Hip-Hop Heavyweights Saba & No ID Release New Single 'head.rap'

RIAA gold-selling Chicago rap virtuoso and Pivot Gang leader Saba and GRAMMY® Award-winning super-producer No ID drop their latest collaborative single  entitled head.rap.

The song features R&B breakouts and fellow ARTium Recordings collaborators Jordan Ward and Ogi along with rising independent singer-songwriter Madison McFerrin.The new track comes ahead of the Chicago duo’s highly anticipated joint album From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID out soon via ARTium Recordings. 

“head.rap,” is a simply crafted, incredibly catchy ode to Black hair. It’s calming and mellow, with brilliantly layered verses from Saba, a powerful hook shared by Ward and Ogi, lucious backing vocals from McFerrin, and a gently percussive beat that sounds like the memory of a summer’s day. The song reflects on Blackness, growth, and community through the metaphor of hair. Saba and his collaborators’ message is exemplified through the chorus: “From the moment I get up outta bed, must protect what comes from my head / I don’t care what nobody said, keep growing your garden.”

Two kings of Chicago, Saba and No ID spent the second half of 2023 in the lab, meticulously perfecting this upcoming project. Titled From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID, the album promises an evolution from last year’s singles, the “slick” (Complex) “Back In Office” and “undeniably fun” (Vulture) “hue_man nature.”

Both Saba and No ID have kept busy over the last year. Saba just released “Don’t Check 4 Me,” with Nascent and Duckworth, right after hopping on Valee and Harry Fraud’s “Watermelon Automobile.” Meanwhile, No ID has continued to solidify his status as one of the most influential producers in the game, co-producing “American Requiem” from Beyoncé’s latest cultural phenomenon COWBOY CARTER alongside Jon Batiste and a plethora of genius hitmakers. He also executive produced Killer Mike’s sixth studio album MICHAEL, snagging a Best Rap Song Grammy for his work on SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS.

Stay tuned for more from Saba and No ID and get ready for…From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID.

About No ID:

Super-producer, songwriter, and sometimes exec No ID (aka Dion Wilson) earned the sobriquet “Godfather of Chicago Hip-Hop” due to his early work with—and mentorship of—Kanye West and other Windy City icons. But he's also helmed Grammy-winning work by Jay-Z and Nas and collaborated with the likes of Drake, Rihanna, John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, J. Cole, Killer Mike, Big Sean, Common, and Bow Wow. He ran West’s G.O.O.D. Music Label and was EVP & Head of A&R at Def Jam while running his own imprint, ARTium Recordings (which has since gone indie). Under the leadership of No ID, ARTium has served as the home for breakout stars including Jhené Aiko and Snoh Aalegra.

About Saba:

A successful independent artist, Saba has rooted his career in an authenticity and musicality that’s made him one of his generation’s most important and unique voices in rap. Saba’s most recent career highlights include performing at the United Center arena for Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap Anniversary, playing two weekends at Coachella, and touring the US, Europe and Africa in support of his album Few Good Things. This year, Spotify named Saba’s critically acclaimed CARE FOR ME album amongst it’s “Spotify Classics: Hip-Hop & R&B Albums of the Streaming Era” campaign (which includes Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator and more) with billboards across LA and NYC.

Saba began making music at age 9 and was writing and producing songs by early adolescence. Building a recording studio in his grandmother’s basement on the west side of Chicago, he and a group of neighborhood friends formed their Pivot Gang collective. In 2019, J. Cole tapped Saba for the Dreamville collaboration album Revenge of the Dreamers III, in which Saba earned his first RIAA Gold certification for the song “Sacrifices.” That same year, Saba, Noname and Smino announced the creation of their Midwest super-group Ghetto Sage with the release of their debut track “Häagen Dazs.” 2022 marked Saba’s second RIAA Gold certification – this time for his own 2016 single “Photosynthesis".

Photo credit: Drew Ayumi

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