#side stripes

First of all, tell us who you are.

I'm Saba. I'm just a regular dude. I yell “pivot” on stage a lot.  

How did your love of music first come about?

I was born into a very musical family. It goes back generations and generations. My great grandmother gave me my first piano. My grandfather put me in the first studio I had ever been in. I'm not sure when I fell in love with music, it's just always been a part of me.

When did you discover the gift of rapping?

I began rapping at age 9. I got into hip-hop because of the group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. I had heard one of their records and just wanted to recreate it. It turned into me recording and producing and doing a lot more than I originally intended, but I loved it. I always worked with different patterns and schemes, that's really what stood out to me about Bone Thugs. It wasn't until I was probably around 16 where I began to actually focus on my writing.

With such a large amount of people trying to get noticed in the music industry, what did you do differently to burst into the scene? What was your hustle like?

What other people are doing will never interfere with what I am doing. I think realizing that when I was younger helped me get to where I am today. For us, it was second nature. We made hundreds of songs in my basement. A new song every day, sometimes multiple. I think that work ethic is what really inspired us to keep going. We began playing open mics in Chicago every week, and began playing shows locally and we haven't looked back since.

Were there any particular artists you looked up to growing up?

I used to look up to Bone Thugs a lot obviously, but in addition I think Pharrell was one of my biggest inspirations. I used to listen to so much music and look up to so many artists when I was younger, probably too many to even name. Pharrell was definitely a big one, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, The Pharcyde. I can go on and on but I'll leave it there.

Any good/embarrassing stories you’d care to share with us about when you first started making music?

None of my first songs had any lyrics. It was just me mumbling, literally mumble rap. I liked the patterns, I didn't know how to rap but I knew how to make it sound like I was rapping pretty good. I still have all of my early cassettes actually.

Tell us a little bit about Bucket List Project. What were some of your main influences and inspiration when writing new music?

One of the main inspirations behind Bucket List Project was actually my car I was driving at the time. It was a Honda Civic from 2001 and there was a lot wrong with it, hence the literal bucket. I was mentioning the car in a lot of songs and it kinda turned into this idea of a road trip in a beat up car. That's where the first bucket list reference came from.

If you could choose one, which song off the album is your favorite?

Photosynthesis with my cousin Jean Deaux.

Do you feel your sound has changed since the day you started?

What I find more interesting is how similar it is. I think the 9 year old version of myself was onto something, even though I had no idea what I was doing. I think how I tried to incorporate melodies and harmonies into some crazy patterns even as a kid was pretty cool, the only difference is it sucked. Now I think I'm well on my way to crafting my own sound all together and I'm able to really create the music I've always dreamed of creating. It's really just been getting bigger and better every year.

How do you feel the Chicago music scene differs from that of Los Angeles or New York?

I honestly don't know anything about the music scene in Los Angeles or New York so I couldn't even begin to tell you, but I know the Chicago scene is special. We're all family. We've know each other for years now, so we really operate as family.

Are there any artists hustling right now you feel are underrated?

I think so many people are underrated, but I never trip that much about people being underrated because I know it's just a matter of time before people know. Some of my favorite artists right now are Joseph Chilliams, Sylvan Lacue, Jean Deaux, LEGIT, MFnMelo, Xavier Omar, Supa Bwe, there are so many others. Too many to name.

So what’s next for you?

Spreading Bucket List Project as much as possible. A lot of touring coming up and stuff like that. I'm working a lot on new music now too, and I'm also working on a project for Chicago unrelated to music. I think this project can be big and help the city even if only a little, that's where my focus has been.

And finally, what is some advice you’d give a kid trying to follow in your footsteps?

Learn everything that there is to learn about yourself, and love it. Be yourself unconditionally and just do whatever "it" is that you wanna do. There is no reason to make excuses. No reason to wanna live someone else's life. Just make yours everything you dream of. Keep great thoughts in your mind, be strong, and make that shit happen. Just go for it.

Follow Saba: Instagram // Twitter // Soundcloud

Photos: Jonathan Weiner