SahBabii’s Barnacles Is An X-Rated Good Time
The Atlanta rapper’s new album is an explicitly detailed journey into his world

Barnacles would be the soundtrack to a reboot of American Pie starring Stranger Things’ Caleb McLaughlin as Jim Levenstein and Amandla Stenberg as Michelle Flaherty. The lucid, steamy and flirtatious new project from SahBabii is borderline obsessed with doing the do—so much so that its explicitness can, on occasion, become its weakness. But with its clear sense of direction and some of SahBabii’s most adventurous rapping in his career thus far, Barnacles is his strongest work to date. It pushes him away from Atlanta’s rap scene and onto his own island—one clad with babes and contraceptives, evolving away from emulating his influences.
Of the many artists that Young Thug’s animated influence can be heard and felt in, SahBabii ranks near the top. The 23-year-old rapper, originally from Chicago but moved to Atlanta at 13, went viral off his 2016 breakout song, “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick” that repurposed Thug’s villainistic chanting to create a cartoonish ode to carrying guns. SahBabii would go on to release his first project, S.A.N.D.A.S., in 2017, Squidtastic in 2018 and the three-track EP, 3P, in 2019, with each finding him growing more idiosyncratic, delving more into sexual experiences and anime references then his legendary predecessor.
Barnacles’ arrival comes at an interesting time, as it could very well be the last new music we get from SahBabii. Earlier this year, he revealed to Pigeons and Planes that after the release of a new album, then called Wolverine, he was considering retiring to do other things. So, potentially, Barnacles could be the emotional parting message to fans that tearfully thanks them for their support over the last four years.
But SahBabii snorts at tradition. Barnacles isn’t even remotely close to a swan song. It contains ripped audio from a Pornhub compilation video. Its 16 tracks are about intercourse and its many angles. He compares his member to the Disney classic character Goofy, a plate of spaghetti and a biscuit from Popeyes, for starters. And then through a buffet of ornery one-liners, he establishes an X-rated oasis that makes you want to turn the volume down just a little bit—in case the car on the road next to you has young kids in the back.