Steve 'Flash' JuonIt has been three years since I wrote about The WhoRidas contributions to rap being forgotten, and I don’t think the community has gotten any better at preserving history in that time. Given we just celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip-hop (even though elements of hip-hop existed before Kool DJ Herc’s legendary party), the irony is not lost on me as I write about Saafir’s “Trigonometry.” I should be happy somebody took the time to make an entry for it on Discogs, let alone upload his album to streaming services, but it doesn’t feel like this does nearly enough to honor Saafir’s legacy. Given how many rappers don’t even make it to 50 we should be celebrating Reggie Gibson right now. Speaking of peak irony Shock G once explained the health issues that left Saafir in a wheelchair, but he’s gone now and Saafir is still around. As Roddy Piper once said “Brother life’s a bitch and she’s back in heat.”
The thing that bothers me about the lack of respect on Saafir’s name is how much he advanced the craft of lyricism. Listening to songs like “Stay Hi” the fluid nature of his rap style is immediately obvious. Saafir is neither “on beat” nor off with his bars. He somehow manages to be both at the exact same time. Producer JZ gives Saafir hard bass but keeps it well underneath the vocals so you can hear the nearly stream-of-consciousness delivery of Mr. Gibson. “Hillbilly joker/soak up the sun, but the car’s overheating/plus we haven’t eaten/I feel stuck/stop at that burrito truck/We don’t have no money, so what?/I don’t give a fuck, I said it/can’t order cause I’m lightheaded.” You couldn’t portray the randomness of stoner munchies any better.
One of the things lost to history about “Trigonometry” is whether any of the songs from this album were released as a single. If I had to pick a candidate the Shock G produced “Broad Minded” would have been the one I shopped to radio and released as a music video, but I see no evidence of either. It’s the kind of playful double entendre that informs so much of Saafir’s rap lyrics. If it wasn’t obvious “broad” refers to both how wide his lyrical range is, but it’s also a reference to how much he loves the feminine gender. This is very much the “Ice Cream” song of Saafir’s career, and like Method Man he loves all flavors of ladies. “A stroke of/genius from a penis that’s touched/everything chocolate to tapioca.” It reads far more vulgar in print than it does hearing the Saucee Nomad spit it, particularly with the unorthodox pauses of his delivery.
Shock G also produced the next track “Sendin-U-Signals” but it’s the former that has that trademark Digital Underground freaknik funk. Other songs would have been much harder to translate to the masses, even though they portray a gangster side of Saafir that lets you know he’s also dangerous. While the title and hook of “In a Vest” makes his stance clear, I’ll let Mr. Gibson tell you in his own way: “You need to stop/no EQ can help you/my shit equinox/large for the haters on both sides of the equator.” If you step to him incorrectly you’re going to find out why he’s wearing a ski-mask on the album cover.
The unfortunate truth of “Trigonometry” is that the lack of marketing push may have been due to sheer “Industry Rule #4,080” ineptitude. With a rapper who can at times be a funny stoner, a seductive gigolo, a straight up G and a lyrical wordbender, which side of his personality do you focus on? The obvious answer is “all of the above” but let’s face it that’s not the level most music industry people operate on. Saafir was too versatile to fit into narrow boxes and be slotted to radio formats. What may be worse is that on this album the music doesn’t do enough to uplift him. JZ and J Groove are both able hands but a Hobo Junction posse song like “Rock the Show” needed a stronger instrumental and instead relies on a sample of the late Biz Markie to carry it forward.
With no obvious singles (except to me) and beats that aren’t nearly as advanced as Saafir’s wordplay, this album dropped like a fart in church in 1997 … or 1998? That’s the problem with things going undocumented for 25 years. It’s confusing when you try to go back and sort it all out after the fact. My interpretation is that Saafir self-released it through his own label, got picked up for larger distribution, but they put minimal effort into promoting it and only had him record a few extra tracks (or simply add ones he had in the vault) to flesh it out. That could also explain the lack of singles or videos although it certainly doesn’t justify it. “Trigonometry” has some Saafir gems that deserved better but I honestly can’t call it a classic. Saafir has suffered the fate of so many legendary artists who showed other people what was possible, only for them to take that template and achieve more fortune and fame than the pioneers who came before.