Bas started rapping as a lark and within a decade became a central member of the Dreamville roster with Last Winter (2014), Too High to Riot (2016), and Milky Way (2018), charting albums characterized by thoughtful and versatile wordplay. The son of Sudanese parents, Bas (short for Abbas Hamad) was raised in Paris until the age of eight, when his family moved to Jamaica, Queens. Coerced by a friend, he started rapping in 2010, and a series of informal sessions later was linked to J. Cole. Bas' development as a performer was fostered by touring with Cole, who eventually signed ...