[Comp] BADBADNOTGOOD - "The New Thing"

As you, my trusted reader, very well know I'm a borderline Hip Hop and Jazz aficionando, and though my love for jazz mainly lies with the older legends like Miles, Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Sam Rivers, and so on, there's a select few young players that I still find makes excellent music that keeps pushing the music forward which I really love. Robert Glasper is the first that comes to mind, given his vast knowledge of what came before, his love for and ability to fuse other black genres in a convincing manner. But there's also cats like Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, Ravi Coltrane and a bunch of others holding down tradition. And then there's BadBadNotGood - when I first came across them I was weary of them as a jazz band to be honest. For one they look like high school kids, and while apperances shouldn't matter, if we are all honest with ourselves I think we'll find that things like this do have a bearing. And then they were associated with Odd Future whom I don't got much love for. So it was first when they started collaborating with people like MF DOOM, Wu-Tang Clan, Talib Kweli and especially their excellent work on Ghostface's "Sour Soul" album a year or two ago that really opened up my eyes. These guys are all good players despite not being close to true virtuosos. But it's their love for and ability to combine hip-hop elements with traditional jazz elements (or mainly jazz fusion styles to be fair) that really sets them apart and make them a crew to look out for. Much of their music has been produced by themeselves but as on "Sour Soul", "Rivers of Blood", Danny Brown's "Float On" it's when they are collaborating with the excellent Frank Dukes that the most interesting and professional sounding work tends to happen.

BadBadNotGood is a trio representing Toronto, Ontario and works in a classic jazz quartet constellation while using mainly electric or amplified instruments. The group consists of Leland Whitty on Saxophones (who was the last member to join), Matthew Tavares on keyboards, Chester Hansen on bass and Alexander Sowinski on bass (accoustic and electric). The group met at a college for jazz studies and realized they shared a common love for Hip Hop music as well as jazz and when deciding to form a band wanted to interpet hip hop tracks in a jazz setting. This was realized on their first full-length, the digital release "BBNG 1" (2011) where they covered classics and newer material in a trio setting by artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Gucci Mane, Slum Village, Gang Starr, Nas, Ol' Dirty Bastard and many others. You can check out the full album @ the BBNG Bandcamp. This album caught the attention of a lot of artists, including Odd Future, but to my ears more importantly it was when they caught the ears of RZA who included their production and instruemtnal skills for two tracks on his somewhat overlooked soundtrack to "The Man With The Iron Fists"; co-producing and playing on two songs ("Rivers Of Blood" / Wu-Tang Clan Ft. Kool G Rap and "Sex as a Weapon"

Following their first album, "BBNG #2" introduced new member, reedman Leland Whitty and it's here I feel that they really and truly came into their own as an excellent jazz ensemble. A piano trio (which is one of the usual jazz constellation and consists of bass, drums and piano with the pianist holding down all or most of the solo parts) only really works when all three of the musicians are absolutely excellent, but when bumping up the members to a full on classic quartet the circle was cose and some truly exceptional music was starting to get produced. Another important factor was the inclusion of their main producer Frank Dukes who has produced much of the guys' work since. One of their most recent projects was a full-length collaboration with Ghostface Killah and producer Frank Dukes called "Sour Soul" which received rave reviews from many publications and especially production wise they created an absolutely incredible soundbed for GFK to spit his knowledge over.

I wanted to make a compilation of some of these guys excellent work, possibly it can put on a few more on them as they deifnitely deserve it. Jazz is not dead - the jazz of old perhaps (though all those classic records will live forever), but there's lots of artists out there still making very interesting albums. That and the fact that these young guys have impressed me immensely with much of their material so be sure to keep an eye on them if you feel the same way, check and support for new material at the Bandcamp link above and sites like The Lost Tapes. But right now I just want you to sit back, let that volume bump and shake your head to this sick shit. And while you're at it be sure to cop the aforementioned Ghost / BBNG album from LEX if you haven't already, a very good album no doubt.

01. BBNG - "DOOM" ["Fazers" Cover]

02. Earl Sweatshirt - "Hoarse"

03. JJ Doom - "Guv'nor" [BBNG Version]

04. Ghostface Killah - "Tone's Rap" [Instrumental 7'' Version]

05. BBNG - "Mass Appeal" [Gang Starr Cover]

06. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - "Shame" [BBNG Version]

07. Wu-Tang Clan Ft. Kool G Rap - "Rivers Of Blood"

08.Tyler The Creator - "She" [BBNG Remix]
09. Danny Brown - "Float On"
10. BBNG - "Fall In Love" [Slum Village Cover]
11. Talib Kweli & RES - "Sex As A Weapon"
12. Mick Jenkins - "On The Map" [BBNG Remix]
13. BBNG - "CS60"
14. Black Milk / BSNG - "Now Or Never"

BADBADNOTGOOD - "BadBadMeaningGood"

[Review/Stream] GHOSTFACE - "SOUR SOUL"

There's been some serious lack of updates over here at The Lost Tapes which I apologize to my trusted readers for. Sometimes life just gets in the way, you know, and I always want to give you the best. For those who know me or follow the site, you might be familiar with my top three all time great emcees - which are none other than Rakm, Ghostface Killah and Nas. Not only are they great writers, or have memorable voices, but they all have the total package - from the flow, to the writing, from the cadence, to the delivery, from the catalouge to the live shows, to the originality, and so on. As legendary they are they have never either felt the need to do what is expected from them. Albums like "Wizard Of Poetry", "The Seventh Seal" and "NIGGER" might not have been what the fans expected from these guys at the given time, but nontheless it was what was on their respective minds as artists and therefore they should have all the credit in the world for expressing that to the fullest. But this post is about Ghostface Killah, and more specifically about his new collaboration with young Canadian jazz trio BadBadNotGood and producer Frank Dukes which dropped last week.

I kind of view "Sour Soul" as the third installment in a trilogy that begun a couple of years back when Ghostface teamed up with LA multi-instrumentalist Adrian Younge and his band Venice Dawn for "12 Reasons to Die". Barely a year later The Masked Killer unleashed a full-length project produced and performed by Brooklyn based live band The Revelations who, under the supervision of RZA and Lil' Fame, did an excellent job in producing "Chamber Music" and "Legendary Weapons". Both aforementioned albums was plot driven albums that told a story from point A to B, and especially on the latter you could hear that Ghost didn't feel as excited or free in creating his lyrial poems. The result was an album with a decent storyline that lacked any real suprises or slanged out goodies which in turn made the replay value real lacking. Listening to "Sour Soul" for the first time it's easy to see that "36 Seasons" was a small mistep in the wrong direction. Instead of the imitation type '70s soul and funk beats we got on the latter, BBNG and Frank Dukes takes mad inspiration from the type of gritty, psychadelic funk that was all over blaxploatation soundtracks of its heyday - back when Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye created cinematic masterpieces to screen over bad ass flicks like "Super Bad" and "Trouble Man". This is the type of powerful shit the quintet has cooked up for the duration of the LP, and trust me when I say that it's not boring for a second.

The lenght of the album, clocking in at only 32 minutes at 12 tracks, and 9 songs featuring vocals at that, might have knuckleheads screaming foul and "EP hustle!" but they are completely missing the point. This is how it used to be done, cut all the fillers, make sure there's a red line running throughout the disc, and if it doesn't fit - no matter how good - save it for another project. I got to give props to the quintet involved here for doing just that as this plays exactly like an album in its truest sense and unlike "36 Seasons" it is truly a worthy sequel to the equally brilliant "Twelve Reasons to Die". Over dark, agressive funk with soul vibes, Ghostface sounds rejuvinated; ditching the predictable gangster slang for psychadelic rainbow slang and ghetto alien speak. In other words there's plenty of rewind worthy material throughout, and it's kind of funny that three very young Canadian caucasians brings some of the darkest, most afro-centric, jazz fusion blues that Ghost has sunk his teeth into for quite a few years. There's horns, Fender basses, vibraphones, kicking drum patterns, strings, and guitars - and all without the use of samples. Yet, Frank Dukes, who has a great track record with Ghost, clearly knows how to get that crisp sound imitating a sampler. And there's no question about it - these gentlemen were having a hell of a lot of fun recording this gem. Last but not least, it's a collaborative effort in every sense of the word - it's just as much a BadBadNotGood / Frank Dukes album as it is a Ghostface album, and I think everyone involved should get the highest props for their hard work on this. I can only hope this is the first of many volumes to come. "Sour Soul" is another highlight in Ghostface's catalouge - a discography that is quickly becoming perhaps the finest in all of hip-hop. Personally I'd rate this album four out of five.

Stream the entire album below to get a taste of what to expect, but you should of course grab it on either iTunes or better yet a physical copy and support the real. Grab it @ iTunes or UGHH.

GHOSTFACE KILLAH - "Tone's Rap"

Ghostface & jazz trio BadBadNotGood lets go of "Tone's Rap", the fourth leak from their upcoming collaboration LP called "Sour Soul". This is an excellent jam and with a third of the record out there I don't see how this will dissapoint any fan of this quintet (Frank Dukes is co-producing everything and his track record with Ghost is on point too). "Sour Soul" hits stores on February 24.

GHOSTFACE KILLAH / DOOM - "Ray Gun"

Ghostface Killah is not only one of the top emcees of all time but he's also undoubtedly one of the hardest working men in hip-hop. Since last month he has released his excellent solo album "36 Seasons", appeared on roughly half the tracks of Wu-Tang Clan's reunion LP, and prepared the second collaboration with Sheek Louch and a host of guest emcees from both camps under the Wu Block banner (that "Hidden Gems" album should've dropped this Tuesday but seems to have been pushed back - what's the deal?). As if that wasn't enough Tony Starks is already getting ready to drop yet another full-length project. Following his storytelling over live instrumentation projects with Adrian Younge and The Revelations, respectively, Starks now taps Canadian jazz trio BadBadNotGood to provide the backdrops. I'm not too familiar with the group save for some scattered tracks (including "Rivers of Blood" with Ghost, G Rap and Raekwon which they co-produced) and an interview in Bonafide, but what little I've heard sounds good and Ghost is notorious for picking ill sounds to rhyme over. "Sour Soul" is out via LEX Records on February 24, is completely produced by BBNG in collaboration with Frank Dukes, and sports guest features from Danny Brown, DOOM, eLzhi and Tree. Check out the new video for the DOOM assisted single "Ray Gun" up top.

GHOSTFACE KILLAH x BBNG - "Ray Gun" (Ft. DOOM)

Ghostface Killah is not only my all-time favorite emcee but he's also one of the most prolific artists hip-hop has ever witnessed, and what's really impressive is that his proejcts are always dope. He have a huge catalouge of albums and he hasn't done more than two half-weak albums, tops. Working with RZA's side projects "Chamber Music", "Legendary Weapons", "Man With The Iron Fists" and Soul Temple Records he really started building on a new style that fit the vertan emce to a tee. He of course recorded the absolutely brilliant concept album with Adrian Younge called "Twelve Reasons to Die" in 2012; hooked up with The Revelation (who produced or played on all the aforementioned three projects) for another concept album late last year called "36 Seasons" and even though fans really haven't catch their breath on that one he is already back with young, white jazz trio BadBadNotGood for a full-length collaboration to be released on February 23 via LEX/EOne. With all music produced and performed by BadBadNotGood, this could be viewed as a third volume in a trilogy of Ghostface telling stories over live jazz/blues instrumentation. We've previously heard the slamming singles with Danny Brown and eLzhi, but for "Ray Gun" he brings out the one and only DOOM which I know is gonna get a lot of y'all (myself included) very hype, The album drops on February 23 so STAY TUNED!

GHOSTFACE x BADBADNOTGOOD - "Gunshowers" (Ft. eLzhi)

Tony Starks joins forces with up-and-coming jazz trio BadBadNotGood once again following some tracks on the "Man With The Iron Fist" OST and especially the recently released "Six Degrees" 7" featuring Danny Brown. "Gunshowers" is more of the same, with Ghost spitting absolute heat over very competent live instrumentation, and this time the quartet is joined by the always immaculate spitter eLzhi - what more can you ask for? 

As if the few tracks we've heard so far isn't enough, Ghost and BadBadNotGood has signed a deal with LEX Records for a full-length collaboration album to be released on February 16. I for one can't fucking wait, this should easily be a contender for album of the year in 2015. Stay tuned for more info and singles from "Sour Soul" as it's called. Damn!!!

GHOSTFACE x BADBADNOTGOOD - "Six Degrees" (Ft. Danny Brown)

Ghostface Killah and jazz trio BadBadNotGood has teamed up to create a stupid fresh 10" single for LEX Records called "Six Degrees" with Danny Brown popping in for a guest verse as well. Pre-order @ LEX and get it by June 23.