saba in a good mood for once lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCaBVqi4Rag
― mourning joe (voodoo chili), Friday, 26 April 2019 17:35 (five years ago) link
new saba singles are very very lovely, par for the course for him. he dropped a two-in-one video today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNR4WHaGQQw
― voodoo chili, Friday, 26 March 2021 21:51 (three years ago) link
Glad to see something is coming up, Care for Me was a personal favorite.
― Van Horn Street, Saturday, 27 March 2021 00:11 (three years ago) link
'Bout time!
― pomenitul, Saturday, 27 March 2021 00:56 (three years ago) link
Seems like so long since 2018... World needs a new Saba album...
― Soundslike, Saturday, 27 March 2021 02:03 (three years ago) link
the pivot gang album from 2019 is a good friends in the studio album. low stakes, high-level rhymes
― voodoo chili, Saturday, 27 March 2021 02:42 (three years ago) link
Yeah--suffers by comparison to Saba's towering artistic achievement, but it's pretty good.
― Soundslike, Saturday, 27 March 2021 05:15 (three years ago) link
the new joseph chilliams track is bracing and really good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKSG3dW9M_8
― grove street (party) direction (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 29 September 2021 18:08 (two years ago) link
new saba single! and it's way bouncier/more uptempo than i would've guessed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgKKHRMZNsg
― grove street (party) direction (voodoo chili), Friday, 5 November 2021 23:30 (two years ago) link
coming soon!
2022. My first album in almost four years is dropping next month. Few Good Things. February 4th ✅ 📷 @MATTC0WEN pic.twitter.com/IVfa92gjvP— SABA (@sabaPIVOT) January 3, 2022
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Monday, 3 January 2022 21:08 (two years ago) link
new album is really great. need to listen a couple more times to let it sink in, but he's really evolved into an incredible rapper. good selection of guests too
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Sunday, 6 February 2022 20:50 (two years ago) link
5 years ago today…Saba. CARE FOR ME. pic.twitter.com/QBbT0TBZON— Andrew Barber (@fakeshoredrive) April 5, 2023
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 5 April 2023 17:26 (one year ago) link
one of the best albums of the decade