vinylfanatics.com

**BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul**
★★★★☆

The collaboration between Toronto's jazz-fusion prodigies BADBADNOTGOOD and Wu-Tang legend Ghostface Killah feels almost inevitable in hindsight, yet when "Sour Soul" dropped in 2015, it still managed to catch the hip-hop world delightfully off-guard. What started as mutual admiration between a scrappy Canadian trio and one of rap's most cinematic storytellers evolved into something far more substantial – a full-length statement that bridges generational gaps and genre boundaries with surprising grace.

The seeds of this unlikely partnership were planted years earlier when BADBADNOTGOOD, then just three Toronto music students with a YouTube channel, began posting jazz interpretations of hip-hop classics. Their instrumental take on "Six Degrees" caught Ghostface's attention, leading to an organic friendship that eventually blossomed into studio sessions. The chemistry was undeniable: here was a group that understood the musical DNA of hip-hop's golden era, paired with an MC who had never lost his hunger for innovation despite decades in the game.

"Sour Soul" operates in a sonic space that feels both nostalgic and forward-thinking, drawing heavily from the cinematic soul and funk that defined 1970s blaxploitation soundtracks. BADBADNOTGOOD's instrumentation – Chester Hansen's rubbery basslines, Matthew Tavares' haunting keys, and Alexander Sowinski's crisp drumwork – creates a noir-ish atmosphere that perfectly complements Ghostface's vivid street narratives. The production aesthetic feels deliberately analog, with tape hiss and vinyl crackle adding texture to compositions that could have soundtracked a lost Gordon Parks film.

The album's standout moments showcase this symbiosis at its finest. "Gunshowers" featuring DOOM is a masterclass in menacing minimalism, with sparse instrumentation allowing both MCs to weave their verbal magic over a hypnotic groove. The track epitomizes what makes this collaboration work – BADBADNOTGOOD provides the perfect sonic backdrop without overwhelming their guests, while Ghostface delivers some of his most focused bars in years. "Ray Gun" featuring MF DOOM continues this momentum, with the band's jazz-fusion chops creating space for DOOM's abstract wordplay to breathe and evolve.

"Six Degrees" serves as the album's emotional centerpiece, expanding on the original BBNG instrumental that first caught Ghostface's ear. Here, the rapper reflects on loyalty and betrayal over cascading piano lines and a rhythm section that swings between restraint and release. It's vintage Ghostface – personal yet universal, street-smart yet philosophical. The Danny Brown-assisted "Transpose" injects manic energy into the proceedings, with Brown's helium-pitched delivery contrasting beautifully against the band's measured sophistication.

The album's guest appearances feel carefully curated rather than obligatory. Elzhi brings Detroit grit to "Mind Playing Tricks," while Tree adds melodic sensibility to "Stark's Reality." Each collaboration feels purposeful, adding new dimensions to the core BBNG/Ghostface dynamic without disrupting the album's cohesive flow.

What makes "Sour Soul" particularly compelling is how it avoids the typical pitfalls of rapper-meets-live-band collaborations. Rather than simply providing instrumental backing, BADBADNOTGOOD functions as true collaborators, their compositions enhancing and responding to Ghostface's narratives. The interplay feels conversational – the band pushes the rapper into new sonic territories while Ghostface challenges them to dig deeper into hip-hop's rhythmic complexities.

Nearly a decade later, "Sour Soul" stands as both a creative peak for BADBADNOTGOOD and a late-career highlight for Ghostface Killah. The album helped establish BBNG as more than just YouTube sensations, proving their ability to work within hip-hop's established framework while bringing their own musical sophistication to the table. For Ghostface, it represented a successful reinvention, pairing his seasoned storytelling with production that felt both familiar and fresh.

The album's influence can be heard in the wave of jazz-rap collaborations that followed, from Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp a Butterfly" to the continued rise of artists like Robert Glasper and Terrace Martin. "Sour Soul" proved that the marriage between live instrumentation