Credit: Saba

Saba has emerged as one of Chicago’s brightest rappers over the past decade. The 30-year-old (real name Tahj Chandler) made his first impact in 2012 with the release of his Get Comfortable mixtape; however, many people first came across him through his appearance on Chance The Rapper’s Acid Rap project in 2013 on the song ‘Everybody’s Something’.

In 2014, he released his mixtape project, Comfort Zone, before dropping his acclaimed debut album, Bucket List Project, in 2016. Since then, he’s gone from strength to strength with his albums Care for Me and Few Good Things, which have paved the way for his most important project yet.

From the Private Collection, a collaborative project between Saba and legendary producer No ID, was released on March 18th. The album consists of 15 tracks and features Raphael Saadiq, Kelly Rowland, BJ the Chicago Kid, Smino, Jean Deaux, Ibeyi, and many other talented names.

The body of work is undoubtedly a bucket list moment for Saba, teaming up with one of hip-hop’s most renowned producers. No ID is best known for his music with Chicago greats such as Kanye West and Common, serving as an in-house producer for Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def Recordings, and his work alongside Jay-Z and J Cole.

“No ID gave me a lot of free reign to kind of treat this album how I make music, which I think was a big learning curve,” Saba told Billboard. “I’m very hands-on when it comes to what I’m making. I like to change drum sounds, swap samples out; I like to produce, to be a part of the song. He would let me produce around some of his ideas, which was really cool.

“It was something that I didn’t even think about asking, so maybe I stepped on some toes. But it was just my process, so I didn’t even think about it that way — like, ‘Damn, this motherfucker gave me all of these beats, and I’m sitting here deconstructing them.'”

Saba had glowing words for No ID, acknowledging his place in hip-hop and the history of Chicago. He also revealed his amazement at how the producer works in the studio, inspiring him to work harder and produce better work.

“When I think of what he did in the city, I think of Ye and Common, knowing the sonic texture of what they brought to hip-hop,” he said. “It was always the North Star; the trajectory of what we were doing sonically was always inspired by the soul sample, the chops, the musicianship and the feeling of that music. Twista, Do or Die, Crucial Conflict also, but that’s a big part of it.”

He continued, “And making the music, you don’t know what a motherfucker like this is capable of until you see them in action. Being around him, he’s still working like he didn’t accomplish anything. He’s still calling me talking about (studio) plugins; he’s working like a 15-year-old producer or some shit. Learning that and being around it, it’s really contagious. You want to give more, you want to do more, you want to do better.”