SALT LAKE CITY — Abbas Hamad, known as Bas, is an international artist in more ways than one.
His style of music is a mix of hip-hop and Afropop. He’s currently on a tour — which stops in Salt Lake City with a show at The Complex on Friday — that has already seen him hit South Africa and Kenya. There are plans for Australia and Asia, too.
But even his upbringing is international. Born in Paris, Hamad was born to two Sudanese parents. He spent time in Qatar. Then he moved to Queens, New York.
And he’s learned some key lessons with seeing the entire world: each of us should indulge in our own unique experiences, spread love and embrace who we are.
Bas released his latest album, “Milky Way,” back in August 2018. The album comes from the Dreamville Records label of rap superstar J. Cole.
Working with such a talented and popular artist like J. Cole inspired Bas.
“I think the best part of working with Cole is working with an executive who’s still an artist,” he said. “He’s not far removed from how we feel and how any artist wants to operate, which is to have complete creative freedom and be able to express yourself to the fullest.”
He said Cole has always encouraged artists on the Dreamville label to be creative and to take ownership of their work. Cole will also weigh in with ideas about bridges, hooks and lyrics.
The association with Cole has brought the Queens rapper to the forefront of popular hip-hop music, leading him to sell 11,000 records for his first album, “Last Winter,” in 2014. In 2018, he had so many streams for his album "Milky Way" that it equaled 13,000 in its first week of sales. Bas was featured on “Revenge of the Dreamers II” — a collaboration album of all of Cole’s artists — and has collaborated with J. Cole for songs such as “New York Times” and more recently “Tribe.”
He’s been across the world again and again, and traveled through the United States, notably for the “2014 Forest Hills Drive Tour” with Cole.
But he’s not one to sit inside his hotel and chill. He makes a point to see the cities he visits.
“Just traveling and cultures was always big with my family,” he said. “My father was a career diplomat so we were moving around a lot. It’s funny, sometimes I talk to my peers and we talk about cities we’ve both been to and I’m like, ‘Oh did you do X or did you do Y?’ And they’re like, ‘Honestly, I just stayed in the hotel and ordered some food and didn’t go out.’ That sort of stuff blows my mind. To me, the coolest part about what we do is this. … People want to travel and go to all these places. And we were blessed enough to get paid to do it. So, how could you not take advantage?”
He doesn’t stop working, though. Bas said he’s always writing. He’s gearing up for “Revenge of the Dreamer III,” another collab album with J. Cole.
Family, friends, significant others, fans — you know all those things you can take for granted when you’re just trying to really level up. – Bas
For Bas, he has to write about the experiences he feels in the moment; otherwise, those moments are lost.
“I write all the time,” he said. “There’s a lot of inspiration you get while on the tour. I got a lot of stories you hear from people. … I feel like if you don’t try to capture those ideas at the moment, oftentimes, you’ll lose them. So I try to do some writing on a thing that inspires me like as soon as they happen.”
Moments are the key to his music, he said. He enjoys spreading love through his album, and giving listeners a chance to feel different emotions.
“There’s just so much going on. So many external pressures, so many goals — like things you set for yourself, or others set for you," he said. "Certain levels of success you want to achieve — (a) certain size venue you want to play and all these things. I think when you kind of get caught in that rat race aspect, it’s hard to miss a lot of progress you make, a lot of lessons and a lot of love in your life.
“Family, friends, significant others, fans — you know all those things you can take for granted when you’re just trying to really level up,” he said. “That was the message to myself: Stop and smell the roses and appreciate all the progress and energy around (me).”
And Bas has more on the way. He said he will be on “Revenge of the Dreamer III,” and he appears in April at the Dreamville Festival, which boasts a lineup of J. Cole, SZA, Big Sean, Young Thug and Nelly.
“I’m just working on more music or working on some follow-ups like awesome collaborations. Stay tuned. There’s going to be a lot of music from the camp.”
At the end of our interview, Bas told me he was searching for some food, and that he and his crew were planning to visit Main Street in Salt Lake City.
Once again, he is embracing a new city.
Content advisory: Bas’ music contains strong language and themes.
If you go …
What: Bas "Milky Way Tour"
Where: The Complex, 536 W. 100 South
When: Friday, Feb. 1, doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m.
How much: $22