Earlier this week SAFE surprised us all by making a comeback from his hiatus to drop a brand new three-track self titled EP. And then he followed that up with another release, a summer wrap-up loosie titled “Summer’s End.” So it’s safe to say that SAFE is back.
It’s been nearly two years since the Halal Gang member released the Stay Down EP and got his big OVO co-sign from Oliver Et-Khatib.
The two initially met at the shoot for Jimmy Prime’s “Northside” video and, from there, Oliver slowly brought SAFE into the fam by asking him to work at the OVO Toronto pop-up store. And then when SAFE disclosed that he was an artist, Oliver gave him a backing.
But since then, it seems SAFE has shed his OVO affiliation (I’m solely basing this assumption off the lack of #OVO hashtags, the lack of co-sign from the OVO camp, and the fact that none of these songs premiered on an episode of OVO Sound Radio) and is coming back to us to establish himself as a solo artist without backing from Drizzy and the gang.
Safe’s sound has matured into a much more polished and lightweight brand of soul-R&B. It not as dripped in darkness as it was a few years ago, and features a more subtle use of auto-tune and different beat selection.
Kicking off with the first track “New Regime”, SAFE slides himself into this next phase of artistry by setting the stage for a new regime. From there the project transitions into the more ethereal Bibi Bourelly assisted “Pull Up” (produced by Wallis Lane), concluding with a slight warning shot fired on “Are You Scared Pt. 1.” Backed by a breezy, down-tempo tropical beat by 1Mind and Zack Sekoff, SAFE ends his EP with a classic “To be continued…” cliffhanger.
It doesn’t exactly come across as a warning shot because it’s the softest track on the project. But it’s a warning. And the fact that it’s only “Pt. 1” implies that SAFE’s comeback saga will (hopefully) at least have a second part to it. Take in the Safe EP and listen to “Summer’s End” below.
