Introduction
Tahj Malik Chandler (born July 17, 1994), better known by his stage name Saba (stylized as SABA), is an American rapper and record producer. He grew up in the Austin neighborhood of the West Side of Chicago. He is a co-founder of the musical collective Pivot Gang with his brother Joseph Chilliams, their late cousin John Walt, and their high school friend MFn Melo. He is also one third of the supergroup Ghetto Sage, with Smino and Noname.
Saba initially gained recognition after releasing two independent mixtapes: GETCOMFORTable (2012) and ComfortZone (2014). He was also featured on Chance the Rapper's mixtape Acid Rap, in the song "Everybody's Something". In 2015, Saba and Chance the Rapper collaborated on the song "Angels". The duo performed the song live on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, on October 26, 2015. He released his debut album Bucket List Project on October 23, 2016 and his sophomore album Care for Me on April 5, 2018 to widespread critical acclaim.
Early life
Saba began playing piano at age 7, which led to experimentation with beat making software. He began high school at 12 and graduated at 16 with a 3.5 GPA. He attended St. Joseph's in the suburban Chicago village, Westchester. Saba would pass out mixtapes in his high school hallways to get his name out there. At age 16, Saba began performing at YouMedia Center and Young Chicago Authors (YCA) in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. These after school open mics gave Saba the confidence and charisma he portrays on stages today.
Music career
2012–2014: GETCOMFORTable and ComfortZone
In December 2012, Saba shared his first project, GETCOMFORTable. The album is a "catalogue of young Chicago talents who join Saba in trying to make sense of themselves as rising adults in today’s world." The most popular song off of GETCOMFORTable was "Heaux" featuring well-known Chicago rapper, Mick Jenkins.
In 2013, Chance the Rapper and Saba joined forces on Chance the Rapper's album Acid Rap. Saba's verse in the song "Everybody's Something" increased his popularity. Saba continued rapping in 2013 and began to create his second mixtape, ComfortZone. The mixtape was released on July 2014. Saba used the album as a window into his life, produced the majority of the tracks on the project. He describes his surrounding and his optimistic attitude in his verses. The most popular song off ComfortZone was "Burnout" featuring Eryn Allen Kane.
2015–2017: Bucket List Project
Saba contributed to Chance the Rapper and Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment's album Surf on the song "SmthnThtIWant". The album was released in May 2015 for free on iTunes. Saba released an instrumental EP called SpareChange! in 2015. The EP consists of 8 tracks available through Soundcloud. Toward the end of 2015 as well, Saba featured on Chance the Rapper's single "Angels". Chance the Rapper and Saba performed the song "Angels" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday, October 26, 2015. Saba's popularity skyrocketed from his Stephen Colbert performance. The duo represented Chicago's radio stations, with sweatshirts reading "107.5 WGCI" and "Power 92.3" for the performance.
In January 2016, Saba released the single "GPS" featuring his father and musical influence, Chandlar. The single was included in his debut album, Bucket List Project, released on October 27, 2016. The album consists of 13 tracks featuring a wide array of other Chicago-based artists such as Noname, Twista, Akenya, Jean Deaux, and his brother Joseph Chilliams. The album focuses on his upbringing on the West Side and spirituality. In July 2016, Saba also appeared on Noname's debut album, Telefone, on the song Shadow Man alongside Phoelix and Smino.
In 2017, Saba released singles titled "Monday to Monday", "There You Go", and "Where Ideas Sing", however, has not announced a subsequent project for these songs. "Where Ideas Sing" was released on September 28, 2017. Shortly after, September 29, Artwork for the song was featured in downtown Chicago near Apple's new Apple Store on Michigan Avenue. The artwork was to promote both hometown artists Saba and Matthew Hoffman, who created the visual representation of Saba's lyrics.
In late 2017, after the tragic passing of cousin and fellow Pivot Gang member John Walt, Saba and Walt's mother Nachelle started the John Walt Foundation in his memory.
2018–present: Care for Me
On February 27, 2018, Saba released the track "Busy", shortly after announcing a tour for his second album Care for Me. He released Care for Me on April 5, 2018 with tracks featuring Chance the Rapper, Kaina, and theMIND. Put together by producers daedaePIVOT Daoud and Saba himself, the album is dedicated to his late cousin and close friend Walter Long Jr. aka John Walt; who was “fatally stabbed” in Chicago due to a situation on the train in Chicago in February 2017. Walter is heavily mentioned in the songs: "Busy", "Life", and "Prom / King". the latter recounts the events that Saba and Walter shared with each other leading up to Walter's death.
Saba was named one of 10 "Chicagoans of the Year" by the Chicago Tribune on December 27, 2018, for his music and his contributions to the John Walt Foundation, a foundation named in Walter Long's memory launched by Saba and Long's mother in 2017 to "foster the arts for Chicago youth".
Saba and the other members of Pivot Gang released their debut album, You Can't Sit With Us on April 19th, 2019.
Artistry
Influences
Saba was influenced by his father, a Chicago R&B artist named Chandlar, at a young age. Chandlar would bring Saba to the studio with him to record sounds of soul, R&B and jazz.
Saba credits fellow Midwest musicians Lupe Fiasco, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, and Kanye West as his biggest influence. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony got Saba into rap and made him want to write raps himself.
Saba was also influenced by his older brother and his older brother's friends. His brother is a rapper who goes by Joseph Chilliams and his cousin was a rapper who went by John Walt. Together, Saba's family and friends, are the backbone of the rap crew Pivot Gang. Pivot Gang is named after the famous scene in Friends where Ross, Rachel, and Chandler move a couch up the stairs and Ross continuously yells, "pivot." To the rap crew it means "to take things one step at a time and to always progress."
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Bucket List Project |
|
| Care for Me |
|
Mixtapes
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Get Comfortable |
|
| Comfort Zone |
|
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| JIMMY |
|
| You Can't Sit With Us |
|
Extended plays
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| SpareChange! |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "GPS" (featuring Twista) |
2016 | Bucket List Project |
| "Westside Bound 3" (featuring Joseph Chilliams) | ||
| "World In My Hands" (featuring Smino & LEGIT) |
2017 | |
| "Monday to Monday" | 2017 | non-album single |
| "Busy" | 2018 | Care for Me |
| "Life" | ||
| "Stay Right Here" | non-album single | |
| "Papaya" | non-album single | |
| "Where It's At" | non-album single |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
USR&B/HH | |||
| "Angels" (Chance the Rapper featuring Saba) |
2015 | — | — | Coloring Book |
| "Pay the Man (Remix)" (Foster the People featuring JID and Saba) |
2017 | — | — | Non-album single |
| "History" (Ursa The Chef featuring Cub-J, Michael King and Saba) |
— | — | ||
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Own Two (Hold You Down)" | 2013 | The Palmer Squares | Finna |
| "Everybody's Something" | Chance the Rapper, BJ the Chicago Kid | Acid Rap | |
| "Bacteria/Fungi/Virus" | Vic Spencer | The Rapping Bastard | |
| "Ugly Duckling" | 2014 | Trevor the Trash Man | I Want It All |
| "Play" | 2015 | Rich Robbins | Nimbus |
| "What Kings Do" | Odd Couple, Carl, Taylor Bennett | Chatterbox | |
| "Equinox" | Zaramela | Zaramela on AuidoTree Live | |
| "MIA" | ProbCause | Drifters | |
| "SmthnthtIwnt" | Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment | Surf | |
| "Temporary" | Tink | Non-album single | |
| "VIP" | Chris Crack, Sulaiman | Public Domain 4 | |
| "Givenchy Coasters" | Chris Crack | Non-album single | |
| "Faded" | 2016 | Sir Collins, Gianni | Ready Or Not |
| "Buddha" | Phoelix | Non-album single | |
| "Herstory" | Anthony Pavel | Windows | |
| "Shadow Man" | Noname, Phoelix, Smino | Telefone | |
| "Tears of Legend" | Xavier & The Trill | Trill | |
| "My Wallet" | Jay IDK, Michael Christmas, Jimi Tents | Empty Bank | |
| "Riot" | Trapo | Shade Trees | |
| "Dive Club" | Owen Bones | Dive Club | |
| "Cornerstore" | Joey Purp, TheMIND | iiiDrops | |
| "YES" | Isaiah G & Aaron Deux | Grown Adolescence | |
| "Energies" | 2017 | Mick Jenkins | Or More; the Anxious |
| "Ace" | 2018 | Noname, Smino | Room 25 |
| "Basquiat" | 2019 | Jamila Woods | Legacy! Legacy! |
| "Sacrifices" | EarthGang, J. Cole, Smino | Revenge of the Dreamers III | |
| "What a Life" | MFnMelo | Everybody Eats | |
| "Spin Move" | 2020 | Bas, Smino, The Hics | Revenge of the Dreamers III: Director's Cut |
Tours
- Headlining
- ComfortZone Live (2015)
- Bucket List Tour Tour (2017)
- Care For Me Tour (2018)
- Care For Me Tour Aus/Asia (2018)
- Care For Me Tour Europe (2019)
- You Can't Sit With Us Tour (2019)
- Supporting
- Mick Jenkins and Kirk Knight (Mick Jenkins & Kirk Knight) (2015)
- The Drifters Tour (ProbCause) (2015)
- Hotel Paranoia Tour (Jazz Cartier) (2016)
- Catch Me If You Can Tour (JID) (2019)