Saif Musaad (born 30 January 1997), professionally known as Safe (stylized as SAFE), is a singer, songwriter, and producer from

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. He has collaborated with artists such as

Playboi Carti Jordan Terrell Carter (born September 13, 1995, or 1996), known professionally as Playboi Carti, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern Hip hop music, hip hop a ...

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal". It also appears as a surname.

, and YG. In addition to releasing two studio albums, his song "Contagious" was featured on the Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album.

Early life

Saif Musaad was born on 30 January 1997 in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, and is of Eritrean descent. His father and mother are Eritreans. He immigrated with his family to Toronto when he was two months old, and grew up in the neighborhood of The Esplanade in eastern

downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...

Career

Musaad began to focus on writing lyrics and recording as early as the age of 10. When he was 18, he met Oliver El-Khatib at a video shoot for

Jimmy Prime Gordon Edward Phillips III (born ), better known by his stage name Jimmy Prime, is a rapper from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Jimmy is known for coining "The Six" as a nickname for Toronto and being the frontman of the hip hop group Prime Boys. Musi ...

. As the manager for

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

, El-Khatib helped Musaad get a job at the

OVO OVO may refer to: * ''OVO'' (album), by Peter Gabriel, 2000 *OvO (band), an Italian rock band *Ovo (Cirque du Soleil), a touring Cirque du Soleil show * OVO (payment service), an Indonesian digital payment and fintech company * OVO (video encyclope ...

store in Toronto. While at OVO, El-Khatib encouraged Musaad to write and record. As a member of the

Halal Gang Halal Gang is a Canadian hip hop collective based in Toronto, Ontario. The name stems from the preponderance of the group having Muslim origins with East African and Caribbean Canadian roots. Initially the group is said to have stemmed out from ...

, he collaborated with artists such as

Bibi Bourelly Badriia Ines "Bibi" Bourelly (born 14 July 1994) is a German singer and songwriter signed to Def Jam Recordings. She has co-written several notable songs including Rihanna's "Bitch Better Have My Money" and " Higher", Demi Lovato's "Anyone" and ...

, Ramriddlz,

Eric Dingus "Worst Behavior" is a song by Canadian recording artist Drake from his third studio album ''Nothing Was the Same'' (2013). "Worst Behavior" was produced by DJ Dahi, and was written by Drake, Anthony Palman, DJ Dahi, and Detail. The song peaked a ...

, and

Smoke Dawg Jahvante Jahqwane Sheldon Smart ( – ), known professionally as Smoke Dawg, was a Canadian rapper from Toronto, Ontario. He was a part of hip hop collective Halal Gang alongside Mustafa the Poet, Puffy L'z, Safe, and Mo-G who come together w ...

. In 2015 he released "Feel", his first single on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

, receiving received 4.15 million plays over four years. The same year he released ''Stay Down'', his first EP which also contained his single "Feel", and was selling out shows in Toronto. Musaad moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 2017. He continued to release singles and videos, mainly with the vibe of the Esplanade neighborhood where he grew up. His single "No Diamonds" criticized the ostentatious display of the trappings of wealth, while the video to his single "New Regime" depicted the seamy side of his hometown and his reasons for leaving. During the same period, Safe's vocals were featured on a number of other artists' tracks, including September 2018 single "Listen Closely" from fellow Canadians DVBBS, the track "Don't Pretend" from

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal". It also appears as a surname.

's 2019 album ''

Free Spirit Free Spirit or Free Spirits may refer to: Media * ''Free Spirit'' (TV series), a 1989–90 American fantasy sitcom * ''Free Spirit'' (film), a 1951 Argentine drama film * ”Free Spirit” (''The Outer Limits''), a 2001 episode in the 1995 ser ...

'', and YG's track "Play Too Much" on his 2019 album '' 4Real 4Real''. Musaad released his debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

in 2019 on

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. Titled ''

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tr ...

'', it contained 12 tracks that were characterized as cool R&B with elements of dancehall and afrobeat. QUIN and

were the only featured artists on the album. In 2021 he released the single "Trap Smarter", and was featured on Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album with his single "Contagious" which he performed with

Kiana Ledé Kiana Ledé Brown (born April 3, 1997) is an American singer and actress. She first starred as Zoe Vaughn on the second season of MTV's horror series '' Scream'' (2015–2019). She also starred as Veronica Washington on Netflix's original serie ...

. The following year he released ''Get Home SAFE (part 1)'', his second studio album through RCA Records.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

References

{{Halal Gang RCA Records artists Sony Music artists Canadian male rappers Rappers from Toronto Canadian people of Eritrean descent 1997 births Living people 21st-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian rappers