SEARCH FOR: SABA

Last year Noname recently one of my favorite albums of the year with Room 25, and a couple of days back she performed live on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon along side her frequent collaborators Smino and Saba! Noname is certainly no stranger to the limelight as she has performed on television a couple times prior to this, and sure enough Noname, her band and her team did a magnificent job at giving us a memorable + special moment for Chicago. Take a few minutes of your day to check out this awesome live performances below!

Noname’s Room 25 may have dropped last summer, but the Chicago poet and rapper is certainly not done basking in the light that her sophomore album has brought into the world. Following up her special homecoming New Year’s shows, Noname brought Room 25 to the Tonight Show stage last night to perform “Ace”. Flanked by Smino and Saba, the whole squad showed out and delivered a breathtaking live rendition of the track, striking me as one of those performances that gives you a renewed appreciation for the song. Smino’s melodies sound even more buttery while Noname attacks the mic possessed with a mix of bliss and gall, and once Saba comes in with his verse, the crowd immediately meets him with applause. This one is a gem, so be sure to watch the three artists perform “Ace” below:

While Chicago has been known as a reputable city in hip-hop for numerous years now, this revered position has not arrived without the constant innovation and hard work of the artists that so faithfully represent the prowess of their home city. It is these artists that we have to credit for this respected reputation, and we here at Lyrical Lemonade try to honor this in every way possible by constantly bringing new Chicago acts into our headlines here on our website. That said, 2018 has been yet another fantastic year for Chicago music, so we went ahead and compiled a list of our “Top 50 Chicago Projects” of the year. This now marks the third year that we have been putting out this list, and we believe that it’s safe to say this year’s list might just be the most solid one from top to bottom that we’ve seen yet. Thank you to our terrific writing staff for all of the hard work they have put in this year, I will be linking their socials below so be sure to contact them about getting featured on the website in the future. Seamus Fay • Mike Del Ro • Sam Morrison • …

It’s been amazing to watch Saba blossom into the artist that he is today, he put out one of the best projects of 2018 with CARE FOR ME, and this afternoon he is back with his brand new music video for “SIRENS”. A record this beautiful & impactful needed a stellar visual to help bring it fully to life, and that’s exactly what we got in large part thanks to music video director Reed Jackson, but I’d image that both Saba & theMIND provided some creative direction. Check out this brand new music video here and keep your fingers crossed that we get some new visuals off of CARE FOR ME along with this one!  

Tough times are when true character is shown. When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and it’s always important to reflect on the things that we learn in our hardest times, as these are the lessons that will hopefully promise a better future to come. In the case of Jus Lovehall and his new single, “Thank You”, this lesson is shown in the concept of giving people their flowers, or appreciating those that help you at your lowest. As explained by Lovehall, himself, this track means the following: been quite a month. battled w some real depression. my brother reached out to my moms to let her know he was worried about me. she gave me hope. they say give them their flowers while they can still smell them. so here’s a token of my appreciation. thank you @bleekg1. As you can tell, “Thank You” certainly hits close to the heart for Lovehall, and the passionate delivery and vivid lyrics reflect this, painting images of both the initial struggle as well as the light at the end of the tunnel that his brother provided. Over a reworked version of Saba’s Care For Me standout, “Calligraphy”, this song is one of …

As the credits roll on 2018, Saba caps off the year with his 6th straight week of new music. “Where It’s At” is the latest in a series of new singles this month from the Westside Chicago rapper, and it features in-house production from PIVOT Gang’s DaeDaePivot and Saba himself — a formula for success, if you’ve been paying attention to recent releases. As he raps about finding peace of mind, it’s clear he’s come a long way following the release of his acclaimed album, Care For Me. In contrast to the darker, emotional tone of the project, “Where It’s At” and the rest of the singles Saba dropped this month have kept things more upbeat—indicative of the massively successful year he’s had so far. Care For Me has been popping up all over year-end lists, even coming in at #1 on DJBooth’s 50 Best Hip-Hop and R&B albums of 2018. Needless to say, the accolades are well deserved: the hometown hero triumphed through tragedy this year all while delivering more of the poetic storytelling and raw lyricism fans have come to love throughout his career. Take a victory lap with Saba on “Where It’s At” below:

Saba keeps the weekly drop streak going this Friday with yet another new song titled “Excited”. On the heels of last week’s Pivot Gang crew-cut “Blood” and the 2nd annual John Walt Day show, the West-side Chicago native’s work ethic seems to really be kicking into gear right now to end the year with a bang. On “Excited, Saba puts his flows on cruise control, navigating the beat with slick cadences that seem to come automatically for him. Always one to incorporate whatever’s going on in his life directly into his lyrics, he raps about the lifestyle of being on tour and being in a relationship and ties everything together into a warm, melodic hook. Frequent collaborators Daoud and DaeDaePIVOT handle the production alongside Saba himself, adding warm textures to his bars through soft horn sections and a steady bounce. Listen to “Excited” below, and be on the lookout for a possible new release next week from Saba as well:

Pivot Gang’s story up to this point has already been a long one, yet the Chicago collective spearheaded by Saba is only starting to garner the attention they deserve. Their new crew cut, “Blood”, serves as a reminder of the range of talent in Pivot’s ranks and a family reunion just in time for Thanksgiving. ‘Chicago’s Most Charming Rapper’ Joseph Chilliams kicks off the track with his signature sense of humor, followed by MfnMelo’s laidback flow that switches up the pace of the song at just the right time. Frsh Waters, who’s emerged this year with a few promising tracks of his own, closes the song out and finishes his last verse with finesse. Saba holds things down on the hook, tying the gang together by proclaiming his loyalty to his family. It’s been a minute since Pivot dropped a group track, and hopefully “Blood” is a sign of more to come. Listen to “Blood” below, and if you’re in Chicago this weekend, see Pivot Gang in action at the 2nd annual John Walt Day this Saturday. produced by @daedaePIVOT & @squeakPIVOT

Following the release of “Stay Right Here” last week, Saba keeps the new music coming with yet another single. Titled “Beautiful Smile”, the Westside wordsmith takes us to the more dismal side of his discography, offering a bleak confrontation of certain aspects of his current place in life. Saba touches on how his life has changed in recent years, the shifting of relationships with people around him and the friends and family he’s lost with a level of vulnerability he’s proven masterful at time and again. His verses unfold like a screenplay, turning stories from his past and present into raps that spawn into vivid images in a listener’s mind. IDK, who dropped his exhilarating ‘IDK & Friends :)’ project just last week, absolutely demolishes his verse as well, making for a natural compliment to Saba. It’s no doubt been a big year for Saba, with the release of ‘Care For Me’ earlier this year bolstering the Chicago native’s status as one of the game’s current strongest lyricists. On “Beautiful Smile”, he keeps things unflinchingly real, making it clear he has no intentions of switching up anytime soon. Stream the new song below and catch Saba at the 2nd annual …

It’s the first snowfall of winter in Chicago today: a much-needed reminder to stop and take account of where you’re at in life, the places and people you’re surrounded by. Saba does exactly that on “Stay Right Here”, his latest track which dropped at midnight. If you thought the Chicago native was finished with new material for the year after dropping his critically-acclaimed ‘Care For Me’ back in March, you thought wrong. The same goes for Mick Jenkins, who just dropped his ‘Pieces of a Man’ album in October and also makes an appearance on this single. “Stay Right Here” is Saba and Mick at their most introspective—a mindset they both have proven to thrive off of in the past. Saba’s long-winded flows ride the beat effortlessly as he shows gratitude in his lyrics for the love he feels. Mick takes a similar moment of reflection, delivering lines in flurrying cadences that hit with a sense of nostalgia. As a result, this track feels like a victory lap in celebration of a milestone year for two of the city’s hometown favorites and yet another reminder of the mastery of their craft.