Vibey, versatile, and visceral, Saadi Four has a story to tell and lots of ways to tell it. For the last few years, the North Philadelphia rhymer has combined expressive vocals with blunt honesty and braggadocio on songs that oscillate between irrepressible passion and ruthless cool. They’re anthems for aspirational block-dwellers who know they aren’t invincible but can’t afford to think otherwise. Over time, those songs have granted the Def Jam signee a flock of fans who come for his music but find an escape. He continues building with “WABN,” the icy new single from his Whatever It Takes mixtape.
Sliding over muted keys and insistent percussion, Saadi unloads nonchalant flexes as he labels himself as a necessity for baddies everywhere. “You are not a shiner, you not her speed / We don’t shop inside the mall, we take a trip to NYC.” He echoes that self-assurance on “FWM,” another single that’s as dismissive as it is infectious. The tracks act as exercises in effortless confidence. They’re also just one side of the Philly artist. On songs like “Enjoying,” he trades celebrations for pained melodies and introspection, further crystallizing his penchant for all-around songwriting. “I feel like I know how to do all types of music,” Saadi says. “I just want people to hear me out.”
Born Jalal Asad Mayers in North Philly, Saadi remembers playing basketball before he had any plans to develop musical virtuosity. Growing up, he also soaked up the sounds of Justin Bieber and Chris Brown. While he enjoyed their melodic stylings, he found his truest inspiration in fellow Philly native Meek Mill. “He’s saying the words like how we would say it,” Saadi says. “He stayed himself throughout his whole career. That’s motivation.”
By age 11, Saadi had taken some of that inspiration—and the money his mom gave him for studio time—to record his first song. Eventually, free-associative freestyles became more structured songs. After the birth of his son in February 2020, rap became more than a hobby: “He made me want to go harder.” Soon enough, Saadi was cultivating a buzz, with bloodlettings like “Down and Out” earning tens of thousands of streams on SoundCloud. “That’s what really made people look at me like, ‘Oh, you know, he’s different,’” Saadi says.
After signing with Def Jam, Saadi is set to continue his level-up. He’s nothing if not aware of the moment. “So many people where I’m from have never been outside of Philadelphia,” he says. “Music is something that could take me and my son to different places.”
He plans to consummate his rise—and his own artistic identity—with Whatever It Takes. The title is as much a philosophical viewpoint as it is a tactical approach for a man with a lot to say, and even more folks he wants to say it to. “I make music for the people that like looking nice, getting fly, and I make music for the baddies,” he says. “I also make music for the people that’s coming from poverty. People that can feel my pain.”
Encompassing that range means more honesty, more style, more work, and more pressure, but those are just conditions of the grind Saadi’s grown to love. “I’m trying to show ’em something different in my city. I’m in that mode right now. Everything counts,” he says. “I’m letting them know I ain’t nothing to play with.”
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