Saba’s ‘Few Good Things’ Is A Clinic In Album Sequencing
When we look at the history of Chicago’s Hip-Hop scene over the past two decades, two things are abundantly clear. The first is the city’s status as the birthplace of one of the greatest artists of all time in Kanye West. The second is the Windy City being the origin of the drill music subgenre. Both things I’ve just mentioned make up a large majority of the headlines coming out of America’s third-largest metropolis and rightfully so, however, what shouldn’t be overlooked is Chicago’s current conscious Hip-Hop catalog.
Obviously, we must mention Chicago legends like Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and Common, but with the turn of the 2010s, rappers like Chance the Rapper, Noname, and Saba have taken the torch. With Chance the Rapper still reeling from the debacle that was The Big Day and Noname threatening to quit music multiple times (don’t worry she’s hinted that some music will be coming soon), it appears Saba is the only rapper out of those I named who has consistently maintained his trajectory. Saba’s new album Few Good Things is the latest example of the consistency he has used as the foundation to build his fanbase.
I’ve known about Saba for a few years now, as one of my friends would always talk about him, but he could never sell me enough to make me sit down and listen to Saba’s music. Perhaps he should’ve played some for me to get the ball rolling but I digress. Maybe, I don’t digress because when my friend sent me a link to the final single in Saba’s rollout, ‘Survivor’s Guilt’ featuring G Herbo, I was intrigued. My intrigue grew when I finally heard the song and after that, I instantly became excited for Few Good Things. The excitement I had coming into Saba’s latest project was rewarded with a masterpiece.
Saba’s Few Good Things stretches to 14 tracks and 48 minutes long with features from Cheflee, G Herbo, Eryn Allen Kane, Daoud, Krayzie Bone, 6LACK, Smino, Mereba, Pivot Gang, Benjamin Earl Turner, Fousheé, Day Wave, and Black Thought. There isn’t a wasted beat or feature on this project that has proven to be one of the most cohesive I’ve heard thus far into the year. While playback value is a difficult thing to forecast, especially with the album being a little over five days old at the time I’m writing this, I have a tough time believing Few Good Things won’t stay in my rotation for months to come.
The main story of Few Good Things besides the fact that Saba made a fan out of me is how important the sequencing of tracks is, especially towards the end. From the ninth track, ‘Soldier’ featuring Pivot Gang until the end, Saba bombards the listener with a level of vulnerability that only increases with each track after.
On ‘Soldier’ featuring Pivot Gang, Saba raps about the fears of becoming a father. Saba illustrates his thoughts throughout the first verse with lines like, “I'm dyin' from asphyxiation from the weight of the world, while in the waitin' room, waitin' for the birth of my girl” and “'cause to play the part of father is a sacred art to toddlers, city made a mark upon us, I'ma say that I'm a father, all I can do is pray that they don't make me an example.”
The tenth track, ‘If I Had A Dollar’ featuring Benjamin Earl Turner applies the commonly used phrase if I had a dollar for every time something happened I’d be rich to failure. The hook of the track perfectly encapsulates this concept while also preaching patience throughout whatever process someone is going through.
‘Stop That,’ the eleventh track on Few Good Things seems to be aimed at Saba’s haters. Saba gets this across with lines like “stop that, stop it please, you more concerned what others earn, that says a lot to me” and “with the weight of success and it taste bittersweet, I mean, you far from your kin, you not one of them, to them to dim.”
The twelfth track, ‘Make Believe’ featuring Fousheé is centered around the concept of death and succeeding with the odds stacked against you. Saba acknowledges his fear of death or lack thereof when he raps, “just lost a friend to an overdose, made me question what I'm even sober for, ‘cause I used to think that I was scared to die, but I don't even know no more.” The hook of the track focuses on Saba’s success throughout all the obstacles with Saba rapping, “look, Ma, I made it, it's like we dreamed, look, Ma, I made it, it's make-believe, 'cause Black boys on this side of town not supposed to be on the front page of the newspaper, for doin' greater.”
The penultimate track, ‘2012’ featuring Day Wave focuses on the concept of relationships, whether it be with friends or having a crush on someone. In the first verse, Saba raps about having a crush starting with the lines, “two students that had each other back in a world against 'em, who barely showed up to class once they had each other's attention, I'm down to spend every minute that I can to her limits, ‘cause usually she down to kick it until she get tired of niggas.” The second verse Saba remanences about times with his friends, as he raps, “we dreamt so loudly, we would wear it when the sun would slow up, on the grayest day, we on the train in our colorful clothin.'
‘Few Good Things’ featuring Black Thought and Eryn Allen Kane summarizes all the themes Saba raps about throughout the album. Some variation of the line “bad things come in threes good things come in few” is used to end every verse throughout this seven-minute masterpiece of an outro track.
The sequencing throughout Saba’s Few Good Things is nothing short of a clinic. The combination of vulnerability, melodies, and beats throughout Few Good Things along with the excellent sequencing execution places the album in the lead for album of the year and permanently on the shortlist of album of the year contenders. It’s too early for me to stand on the soapbox to proclaim that Few Good Things is the album of the year, but don’t be shocked if I eventually do. As new contenders enter the atmosphere weekly to attempt to knock Saba’s latest album off its current pedestal, the resonance and playback value of Few Good Things will ultimately determine its legacy.
