The rapper known as Bas was born in Paris to Sudanese parents. (His dad was a diplomat.) And he moved to New York City when he was 8. Bas grew up listening to North African oud music, West African pop, A Tribe Called Quest, and Tupac. The world filters into his music.
Bas just released “Milky Way” back in August. (The record is adorned with images of Nubian pyramids.) It’s a confident and smart album, with rich samples and backing tracks that pull from Brazilian bossa nova (like on the excellent “Tribe,” which features J Cole) and psychedelically warped textures (like on the opener “Icarus”).
The subsonic bass and slippery robotic keyboard sounds, like on “Front Desk,” make the music captivating. The tumbling fragmented piano sample on “Designer” sits quietly, energizing the track from the background. “Barack Obama Special” tells, with remarkable restraint, a story of having to move out of a home in Los Angeles because of racist neighbors. “Purge” is built around a spare and soulful voice and keyboard loop, with the the musical backing track flowing by in sedate half-time and Bas rapping over top in rapid and varied clusters.
Bas is signed to J Cole’s Dreamville Records. Bas has a knack for phrasing, carefully tightening up syllables in spots and then letting the space open up. “PDA” sounds like the rare hip-hop track, an almost-proposal, about a woman who can teach him some patience and who he might want to marry after they pursue their dreams for a little bit.
Bas plays Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven, on Nov. 20 at 9 p.m. $20 to $22. toadsplace.com, 203-624-8623
![NORTH CANAAN, Conn. (AP) — It was the barking that saved Rippy, a mutt that fell deep into a working rock quarry. After passersby and even a drone failed to locate the lost dog, rescue workers drawn to his barks rappelled down the pit’s walls and lifted him out three days after he went missing, […]](https://www.courant.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Quarry_Dog_45004.jpg?w=526 "NORTH CANAAN, Conn. (AP) — It was the barking that saved Rippy, a mutt that fell deep into a working rock quarry. After passersby and even a drone failed to locate the lost dog, rescue workers drawn to his barks rappelled down the pit’s walls and lifted him out three days after he went missing, […]")
