Sitting across from Saba it’s hard not to think back to that first conversation on the back steps of his Grandma’s house in the summer of 2014. I had traveled further west down North Avenue than I had previously, pulling up to the front gate of the modest home with manicured lawn around noon. Working on a story for Noisey in the wake of ComfortZone’s release, Saba talked of breaking out of his shy stage, hints of which could still be found in his mannerisms and speech. As scenes evolve and find success, it’s often the most mundane of settings that become iconic vessels of memory. Looking back over the last few years, the basement where we first met is turning out to be just that for a huge sub-section of the city’s latest stars and the perfect catalyst for Saba’s entrance into the larger scene in his hometown.

2011-2014 saw artists like Noname, Vic Mensa, Mick Jenkins, Lucki Eck$ and more streaming up and down the concrete stairs leading to the back door of the house in the Austin neighborhood. Having met at the now-storied after school programs like Young Chicago Authors and YouMedia and seen them perform, he saw an opportunity to get involved and decided to offer his makeshift underground studio to the fledgling acts from the poetry programs.

“Me being a part of like any of this shit is really like a blessing because I almost had nothing to do with it, being on the west side its like you get stuck there, like I don’t know Chance, I don’t know Noname, I don’t know any of these people so how I needed up even a part of it was because my homie Jimmy, he was the one who was going to the open mics and shit, he started PIVOT with Joseph actually. So thats kind of how I got introduced to all of these people who were in the city doing shit,” Saba remembers. “It wasn’t like anyone had followings or anything like that, it just became a collaborative thing rather than a competitive thing and I think for us in Chicago, we were just young at the same time and were able to really see the benefit of rather than looking at this like solely competitively, let's look at it collaboratively.”

Much of what's come to be known as the Chicago Renaissance has emerged in large part due to individual’s willingness to play their part. For Saba, his role initially was as a self-taught engineer with an affordable home studio from which much of the early work of a recognizable wave of Chicago rappers, singers and musicians recorded their early singles. Perhaps somewhat akin to a small, local version of Atlanta’s famed basement studio ’The Dungeon’, the back door of Saba’s Grandma’s house become a revolving door of names that today share the country’s biggest headlines and stages. 

While many in his position would have been quick to take advantage of the obvious talent around him, Saba served his purpose, tucking his own raps away unless prompted. It was the innate camaraderie that came from late nights and long days of creation in a dark basement and the friendships that grew from seeing one another around town at high school parties and hangouts downtown that gave organic rise to the collaborations that would follow. Another distinct catalyst for the current onslaught of success in the city has been credited to the willingness of artists from different sides of the city to cross previously entrenched borders that have long characterized Chicago. While much has been written about SaveMoney’s contribution, boasting members from all across the city’s north, west and south sides; little has been credited to the importance of Saba’s modest westside enclave. Through the ability to provide a necessary service, he was able to connect with a long list of fellow artists he otherwise may have never known.

“I think for me, it’s crazy to see what everything has turned into. I think I’ve known that everybody I’ve met along the way which I just feel like I happen to be at the right place at the right time to meet the right people, but I always knew they were talented I always knew they would do something, but to really be able to see what everybody’s doing, myself included is kinda crazy thing but sit just goes to show that that kind of ‘anything is possible’ shit that you’re taught when you’re young, that shit is real as fuck. And I think just having a community and being involved in a community where you’re seeing everybody show that to you, it helps, mentally it helps. I think pursuing art is a crazy up-down type of thing but I think the more you’re exposed to success the more at ease you are with the idea of pursuing it.”