SEARCH FOR: SABA

Chicago has been producing a mass amount of talent over the years, there was a miraculous run of artists to come out between 2012-2014, and over the past few years, there has been another resurgence of many talented creatives to rise + receive attention from prominent individuals in the music industry. Saba was one of the creatives who came up in that initial time frame, and he has been on a steady upward trajectory ever since Comfort Zone dropped, and now he is one of the most respected + skilled creatives from the city. While femdot is somebody who has been making his name more & more known over the past two-three years, and his project 94 Camry Music that dropped in late 2019 brought him to new heights, and he has had his fans on edge waiting to hear new music since then. Not too long ago, fem dropped two songs as apart of a BOGO series, called “Back Home” and “Lifetime”, and today we received the video for the latter. Saba + femdot are undoubtedly two of the most talented artists from the city, so obviously the song performed well when it dropped some weeks ago, and the …

“Stranger’ is a song about navigating the personal challenges of finding one’s truth and identity in a world that’s constantly asking you to have an answer. It’s about catching yourself in the midst of change and growth and somehow learning to trust both yourself and the process. The video tries to show me reflecting on my own idea of who I would be when I grow up, and how the projections I may have placed on myself played out in reality. The video is one straight take without any cuts, to me representing the idea that we are in an ever evolving ongoing process. Having the younger me in the video was to emphasize that though we may be looking for who we are, whilst taking on the process and projections, we find that the root of who we are remains” – Gaidaa Fast rising Dutch-Sudanese R&B/Soul singer and songwriter  Gaidaa makes her Lyrical Lemonade debut via a poignant music video for her lovely song entitled “Stranger.” Featuring the immensely talented Chicago artist Saba and fellow Dutch producer Jarreau Vandal, the track is a refreshingly mellow offering with zero musical flaws. Sonically the vibe is chill throughout the entire record, …

It’s obvious that 2020 didn’t turn out nearly how anyone expected at the top of the year. With a global pandemic shaking things up, a pivotal presidential election coming to a head, numerous generational talents passing away, and racial injustice protests taking place across the country, it’s safe to say that this year was beyond unpredictable from even the most seasoned psychics. Nonetheless, Chicago persevered like only we know-how, bringing attention to these issues while also divulging into a plethora of other, more personal narratives in the form of music. Throughout the year, some mainstays in the city continued to impress us here at Lyrical Lemonade while other up-and-comers made some very valid, attention-grabbing claims as to why they’re the next rising star that deserves a place at the table. Also worthy of note, Chicago had some truly excruciating losses this year in terms of music legends whose work still shined through as some of the most impressive of the year, primed to carry on their legacy for years to come. All of that said, we’re more than excited to round this farfetched year out with Lyrical Lemonade’s Top 50 Chicago Projects of 2020. This is our 5th year bringing …

“I was talking with some friends recently, and we were talking about vulnerability. My idea or explanation of it immediately went to dealing with adversity and sharing that experience of overcoming it. Everybody kind of came to that conclusion for it. And another friend brought up the fact that sharing joy and sharing happiness is also vulnerable” – Saba After a brief music hiatus, Chicago native and Pivot Gang veteran Saba recently dropped a satisfying two song bundle. The first of the pair is titled “So and So,” which is a brief, yet addictive banger produced by Flex Lennon. Lennon’s instrumental incorporates a nice mixture of a soothing melody with up-tempo 808’s, which perfectly aligns with Saba’s lowkey yet striking signature flow. The paired track is titled “Areyoudown Pt. 2,” which is jointly produced by fellow Pivot Gang member daedaePIVOT & Hawaii based producer Mr. Carmack. Lasting just 121 seconds, the song admittedly sounds effortless due its length, but per usual Saba somehow maintains his perfect enjoyability record. Not to mention, the subject matter is quite serious despite the track’s short duration, as Saba reflects on various mental afflictions that he’s had to overcome. Unafraid of expressing his vulnerabilities, Saba …

When talking about some of the biggest names in Chicago, there is no question that the talented Saba will come up in that conversation. For years, he has proven himself to be one of the most talented artists who often deviates further than rap. Saba recently teamed up with equally impressive and fellow Chicagoan tobi lou to drop their new single, Areyoudown? Pt. 2. The successor to Saba’s Timezone/Whip (areyoudown?) which dropped over 5 years ago, Saba delivers a dystopian sound on the new single that I haven’t heard before. It’s unique and flows incredibly well and proves Saba’s ability to try out new deliveries for his rhymes. tobi lou also dropped an iconic verse that really emphasizes his talented voice and gives us this iconic line, “It’s tobi lou and Saba b-tch You don’t really want no problem”. That line really encompasses how well this duo works together and I really hope we can see more from the two in the near future. Until then check out the new single down below. Produced by Daedae, Daoud & Mr. Carmack  

Chicago native femdot has been one of the brightest artists in the city’s music community for a few years now, he’s widely considered the best bar-for-bar rapper within the entire city, and he has been making a name for himself with excellent releases like his last project, 94 Camry Music. It’s been a minute since we got some new music from fem aside from features, but all of that came to an end today, as he is back with a brand new offering titled “Lifetime” featuring Saba! Both of these emcees are held in high regard when you speak about Chicago music, and this isn’t the first time they’ve worked together, as femdot appeared on the song “Mathematics” off of the Pivot Gang album. femdot started this track off on a positive note as he delivered an extremely catchy hook as well as a stellar verse, while Saba jumped in just before the two-minute mark, kicking a jaw-dropping feature that put the icing on top of this joint. As apart of his ‘Buy One Get One’ series, fem not only dropped off one song but also a second song titled “Back Home”. The second joint finds femdot rapping over some …

When it comes to Hip-Hop music, I think unless you’ve got a name like Murda Beats or Metro Boomin, for instance, producers go grossly unappreciated which is a shame considering they’re the ones forming the much-needed foundation for artists to display their talents and without a good instrumental, that artist will typically go unnoticed. As for Brooklyn-based production duo Bird Language, they take their job seriously while also having fun, coming onto the scene without of the box sounds that merge all sorts of music genres, not allowing for their artistry to be boxed in or confined. While I wasn’t aware of them until recently, my ignorance is unforgivable considering they not only executive produced Trapo’s magnificent 2016 album Shade Trees, but they’ve also worked with other acts I’ve long been familiar with such as Chicago’s very own Alex Wiley. As they make a push to get their name out there in the midst of the rollout of their debut project Insider Art in October, they dropped off a brand-new single entitled “Hannaford” a few weeks back, now breathing new life into it with a Devan Marz-shot music video. As the song begins, the production tag team provides some deep, …

Whether you’re from the suburbs of Chicago as I am, the city itself, or anywhere else in the world, it’s not a hard task to love Saba’s music. He started out strong so many years ago and has only gotten better with time, and his music ages wonderfully as well. I can’t help but revisit all of his past albums, especially Care For Me, and other than a few random guest spots on other artists’ songs, he has been relatively elusive for the past couple of years. Although this stinks from a fan’s perspective, it means that when he comes back, he’s coming back with some big moves, and luckily, I think today’s the day that these moves begin to take shape. To kick things off, Saba fired off a variety of mysterious Tweets that alluded to fans cracking some sort of code to get early access to his brand-new song “Mrs. Whoever”, but whether you were able to get to the bottom of things and solve the case or not, the song and accompanying music video are thankfully in our hands now. Spaced out, emotive guitar strums along with pitched-up background vocals begin to pave the way for the …

I feel like it seems as if every single day, there’s a new artist emerging out of the depths of the Atlanta Rap scene. While some might be considered clones by certain people, they might be praised even more for their slightly differentiating qualities by others. In the midst of a lot of similar styles and sounds, there are some artists out there trying to break the mold that has taken shape around the city, and one of these artists is Wesson Desir. His brand-new music video for his song “Let’s Ride our Heelies to the Cosmos” was my first introduction to him, and I have to say, not only was this track inventive and barrier-breaking, but it was also quite revealing and attention-grabbing. As the song begins, a pitched-down voice is speaking in a manner that almost sounds like he’s being rewound consider the words are jumbled and incoherent.  After this brief period of the song, a reminiscing, bubbly synth pattern takes over the melody while simplistic percussion and tapping drums assist in providing a wonderfully rhythmic instrumental. The synths come off as being somewhat warm or gritty and almost sound like they’re taken from a record rather than …

Producers/beatmakers are often unfairly overlooked because of artists. Truth be told, producers are artists themselves, as every instrumental requires its own unique form of craftsmanship, and a precise vision to execute the idea. Without producers, your favorite hit single would simply not sound the same, yet alone exist! Comparable to the clientele work of an artisan or sculptor, when producers craft beats for artists, they must put themselves in another’s shoes to innovate. However, the music of production pioneers Nujabes and J. Dilla demonstrates that instrumentals are entirely separate and complete bodies of work. Applied rapping or vocals are not complements to production, but instead honorary elements that create an alternative version. Therefore, to an extent, the artist serves as a guest feature over the producer’s original creation. To effectively shed greater light to the creative brilliance of producers, I’ve chosen to start a monthly series titled “Five Excellent Beat Projects,” which will highlight five instrumental works that I consider exceptional. This is the fourth installment of the series.   The Deli, Es-K, & Jansport J – Amparo  Reinforcing the global nature of the hip hop community, Cold Busted’s star-studded trio in The Deli, Es-K, and Jansport J met in Madrid, …