Walking into the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco feels like stepping into another era, one of opulence, intricate paneling, and chandeliers casting warm glows on the crowd below. It’s the kind of venue where you’d expect to hear a grand orchestra, not the bone-rattling bass and hypnotic trap melodies of SahBabii. But on March 1st, the historic venue transformed into a pulsing sanctuary for the Resurrection tour, celebrating his latest album, Saaheem (2024).
SahBabii had been on my radar since the album dropped, its ethereal beats and off-kilter hooks flooding my playlists and the hallways of my apartment. The second I stepped into the Regency, the energy was palpable, anticipation thick in the air, mingling with a dense haze of smoke and the lingering scent of aged wood.
The crowd was a melting pot of internet-era Gen Z energy: dark aesthetics, streetwear staples, and high-fashion silhouettes. The night kicked off with opener Che, who wasted no time ramping up the energy. With a DJ cutting between tracks and layering transitions, Che’s set was relentless, his delivery razor-sharp. Calls to “open up the pit” became a near-constant, culminating in an explosion of chaos when he launched into “Miley Cyrus.” Lights flickered, bodies crashed, and the pit spiraled into a frenzied blur of motion.
Then came the moment everyone had been waiting for. The lights dropped, and SahBabii’s DJ teased the crowd: “Y’all ready?” A ripple of movement swept through the ballroom. As “Don Quan Intro” blared through the speakers, SahBabii played with the audience’s anticipation, vanishing into darkness and reappearing in flashes. Each glimpse sent another surge of energy through the room, reaching its peak when he finally stepped fully into the light, launching into “All the Way” and “Roll Wit Me.” Dressed in all black with a striking red tie and trench coat, SahBabii commanded the stage effortlessly, rapping nearly every word to the songs. The bass was a living thing, its weight pressing into the crowd, bodies moving instinctively with every pulse.
As everyone began cooling off from the energy of the previous tracks, a black curtain suddenly dropped, cloaking the stage in mystery as “1095 Osborne St” began. When it lifted, SahBabii stood atop a massive squid, a striking callback to his album Squidtastic (2018), bursting from the top of a house set piece. He remained atop the squid, lost in the moment as he delivered one of the most introspective songs on Saaheem.
As the set progressed, he shed layers, trading the trench for a t-shirt, then a leather jacket, mirroring the emotional shifts in his setlist. Then came what he called some “OG shit.” “Anime World” and “Squidirific” sent the crowd into a euphoric uproar. The latter hit with a sudden realization that I’d heard this track before but had never connected it to SahBabii. Judging by the way the crowd erupted, I wasn’t the only one caught off guard by its impact.
T3, SahBabii’s most frequent album collaborator, joined him on stage to perform “Marsupial Superstars” and “Boyfriend,” two groovier cuts that had the crowd swaying and singing in unison. Their chemistry was effortless. The switch from high-intensity trap to smooth, dreamlike melodies underscored the full range of SahBabii’s artistry.
For his final song, SahBabii invited about ten fans onto the stage while telling the rest of the crowd to embrace the chaos. The opening synths of “Viking” hit, and the room erupted. The pit became a battlefield, bodies colliding in what could only be described as medieval-level combat, while the rest of the crowd bounced in hypnotic rhythm. The contrast was striking, pure unfiltered euphoria meeting raw aggression, a perfect embodiment of the night’s energy.
As the final track rang out and SahBabii took his last bow, the Regency Ballroom still pulsed with the remnants of the night’s energy. The Resurrection tour continues through the end of March, with the final show on March 26th in Atlanta, Georgia, SahBabii’s hometown.
Article by Arnav Machavarapu
Photos by Marco Salazar
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