A special project continues to brew between two Chicago legends, as Saba and NO I.D. dropped off “Back In Office” ahead of their upcoming collaborative project.
Previewing the first piece of their “private collection” on Wednesday (April 12), the prolific producer and Few Good Things emcee’s joint LP is poised to contain at least 10 tracks, per Saba’s conversation with Apple Music’s Ebro Darden last May. Interestingly, the rapper recalled that NO I.D. sent him “120 beats” in the early stages of their combined record.
“He was like, ‘You hear that little beat in the background, that’s just number 80 this week, don’t mind me… So when I got up with him, he told me he did 120 in a two-week span. He was like, ‘I got 120, how many of them you want me to send you?’ I was just like, ‘Bro, I’m about to go on tour, send me all 120. I didn’t expect him to actually do it, but he did it.”
Saba to Apple Music
Sharing beat No. 1 of 120, Saba tears off ceaseless punchlines over ID’s stank-inducing swagger. “My city like Gotham, but no, I am not Ben Affleck / Turn your head into a fraction, they will take half of that,” he raps, spitting a barrage of other bars like “life a uphill battle, but for me, it was more a avalanche.”
NO I.D. is the catalyst of the energy the two share, setting the tone with an off-kilter rhythm that feels as luxurious as it does triumphant. On a beat that “J. Cole passed on in 2009,” Saba’s wordplay and authentic, characteristic flow continues to assert himself as one of hip-hop’s truest “new gen” savants.
A year removed from his third studio album, Few Good Things, Saba hasn’t stayed silent since it’s release. Reuniting with Pivot Gang for their first collective track since 2019, “Aang,” the Care For Me rhymer also showed out on fellow Chicago native Femdot’s The Tour Pack with Chris Patrick. Catch Saba at Coachella this weekend (April 14-16) and Governors Ball later this year.
While No I.D. produced on Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE (“CHURCH GIRL”) and Killer Mike’s “RUN,” JAY-Z’s 4:44 still stands as one of the producer’s most polished works to date. If “Back In Office” is an inkling to their chemistry on the forthcoming record, expect more in-office magic from NO I.D. and Saba.
Check out “Back In Office” below!
