Welcome to Ear 2 Da Sky! Each week, I will be going over topics within music culture and reviewing albums and EPs across genres, eras and artists that are submitted by readers and listeners of my radio show every Monday at 11 p.m. on WHUS 91.7 FM! For this week’s submission, I gave Saba’s album, “CARE FOR ME,” a listen.
“CARE FOR ME” is Saba’s second studio album, a follow-up to his 2016 LP, “Bucket List Project.” This album was released in the spring of 2018, clocking in at just over 41 minutes. Saba had dedicated the writing, artistry and ultimate release of the album to his late cousin, Walter, who had been stabbed to death in Chicago. Walter was also a member of the same Chicago-based hip-hop collective as Saba, known as “Pivot Gang.”
Song one, “BUSY/SIRENS,” is cut into two different parts. “BUSY” opens up with a very somber instrumental and a hypnotizing drum pattern where Saba grasps alienation, death, guilt and depression. He speaks on his misplaced desires and all of his substitutions for companionship, whether it’s his dwindling relationship with friends or his lack of a consistent romantic partner. He also speaks on the death of Walter, which resulted in his lack of luster in life as well as his fear of putting his trust in people.
theMIND hops on a feature and reenforces this message of death, as he fears opening his heart to new people, just to possibly lose them to death. The somberness of “BUSY” slowly fades out and fades into the bubbly instrumental of part two, “SIRENS.” This builds upon the idea of death even more, speaking on the volatility of racial prejudice, city life and police who are more than ready to pull the trigger on you.
In track two, “BROKEN GIRLS,” Saba becomes open and honest about his misguided attraction to women who have no care for him, or women he truly has no love in his heart for. He openly admits that maybe he himself is broken, but shrugs it off and questions whether the next girl will fix him, an extremely toxic and self-handicapping thought process that will leave you in the dirt forever.
Jumping all the way to the tenth and final track, “HEAVEN ALL AROUND ME,” is a beautiful but poignant culmination of an already beautifully bittersweet album. In this final track, Saba writes and raps from the perspective of Walter in his final moments of life and the beginning of death.
With Saba rapping as Walter, he explores the physical world around him as a spirit, trying to talk to his mother, watching the paramedics trying to resuscitate his body, walking around seemingly having yet to understand that he has passed onto the next life, then suddenly being enveloped by heaven. With a mix of smooth drums, chimes, trumpet and Saba’s perspective on Walter’s death and afterlife, in no way do I think this is meant to be a sad song. Instead, it is a heartfelt and possibly therapeutic release for Saba about his cousin.
Saba’s “CARE FOR ME” is a mellow and introspective look into Saba’s personal relationships and life. He takes on the brave task of letting the world examine his mind with a magnifying glass, showing that he truly has nothing to hide as he gets older and wiser, something you can see as you delve deeper into his discography.
Unlike his other projects, “CARE FOR ME” was very light on features, sitting at a mere two extra artists. This made it feel as though it was a much more intimate project not just to the listener, but to Saba himself. As he dedicated the time and effort in this project to his cousin, it serves as a sort of love letter to him: a lovely message within a great album.
Rating: 4/5
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