‘Few Good Things:’ Is this album one of them?
Saba, who performed at Conquest this fall as one of Kenny Beats’ special guests, released his latest project Friday, with features from G Herbo, Smino, 6LACK and more. It’s a stunning piece of work, one which is sure to leave fans and casual listeners satisfied not just with Saba’s meticulous production and flows, but his heartfelt poetry, too.
On his previous album, “CARE FOR ME,” much of the lyrical focus was on his deceased cousin, John Walt, and the survivor’s guilt Saba felt following the fatal stabbing that took Walt’s life. He poured raw emotion into that album’s composition, detailing his intimate relationship with Walt over gorgeous horn and percussion sections in the song, “PROM / KING,” a seven-minute track that guided his audience through their intersecting upbringings.
After “CARE FOR ME” was positively received by critics and fans, many wondered how he could follow up such a powerful and tender album. Enter “Few Good Things,” an album focusing on Saba’s life since his cousin’s death, his postalbum success and healing through the emotional struggles he’s faced. It’s the story of Saba realizing that the values he idolized as a child are flawed and that there’s more to life than making money and getting famous.
One topic which has always shined through Saba’s life and work is his connection to his home city, Chicago. In the song “Survivor’s Guilt,” he goes more into detail about life in the Windy City, his feelings surrounding Walt’s murder and even brings in Chicago rap star G Herbo to share his perspective on Chicago life.
In the track’s verses, he also expands upon themes of family, rapping, “My father told me that the world was mine and I believed him / My momma said I was a heathen … My grandpa smilin’ with no teeth in, my cousin still supposed to be h-.” His reminiscence on his connection to family through life ends with a sharp, poignant cutoff after he mentions that his cousin is “still supposed to be here.” The moment is one of many sprinkled throughout the album that reveal he hasn’t forgotten the pain, but has learned to acknowledge and move beyond it, as he has with many other obstacles life has thrown his way.
On the criminally short “An Interlude Called ‘Circus,’” Saba and Eryn Allen Kane float over a gorgeous track, reminiscing on Saba’s youth and reflecting on his newfound maturity. Most candidly, in the chorus, Saba sings “Ayy, we never say ‘Goodbye,’ no ‘See you ‘round,’ no ‘See you later’ / Ayy, this Chicago, when you leave, we say ‘Be safe’ here.” In just one minute, he paints a gorgeous picture of growing up carefree in the city but also highlights the underlying sense of worry he was forced to endure due to the city’s violence.
Saba then enters his melodic rap pocket — an example of this album’s diverse sonic range — in his songs “Still,” featuring 6LACK and Smino, and “A Simpler Time,” featuring Mereba. The pair of tracks flash forward to a much different part of his life, where he enjoys living and feels content with the work he’s put into bettering himself and his craft. That pride and satisfaction shines through in the work, leaving listeners coming away with the same sense of confidence he exudes. His artistic versatility allows him to effortlessly ease artists of other genres into these tracks while preserving topical and sonic focus.
These are the highlights in the tracklist, but that isn’t to say “Few Good Things” has few good tracks — rather, the shining moments are connected by a score of solid, supporting numbers. Like a composer writing a musical, Saba began with the album’s story and filled every moment of that narrative with song, and succeeded in making it a consistently polished experience. Along with these solid tracks, he also includes some fun and braggadocious moments of brevity, like his song, “Stop That,” which he premiered at Conquest and released as a single the same day.
In the final track, “Few Good Things,” featuring Black Thought and Eryn Allen Kane, Saba and Black Thought rap about the doubt they had to overcome when embarking on their music careers. They concur that following one’s dreams comes with criticism and unease from family and friends, rapping about “how they quick to get confused and then disapprove.” Ultimately, after a lifelong journey into maturity, they continue to pursue those dreams and build the mental fortitude needed to make it as artists, even as they find their values changing as they grow.
Overall, this album delves further into Saba’s life and details his growth over the last four years. It’s the story of the young rapper realizing life lessons he hadn’t seen as a boy, or even in the last few years while blossoming into a star. The tracklist serves up feel-good moments, sad times and hard lessons to learn, all woven into a nuanced and endlessly catchy personal narrative. It finds an artist, reflecting on his past and the multitudes of self which make up his present, but that variety is intentional; as Saba said in an Instagram post right before the album’s release, “We are more than one thing all at the same time.”