SAFE

R&B balladeer SAFE is reminiscent of the-Dream and Drake with a tender touch that sets him apart from his contemporaries. Although he benefited from connections made in his hometown of Toronto, the singer, rapper, and songwriter cut his own path with the breakthrough track "Feel." This led to the Stay Down EP (2015) and collaborations with Khalid and YG. Subsequent projects ranging from the RCA-issued Stay (2019) to the independent Tell It Like It Is (2024) have seen SAFE gradually refine his atmospheric slow jams while incorporating elements of trap-styled production, dancehall, and Afrobeats. Born Saif Musaad in Abu Dhabi, SAFE immigrated to Toronto with his family when he was an infant. He began writing and recording during his high school years, establishing himself with the groups 878 (aka Halal Gang) and 176, and further ingratiated himself in the local music scene after he crossed paths with Drake manager Oliver El-Khatib and landed a job at the flagship shop of Drake's OVO brand. SAFE broke through in 2015 on his own, however, once he started to rack up millions of SoundCloud streams with "Feel." Later in the year, that narcotic, Sade-sampling slow jam appeared on the artist's first EP, Stay Down, a mostly solitary set with 878 partner Smoke Dawg the lone featured artist. SAFE relocated to New York a couple of years later and in 2019 was featured on Khalid's "Don't Pretend" and YG's "Play Too Much" -- his two highest-profile guest appearances to that point -- and issued the album Stay. Frank Dukes, T-Minus, Doc McKinney, and DJ Dahi all factored in the production. Stay was released through SAFE's Bando Recordings and a licensing deal with major-label RCA that continued through a handful of supplemental singles and the 2022 release Get Home SAFE, Pt. 1. The Kiana Ledé collaboration "Contagious" highlighted the eight-track set and quickly racked up streams in the millions. Over the course of 2023 and 2024, SAFE built up his catalog independently with SAFE & Sound and GHS, Pt. 2, followed by Tell It Like It Is. These projects featured multiple appearances from Bibi Bourelly and some of SAFE's most-streamed songs, including the ethereal slow jams "No Answer," "No Diamonds," and "ttuctmd." ~ Andy Kellman