Many artists talk about going to the proverbial “next level.” The Sa-Ra Creative Partners — Om’Mas Keith, Taz Arnold, and Shafiq Husayn — simply exist there. They just are beyond what everyone else is doing creatively. That’s because the Los Angeles/New York-based collective creates for more than the act of making music. Sa-Ra — whose disparate resume includes production work with and for Dr. Dre, Kanye West, John Legend, Jurassic 5, Ice-T, Lord Finesse — creates for the universe. It’s Afro Magnetic Electronic Spiritualism.
“Sa-Ra is a magical trio,” says Taz, a proud citizen of the globe who was raised in South Central Los Angeles. “We’re three lords from different aspects of the universe, different walks of life, here to put something magical together for the people.”
Adds Om’Mas: “People have come to expect and associate Sa-Ra with that which is overtly male, sexual, free. Anything that you’re going to see that’s going to be free, colorful, majestic, grand, magic, spiritual — all of those are the terminologies that we associate with our brand. In the coming years, it won’t be as much about the faces of Sa-Ra, the men of Sa-Ra. We’re the founders, owners and the creators of something, but at that point, the brand takes on a life of its own.”
The recipients of a 2+ year set up as part of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint, the Sa-Ra Creative Partners finally see the light with the May release of The Hollywood Recordings on renowned indie Babygrande Records, the prequel to their forthcoming major label album debut. It’s a collection Sa-Ra says will be full of surprises and that should put to rest the rumors circulating that the trio was disbanding. Indeed, contrary to popular speculation, the trio is very much united, having emerged unscathed from the perilous depths of an ever shifting major label landscape. There is no tension within the group and Sa-Ra moves forward with its members pursuing individual as well as collective goals.
As all members will attest, The Hollywood Recordings defies categorization and represents Sa-Ra’s complete vision, which encompasses more than just music.
“We take the best of all doctrines, all the practices, all sciences and have developed our own style,” Om’Mas explains. “That’s where we’re at. We’re very eclectic because, unlike many people, we’ve been able to identify that with which is best of all systems — belief, monetary — and take piece by piece to develop this master blueprint. It’s proven to be successful.”
It’s a blueprint that has been brewing for close to two decades. A product of South Central Los Angeles and the South Bronx, Shafiq cut his teeth producing with Ice-T and Lord Finesse. He met a teen-age Om’Mas while working in New York. Om’Mas was establishing himself as a quality mixer and engineer for a host of talent, including Ice-T, Foxy Brown, Mobb Deep and Jam Master Jay. While meeting with fellow South Central Los Angeles-based Taz in 1989, Shafiq realized that the three could make magic together, musical and otherwise.
By 2001, the three came together formally as Sa-Ra, meaning “offspring of the most powerful energy in the universe;” the name also means “children of the cosmos.” With a variety of talent to draw from — the members were clearly established in the music industry before uniting — they focus on Om’Mas’ business acumen and his jazz background, Taz’s natural born winning attitude and street style as a “supreme visionary” and Shafiq’s deep resume and his exemplary talents as a rapper, singer, producer and songwriter (facets in which all three members indeed excel).
The power didn’t take long to manifest. Sa-Ra’s big break as a unit came when they landed work with Jurassic 5 soon after joining forces. The experience taught them that they had the talent, resources and vision to become a force on any level they chose to pursue.
“It initiated togetherness, which was breaking bread as a unit,” Taz explains. “That jumpstarted the cohesiveness that it would take to form the group eventually.”
The group’s subsequent work with John Legend, Kanye West (they were signed to his G.O.O.D.Music label before it was absorbed into Sony Music and they left the imprint) and others was accompanied by Sa-Ra releases: the Dark Matter And Pornography Mixtape and The Second Time Around. All of Sa-Ra’s work is marked by a connection to your soul, your being. It’s an intangible link to your inner self, making their output indispensable. It is something that cannot be ignored, as it cuts to the core of existence.
Sa-Ra’s music works well with how the group members see themselves. In life, you have victims, heroes, aggressors and the like. Sa-Ra are among the few heroes, and their music is a reflection of that. That’s why it contains a deeper meaning, a real purpose. After all, “I am from this world,” Taz explains, “but not of this world.”
So, if Sa-Ra’s music is too advanced, too spiritual, too heavy, don’t worry. It makes sense. It is a continuation of the work of music’s most significant artists.
“You look at James Brown, Prince, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Parliament — all of the originals, the Gs of whatever they did — people didn’t get it at first,” Shafiq says. “It wasn’t until they made it cool. Then, when they made it cool, everybody was doing it. Our job is to make history, not to entertain. Our job is to change, add and contribute to what the greats have already contributed.
