Abbas Hamad (born May 27, 1987), known professionally as Bas, is a French-born Sudanese-American rapper. He signed with J. Cole's Dreamville Records, an imprint of Interscope Records to release his debut studio album, Last Winter (2014). It was met with positive critical reception and entered the Billboard 200, along with his second and third albums, Too High to Riot (2016) and Milky Way (2018). His fourth album, We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up (2023) was met with continued praise despite failing to chart.
Bas | |
|---|---|
 Bas performing at The Mod Club in Toronto during Too High to Riot Tour in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Abbas Hamad (Arabic: عباس حماد) |
| Born | May 27, 1987 Paris, France[1] |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | fiends |
Early life
Bas was born in Paris, France, in 1987, to Sudanese parents. He is a Muslim.[2] At the age of 8, his family moved to New York City. He attended St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens, New York.
Musical career
2011–2013: Career beginnings and mixtapes
In 2011, Bas released his debut mixtape titled Quarter Water Raised Vol. 1.[3] In 2013, his second mixtape was released entitled, Quarter Water Raised Vol. 2.[4][5]
In 2013, Bas was featured on J. Cole's "New York Times" along with 50 Cent from Cole's album Born Sinner, and then on DJ Khaled's "Hells Kitchen" from Suffering from Success.[1] He then appeared on the Dreamville compilation mixtape Revenge of the Dreamers. That mixtape was released in celebration of Dreamville's partnership with Interscope Records, resulting in Bas being signed to Interscope.[6] Two weeks prior to the release of his debut album Last Winter, Bas released a free EP titled Two Weeks Notice.[7][8]
2014–2015: Last Winter
Last Winter was released on April 29, 2014, by Dreamville Records/Interscope Records.[9] It featured guest appearances from J. Cole, Mack Wilds, KQuick, and Irvin Washington. The album was a conceptual project that touches on the cold days in New York City recording the album. The album was supported by the single "My Nigga Just Made Bail" produced by GP808 and featured guest appearances by J. Cole.[10] Last Winter would debut at 103 on the Billboard 200 with 3,601 copies sold in its first week.[11]
Following its release, Bas went on a 10-city nationwide tour titled after the album.[1] Bas followed his own "Last Winter" tour by going on a 24-city nationwide and international tour with TDE rapper Ab-Soul. In 2015, Bas supported J. Cole on '2014 Forest Hills Drive Tour' alongside Omen, Cozz, Jeremih, YG, and Big Sean.
2016–2017: Too High to Riot
Bas released his second album, Too High to Riot on March 4, 2016. The album also includes guest appearances from his labelmates J. Cole and Cozz, as well as the Hics. The album would debut at 49 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 10,965 copies in its first week.[12] He also later released a music video for each song on the album. Bas went on tour titled after the album in June 2016 with Cozz and EarthGang. It included 26 cities in North America and 10 cities in Europe, including his hometown of Koewacht. On January 29, 2017, the documentary highlighting the tour was released on Tidal.[13]
2018–2019: Milky Way
On April 10, 2018, Bas released the one-off single "Pinball II", featuring Correy C.[14] The first single for his third album "Boca Raton" was released on June 19, and featured ASAP Ferg.[15] On August 22, he released the second single "Tribe" featuring J. Cole.[16] Bas released his third album, Milky Way on August 24, 2018.[17] It featured guest appearances from J. Cole, Ari Lennox, ASAP Ferg, Lion Babe, Moe Moks, mOma+Guy, and Correy C. The album debuted at number 35 on the Billboard 200, selling 13,150 album-equivalent units in the first week. Bas announced a 43-city tour to support the album, which began in November 2018 and concluded in February 2019. In late 2018, Bas announced he was working on an album with frequent collaborators The Hics.[18]
On August 9, 2019, Bas released the Spilled Milk 1 EP.[19] The EP features guest appearances from EarthGang, JID, Falcons, B. Lewis, Ari Lennox, and Kiddominant.[19] On November 5, 2019, Bas was featured on the FKJ single "Risk".[20]
2020-present: We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up
In September 2020, Dua Saleh released the single "RE(a)D" featuring Bas.[21] On April 15, 2022, Bas released the [BUMP] Pick Me Up EP.[22] The EP features guest appearances from Galimatias, Gunna, Ari Lennox, J. Cole and Lil Tjay.[22] On January 24, 2023, Bas released the single "Diamonds".[23]
On July 15, 2023, Bas announced the title of his fourth studio album, We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up. On July 19, 2023, Bas released the single "Passport Bros" featuring J. Cole as the album's lead single.[24] He released the single "Ho Chi Minh" on August 19, 2023, alongside the official music video.[25] He released the single "Khartoum" featuring Adekunle Gold on October 24, 2023.[26] The album's fourth and final single, "179 Deli" featuring UK rapper AJ Tracey was released on November 28, 2023.[27][28] The album released on December 15, 2023.[29] It features guest appearances from Adekunle Gold, AJ Tracey, Amaarae, A$AP Ferg, Blxckie, FKJ, J. Cole and Sha Sha.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [30] | US R&B/HH [31] | US Rap [32] | BEL (FL) | CAN [33] | NLD | ||
| Last Winter |
| 103 | 18 | 13 | — | — | — |
| Too High to Riot | 49 | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | |
| Milky Way |
| 35 | 19 | 17 | 180 | 65 | 109 |
| We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
Extended plays
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Spilled Milk 1 |
|
| [BUMP] Pick Me Up |
|
Compilation albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [39] | US R&B/HH [40] | US Rap [41] | |||
| Revenge of the Dreamers II (with Dreamville) |
| 29 | 4 | 3 | |
| Revenge of the Dreamers III (with Dreamville) |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
|
| D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape (with Dreamville) |
| 11 | 6 | 4 | |
Mixtapes
| Title | Mixtape details |
|---|---|
| Quarter Water Raised Me Vol. 1 |
|
| Quarter Water Raised Me Vol. 2 |
|
| Two Weeks Notice |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [46] | US R&B/HH [47] | US Rap [48] | CAN [49] | NZ [50] | UK [51] | ||||
| "Lit"[52] (featuring J. Cole & KQuick) | 2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Last Winter | |
| "My Nigga Just Made Bail"[53] (featuring J. Cole) | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Charles De Gaulle to JFK"[54] | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Night Job"[55] (featuring J. Cole) | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Too High to Riot | |
| "Housewives"[55] | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Methylone"[56] | 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Don't Front"[57] | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Pinball II"[14] (featuring Correy C) | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Boca Raton"[58] (featuring ASAP Ferg) | — | — | — | — | — | — | Milky Way | ||
| "Tribe"[59] (with J. Cole) | —[A] | 48 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Fragrance"[63] (featuring Correy C) | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Purge"[64] | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Down Bad"[65] (with J. Cole, JID, and EarthGang featuring Young Nudy) | 64 | 26 | 22 | 69 | —[B] | — |
| Revenge of the Dreamers III | |
| "Costa Rica" (with JID, featuring Guapdad 4000, Reese Laflare, Jace, Mez, Smokepurpp, Buddy and Ski Mask the Slump God) | 75 | 30 | — | 71 | — | — |
| ||
| "Fried Rice"[69] (featuring JID) | — | — | — | — | — | — | Spilled Milk 1 | ||
| "Jollof Rice"[70] (featuring EarthGang) | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Smoke From Fire"[71] (featuring The Hics) | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "The Jackie"[72] (with J. Cole and Lil Tjay) | 2021 | 78 | 26 | 22 | 60 | —[C] | 100 | [Bump] Pick Me Up | |
| "Admire Her"[74] (featuring Gunna) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Run It Up"[75] | — | — | — | — | — | — | Madden NFL 23 | ||
| "Diamonds"[23] | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up | |
| "Passport Bros"[76] (with J. Cole) | — | — | — | — | —[D] | — | |||
| "Ho Chi Minh"[78] | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Khartoum"[79] (with Adekunle Gold) | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "179 Deli"[80] (with AJ Tracey) | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "H.Y.B." (with J. Cole and Central Cee) | 2024 | 35 | 17 | 15 | 34 | 36 | 29 | Might Delete Later | |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Braille" (Ab-Soul featuring Bas)[81] | 2016 | Do What Thou Wilt. |
| "Can't Call It" (Spillage Village featuring EarthGang, JID, J. Cole and Bas)[82] | Bears Like This Too Much | |
| "Risk" (FKJ featuring Bas)[83] | 2020 | Ylang Ylang EP |
| "B.Q.E." (Kota the Friend featuring Joey Badass & Bas)[84] | Everything | |
| "GPS" (Galimatias featuring Bas & Xavier Omär)[85] | Renaissance Boy | |
| "Fallin'" (Girl Talk featuring Bas)[86] | — | |
| "RE(a)D" (Dua Saleh featuring Bas)[21] | — | |
| "Romeo" (Jungle featuring Bas)[87] | 2021 | Loving in Stereo |
| "Selfish" (PRICE featuring Bas & Wyclef Jean)[88] | F.O.E.S. | |
| "Spill" (Anik Khan featuring Bas)[89] | Approved | |
| "Show Me Something" (Malik Moses featuring Bas)[90] | Show Me Something New | |
| "Overseas" (Powers Pleasant featuring Maxo Kream, Erick the Architect, Bas & Kenny Mason)[91] | 2022 | — |
| "For Good" (The C!ircle featuring Bas) | 2023 | — |
| "Blood, Sweat & Tears" (Dreamville featuring Bas, Black Sherif & Kel-P)[92] | Creed III: The Soundtrack | |
| "Enthralled" (Lordkez featuring Bas)[93] | Testament |
Other charted songs
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [46] | US R&B/HH [47] | US Rap [48] | AUS | CAN [49] | NZ Hot [94] | ||||
| "100 Mil'" (with J. Cole) | 2021 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 30 | 24 | — |
| The Off-Season |
| "Let Go My Hand" (with J. Cole and 6lack) | 19 | 13 | 11 | 27 | 23 | — |
| ||
| "Hunger on Hillside" (with J. Cole) | 28 | 17 | 15 | 46 | 33 | — | |||
| "Home Alone" (with J. Cole) | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | 19 | We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up | |
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Cousins"[97] | 2013 | J. Cole | Truly Yours 2 |
| "New York Times"[98] | J. Cole, 50 Cent | Born Sinner | |
| "Hell's Kitchen"[99] | DJ Khaled, J. Cole | Suffering from Success | |
| "I Need That"[100] | 2014 | Cozz | Cozz & Effect |
| "Sketches of Paranoia"[101] | 2015 | Omen | Elephant Eyes |
| "Keep On Goin"[102] | 2017 | Russ | — |
| "And You"[103] | 2018 | Token, IDK | Between Somewhere |
| "Addicted 2 (Keep Cool Remix)"[104] | 2019 | VanJess | Silk Canvas (The Remixes) |
| "Link Up"[105] | Buddy, Guapdad 4000, Kent Jamz, JID, Ari Lennox | Harlan & Alondra | |
| "Ap3x (Remastered)"[106] | Shane Eagle | — | |
| "Don't Hit Me Right Now"[107] | Cozz, Yung Baby Tate, Guapdad 4000 & Buddy | Revenge of the Dreamers III | |
| "Self Love"[107] | Ari Lennox, Baby Rose | ||
| "Dead Body" | The C!rcle, AKA Keyz | A 249 Experience, Vol. 1 | |
| "Vanya"[108] | Shane Eagle, Santi | Dark Moon Flower | |
| "No Permission Needed"[109] | Rexx Life Raj | Father Figure 3: Somewhere Out There | |
| "Flick It Up (Remix)"[110] | 2020 | Reason, Junii, Jah The Great | — |
| "Nobody Knows"[111] | Cassper Nyovest, YoungstaCPT, Apu Sebekedi | A.M.N (Any Minute Now) | |
| "Outta Pocket"[112] | Cozz | Revenge of the Dreamers III: Director's Cut | |
| "Spin Move"[112] | Smino, Saba, The Hics | ||
| "No Chorus"[112] | Buddy, Guapdad 4000, Dreezy | ||
| "Party"[113] | 2021 | Kddo, Jidenna | Too Late Too Lit |
| "Lifestyle"[45] | 2022 | ASAP Ferg | D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape |
| "Jozi Flows"[45] | EarthGang | ||
| "Fretless"[114] | Beau Diako, Etta Bond | Nylon | |
| "Wish You"[115] | Juls, Mannywellz | Sounds of My World | |
| "On & On"[116] | Alex Isley, Jack Dine | Marigold | |
| "Pretty Little Thing"[117] | 2023 | Jungle | Volcano |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Grammy Award | Best Rap Performance | "Down Bad" (with J. Cole, JID, EarthGang and Young Nudy) | Nominated | [118] |