To move forward, SAFE had to step back. After releasing his debut album STAY in 2019, the Toronto-born crooner took an extended hiatus, not just because of the pandemic but because he felt detached from his songs. SAFE admits he was overthinking his process, focusing too much on the minute details of his craft and less on actually living his life. With his new album Get Home SAFE (Part 1), the 24-year old singer wears his heart on his sleeve to create his most vulnerable and intimate project yet.
On the opening track, “Take Me Home,” SAFE contemplates whether making his art is as rewarding as he had anticipated. The song is an ode to his family as he seeks insight and advice from his brother and sister to keep him motivated. He misses them, his friends, and Toronto, but understands that to succeed, he needs to be out in the world. “I miss my family and I miss my friends,” he tells Complex Canada. “But at the end of the day, the more I’m out here, the more I’m traveling, the better it’s going to be for my creativity.”
Get Home SAFE isn’t a radical departure in sound. However, it does mark a tonal shift in SAFE’s songwriting, as his honesty paints a vivid portrait of who he truly is. He notes that writing these vulnerable moments, like “Take Me Home” and love letter to Toronto “Yonge Street,” was the most difficult part of the process. “When we first made these songs, they were more like demos, so I was really just overthinking my approach,” he adds. Then I had to sit back and really listen and understand that you can’t get back these emotions and those rough feelings.”
With the Part 1 demarcation at the end of the 15-minute EP, Get Home SAFE is the first entry of a larger universe SAFE has planned in his head. “This is just the beginning half of something that’s bigger.”
How did Get Home SAFE come together?
I was creating with my homies, having fun in New York and before you knew it, we created a bunch of these dope songs that ended up turning into the EP, which we thought was fire. It was just an organic kind of thing. This is definitely just the beginning half of something that’s bigger. Maybe a trilogy.
What did you do differently when you were making this project compared to your previous album?
I was more focused on telling my story and being more honest and open. I feel like that helped deliver vocally. Just being vulnerable in those elements and just creating that really speaks to me and has purpose. I feel what stands out to me with any artist out there is when they’re speaking the truth and they’re honest and that’s the number one thing that I want. I want to focus on being as true to myself as possible. Those are just the feelings and emotions that helped create that project. Get Home SAFE is definitely my most cohesive body of work so far.
On the opening track “Take Me Home” you contemplate whether making your art is still worth it. How do you keep yourself convinced you’re on the right path?
What keeps me convinced is when the writing gets hard and I feel like I can dive in deeper and be more open. Sometimes if it’s not coming to me as fast, but I know the instrumentation is great and I’m in love with it, it won’t come to me as fast. But it’ll come eventually. As long as I’m in love with the work, I’ll go as deep as I need to go.
“I try to ask myself, ‘What kind of scenarios do you listen to SAFE songs? Is it at the crib?’ I just want to make sure that whoever is listening is somewhere secure.”
What tracks did you feel were the hardest to write?
It would be “Take Me Home,” “Yonge Street,” and “Day Ones.” For “Take Me Home,” the lyrics were already there, but I was overthinking it. I was asking myself what kind of pianos we need and if I should re-record my vocals. When we first made these songs, they were more like demos, so I was really just overthinking my approach. Then I had to sit back and really listen and understand that you can’t get back these emotions and those rough feelings. This isn’t to say the other songs weren’t hard to finish, but they were more fun and freestyle-like. I wrote “Contagious” in 15-20 minutes.
“Yonge Street” sounds like a love letter to Toronto. How has your relationship with the city changed over the last few years?
I haven’t been spending most of my time in the city. And I look at it as one of those things in my heart, where I’ll always have the same feelings for Toronto as I did growing up. As time goes by, it’s a bittersweet thing. Of course I do miss being in Toronto. I miss my family and I miss my friends, but at the end of the day, the more I’m out here, the more I’m traveling, the better it’s going to be for my creativity. I know Toronto like the back of my hand and home never really changes. Home is gonna be home. There might be new buildings, but the aura, the energy is still going to be there. Sometimes I feel a bit disconnected from it, but any time I go back, it feels like I was 18 again.
“I know Toronto like the back of my hand and home never really changes. Home is gonna be home. There might be new buildings, but the aura, the energy is still going to be there.”
What did you do in the time between your last album and now after the worst part of the pandemic?
The pandemic hit right around the time I was supposed to drop a lot of music. It took a toll on me, but it helped me become more self-sufficient. I started learning how to produce, how to record myself properly. And some of the songs on the EP, like “Yonge Street,” I recorded at my crib.
And how did the pandemic affect the way you created your art?
The biggest part was not being able to go outside. Creativity is being free. Not being put in a box. So being stuck at home was cool, but I got lost in my own kind of fantasy world when I started writing some songs, but I wasn’t really attached to them until I completely removed myself from them. I started traveling across the U.S. and didn’t do anything else. I didn’t think about music for a second then I came back to it. All my energy was flowing the way I wanted it and everything lined up in such a beautiful way. I really had to take a step back. Focus on my religion, my family, playing basketball, just things that keep me happy.
You were basically taking a step back, re-evaluating and then stepping front when you felt it again.
Yeah exactly. I’m so blessed to be able to work from home but sometimes there are times where I’m beating myself up. Then I realize I just need to make sure I’m happy and once I’m happy, I can create. No one can stop me so that’s my mentality after my break. Making sure I stay happy.
Do you find staying happy is harder now than it used to be?
Yeah, definitely. I was young running around, working with other people because I songwrite as well and I thought those things made me happy. I had this idea that just because I was in the studio every night andI was working that I was happy. When it came down to it, I really had to evaluate everything. I asked myself, “Am I really happy or am I just happy that I’m in the studio?” I wasn’t really working out, I wasn’t getting up early. I used to be in the studio until 7 a.m. and it was unhealthy. I had to check myself and ask myself if the happiness I got from working was what I wanted. I stopped drinking and cutting unhealthy routines to make sure I became clear minded. But being happy wasn’t what I thought it was. I had to make changes, make sacrifices to get where I wanted to be.
Your stage name, SAFE, is a play on your first name, Saif, and your project titles have a play on that name. How does the concept of safety play into your music?
I try to ask myself, “What kind of scenarios do you listen to SAFE songs? Is it at the crib?” I just want to make sure that whoever is listening is somewhere secure. Like Get Home SAFE is beautiful for a car ride. So the concept of safety is intentional. And I want to make sure that the people that listen to my music, they understand that these moments happen to everyone and they can find comfort in the songs.
You speak a lot about love in your music. How has your notion of love changed since Stay?
Stay was me trying to force certain parts of a relationship. It was sort of a bittersweet thing. There’s moments in a relationship where you’re like, “Damn. I love you!” and then at other moments you’re both like, “Damn, why do we do this to each other?” So for the most part, it was this push-and-pull situation. And for Get Home SAFE, it was more about me owning up to my actions, being more straightforward, and taking initiative. If you listen to “Price of Lust,” I say this line: “Your heart don’t beat for me, I could leave you easily.” That’s me being honest and saying, “We don’t have to do this for each other.” We could really leave this and that’s that. And then there’s “Feeling Lucky” where I’m reminiscing on this relationship. So the difference between Stay and Get Home SAFE is me taking more responsibility and ownership. It’s me understanding that I’m transitioning from being a boy into a man.
