SadBoy Summer: Santa Barbara’s Biggest Rapper Drops New Single ‘Palm Trees’
SadBoy Loko Speaks on New Label, Album, and Life After Lockup
By Ryan P. Cruz | July 14,2022
SadBoy Loko has been through a lot in the past few years — spending most of 2018 through 2020 behind bars, and then coming home in the middle of a worldwide pandemic — but with a new album dropping on July 29, and a summertime anthem “Palm Trees” garnering hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, the Santa Barbara–born-and-bred rapper is making, as he says, a “major comeback from a minor setback.”
His newest single, “Palm Trees,” featuring Kap G and YBE, and its accompanying music video, are a look into SadBoy’s latest artistic and musical evolution, and a celebration of his newfound outlook on life. The vibe is reminiscent of the 2005 anthem “Summer Nights” by Lil Rob, with backyard cookouts; classic, chromed-out lowriders; palm trees; and a chorus that lends itself perfectly to cruising around town with the top down.
It’s a departure from some of the darker-themed gangsta rap of his earlier work, and for good reason. SadBoy’s stint in jail gave him time to reflect and be grateful for the little things in life.
“Jail vacation did me good; it humbled me,” he said. “When you spend two birthdays inside, you learn to appreciate things. Someone else out there in the world is going through…
