One side of Chicago’s long-buzzing artistic youth is highlighted by the likes of Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa, with roles players Mick Jenkins, Donnie Trumpet, Noname, Joey Purp and others playing important roles in the city’s rap renaissance. There’s one artist who is usually at the center of it all, though: Saba.
The producer/rapper/songwriter last dropped a project over two years ago with Comfort Zone. Since, he’s worked with all the aforementioned Chicagoans and then some, starring on Chance the Rapper’s “Angels,” Joey Purp’s “Cornerstore” and Noname’s new mixtape.
Next Thursday, he’ll make his official return as a solo artist with Bucket List Project. He’s teased music from the album over the last 10 months of the year with “Symmetry,” “World In My Hands” and “GPS,” which will feature an additional Twista verse on the final cut of the project. The newest release from the project 13 songs is “Church/Liquor Store” featuring Noname.
It’s a song the shows the dichotomy of living in Chicago and, even broader, America; the push and tug of having love for a place that gives you hope for stardom and success (President Obama, Kanye West) and a place that’ll take your first child because of a stray bullet or an unnecessary prison term.
Bucket List Project will arrive October 27, and you can pre-order the album on iTunes. Listen to “Church/Liquor Store,” which is produced by Cam O’bi, below.
