Country : United States Label : Genres and styles : Future Soul / Hip Hop / Instrumental Hip Hop / Soul Jazz / Soul/R&B / Trap Year : 2022

Saba – Few Good Things

· by Alain Brunet

This fine Chicago rapper may never go mainstream, but his chances of becoming a classic are excellent. At 27, Saba is a popular artist in the left field of rap, raking in that entire portion of the hip hop audience. We loved his first two albums, especially the superb Care for Me, inspired–among other things–by the savage and gratuitous murder of his cousin.

We like this Few Good Things just as much: here is a third album of the same quality. We discover the properties of this authentic grower during the listening. A listing of Saba’s friends confirms the scope: the renowned Black Thought (The Roots), the very gifted Smino, Cheflee, G Herbo, the eloquent Eryn Allen Kane, Marian Mereba and Brittany Fousheé, Krayzie Bone (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony), 6lack, Day Wave, Benjamin Earl Turner and other unknown members of the Pivot Gang, a collective of Illinois with whom Saba has solid links.

The cover of Few Good Things shows a sixty-year-old black man sitting at the foot of an urban building, surrounded by a Frost fence. His gaze is torpid, almost threatening. Strangely, his face is surrounded by flowers. Strangely?  Saba understands the uncertainty and weirdness of human existence, which he explores poetically through his own journey through the Windy City.

The narrator recalls a difficult, sometimes harsh, journey, then evokes his acquired privileges, housing, clothes, leisure, domestic idleness. This is not done with joy, the questions are numerous, and unanswered for the most part. The angles of observation are varied and expressed by a wandering mind, slightly detached from its subject, intelligent and sensual. An assumed paradox between drama and lightness of life? Yep.

And the icing on the cake: the music, which is really the top. Saba is one of those rappers very involved in composition and beat-making, and he knows what to do. The bases of each of the 14 songs are laid by three artists: daedae Pivot, Daoud, and our main guy, who share various duties: keyboard, guitar, bass, drums, and home programming. The result: jazzy flavours, post-boom-bap aesthetics, excellent grooves. It’s the spirit of a band, not a collage. With a flow of this quality, with such a vibe, it’s hard to beat.

Latest 360 Content

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Sparks – MAD!

Sparks – MAD!

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Piknic 3: A Little Bit of Everything Under the Sun

Piknic 3: A Little Bit of Everything Under the Sun

Cazzu – Latinaje

Cazzu – Latinaje

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

SMCQ | In memoriam Jocelyn Morlock

SMCQ | In memoriam Jocelyn Morlock

Abbey Road at Festival Classica

Abbey Road at Festival Classica

Mira Choquette – Hier encore

Mira Choquette – Hier encore

Jared Dunn; Anna Gorecka – Gorecki’s World of the Piano

Jared Dunn; Anna Gorecka – Gorecki’s World of the Piano

Cyrille Dubois; Tristan Raës – Dupont : The Complete Songs

Cyrille Dubois; Tristan Raës – Dupont : The Complete Songs

Subscribe to our newsletter