SadBoi links with Grammy winning producer YOGI and Tokyo rapper NENE on Ride or Die, a new single and video released on October 30. The record connects Toronto, London and Tokyo in one track, and it puts a Toronto voice at the centre of an international club record.
The single is the second release from YOGI’s forthcoming project, following ANGREZE earlier this year. Where that first record introduced the direction, Ride or Die widens it, bringing SadBoi’s melodic delivery and NENE’s sharp verses together over production built from South Asian percussion, distorted bass and dark electronic textures.
SadBoi Ride or Die and the Toronto rappers connection
For Toronto rappers building a sound that travels, this is the kind of placement that matters. SadBoi was raised in Toronto’s west end in a Caribbean household, surrounded by Jamaican patois and soundsystem culture, and her music has always carried those roots into rap, R&B, dancehall, drill and Brazilian funk. On Ride or Die, that background is not decoration. Her cool, melodic approach is the counterweight to the track’s heavy low end, giving the record its Toronto attitude while the production pushes somewhere harder and darker.
Her 2024 project DRY CRY, released through LVRN, introduced that blend to a wider audience, with contributions from collaborators including Cash Cobain, Tay Keith, Smiley, DJ SAZE and Duquesa. Ride or Die is a different kind of step. Instead of a hometown lineup, SadBoi holds her own beside a Tokyo headliner and a London rooted producer, and she sounds entirely at home doing it. That ease across scenes is exactly what has made her one of the most closely watched names in canadian hip hop this year.
A video filmed in Toronto and Tokyo
The official video extends the record’s idea visually, cutting between footage of SadBoi filmed in Toronto and NENE filmed in Tokyo, with YOGI’s production as the link between the two cities. It is a simple concept that matches how the song was built: three artists, three home scenes, one shared intensity. NENE, known for her solo releases and as one half of the Japanese duo Yurufuwa Gang, brings a sound that moves through hip hop, hyperpop, UK garage and drum and bass, and her international collaborations have already included an appearance on The Chemical Brothers track Eve of Destruction and work with Awich and Young Coco.
Against YOGI’s clipped percussion and distorted bass, NENE’s agile delivery adds urgency from the first bar, while SadBoi’s performance moves confidently through the track’s darker atmosphere. The contrast is the point. Neither guest adjusts to the other, and the record is stronger for holding both styles at full volume.
YOGI builds a project around identity
YOGI has spent over a decade producing and writing for other artists across electronic music, hip hop and experimental club sounds. His credits include time with Dr. Dre’s in house production team and contributions to Victoria Monét’s Grammy winning album JAGUAR II, along with releases through Skrillex’s OWSLA label and projects connected with Pusha T and British rapper Wretch 32. Ride or Die continues a creative direction he introduced with ANGREZE, placing questions of identity, immigration and cultural belonging at the centre of his own music after years spent shaping records for others.
His approach draws directly from his British South Asian background, building percussion and rhythmic traditions into the foundations of the production, then letting UK bass music, electronic dance music and contemporary rap enter the same conversation. The result on Ride or Die is a track with real physicality, built to be felt through a powerful sound system, while still leaving room for both featured performers to establish their own identities.
Why this record matters for Toronto
Toronto’s underground scenes have always traded influences across borders, through dancehall, electronic music and regional club styles moving between cities. Ride or Die brings those connections into focus in a single release: YOGI’s production rooted in the British Asian underground, SadBoi carrying the Caribbean influenced sounds of Toronto’s contemporary scene, and NENE arriving with the adventurous energy of Japanese hip hop and electronic music.
With ANGREZE introducing the direction and Ride or Die expanding its international reach, YOGI’s forthcoming project is taking shape through bold collaborations, and SadBoi’s place in it is a genuine marker for Toronto. The single and its video are out now, released October 30, and for listeners tracking where Toronto’s sound goes next, this is a record worth hearing at full volume.
