After eight years off the road, outlandish rapper and singer SahBabii hit the ground running for his “Saaheem” tour – fittingly titled after his real name.
His official DJ, DJ Flight opened with DMV hits and a barrage of ATL anthems to immerse us in SahBabii’s background.
“Swag Surf” specifically created a sense of fellowship, I joined a random group of people and swayed side to side with the rest of the dark-grungy dressed audience of dreadheads and piercings galore.
We heard SahBabii before we saw him. He didn’t appear on stage for the first song and anticipation welled in the sea of phone flashlights as we heard him passionately rap “Don Quan Intro” from backstage.
He came in hot, donning a long black trench coat, a black shirt, a red tie, and big stompers to which his fans, endearingly called squids, roared.
The stage curtain was slowly pulled away to reveal a stage set complete with a giant red squid seeping out from a house located at the intersection of Sylvan Rd & Dill Rd. Quite the tentacle spectacle. This house is near and dear to SahBabii, as it is a recreation of the home he grew up in after his family moved to Atlanta from Chicago when he was 13.
The self-proclaimed King Squid took the time to stand at the top of the squid house, sit on a stool, and give full coverage across the stage. He performed a melodic mix of playful, emotional, and hype fan favorites from Saaheem and his older projects Do it For Demon, Barnacles, Squidtastic, and SANDAS.
Staying true to his roots, he dedicated a set of songs to Demonchild, his childhood friend who died of gun violence.
He also knows how to tug at the heartstrings in a romantic sense. Choruses of shouted lyrics mixed with frenzied screams of adoration rang when SahBabii sang and rapped “Boyfriend” with his older brother and frequent collaborator T3.
A whole room rapped in unison “I wanna eat her Garfield and rub up on her feet” barely scratching the surface of his freakiness, but enough to illustrate his silliness and love for animals.
Many eager fans yearned for both brothers to be their boyfriends.
T3 sang his unreleased song, referencing SahBabii fans who have shown him love along the way. He impressed the audience with his smooth, falsetto vocals over a booming bass.
Throughout the night, Wikii, their supportive brother, lent his freestyle dance moves and energy to the show, bouncing around the whole stage in chains, a silver spike-studded mask, and big metal arm cuffs.
SahBabii saved his most popular hits for last. His breakout hit “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick” had fans going crazy while he was enveloped in a cloud of smoke that hid his towering figure. Another type of musky smoke permeated the air, with people lighting up frequently throughout the night.
All the built-up momentum lead to the long-awaited 2024 release “Viking” and when the intro started playing, SahBabii called on the GA floor audience to open up a mosh pit and they raved accordingly.
Ending with his first viral 2018 standout and latest hit set the perfect alley-loop-layup to close out the night on an explosive note.
Or so we thought.
We were delightfully tricked at the end.
DJ Flight played a snippet of SahBabii’s unreleased song “FYE” , so people who rightfully started leaving ran back to take in the unexpected song.
After the show, I was met with a couple of women merrily singing “I wanna be your boyfriend” in the bathroom. They broke out into the addictive chorus on and off for about five minutes.
Clearly King Squid left his squids wanting more.
While the US leg has come to a close, with the last shows in his Atlanta hometown & base, he’s set to recoup and go hard with his family entourage for round two with his European summer dates.
Photos by Karl Jean Baptiste
