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When four jazz students from Humber College in Toronto started jamming together in 2010, few could have predicted they'd become the bridge between hip-hop's golden age and jazz's eternal cool. BADBADNOTGOOD – the quartet comprising Matthew Tavares on keys, Alexander Sowinski behind the kit, Chester Hansen on bass, and Leland Whitty wielding the saxophone – had already turned heads with their inventive covers of hip-hop classics on their first two releases. But with III, their 2014 breakthrough, they stepped boldly into original territory, crafting a sound that felt both timelessly sophisticated and urgently contemporary.

The album emerged from a period of intense creative ferment. Fresh off collaborations with Tyler, The Creator and Ghostface Killah, the band had absorbed the raw energy of hip-hop culture while maintaining their jazz school rigour. This wasn't fusion in the smooth, sanitised sense that word often implies – this was jazz with dirt under its fingernails, hip-hop with a music theory degree, and electronic music played entirely on acoustic instruments.

III opens with "Triangle," a deceptively simple piece that immediately establishes the band's mastery of space and dynamics. Sowinski's drums snap with the precision of a drum machine while maintaining organic warmth, as Tavares layers hypnotic keyboard patterns that nod to both J Dilla's sample-heavy aesthetic and Bill Evans' harmonic sophistication. It's a mission statement wrapped in velvet – this is jazz for the beat generation, literally.

The album's centrepiece, "Can't Leave The Night," showcases the quartet's ability to build tension through restraint. What begins as a barely-there whisper of brushed drums and contemplative piano gradually accumulates layers of bass and subtle electronic textures, creating an atmosphere so thick you could swim through it. It's the sound of 3am in a city that never sleeps, where neon lights reflect off wet streets and every shadow holds a story.

"Confessions Pt. II" featuring Colin Stetson on bass saxophone is perhaps the album's most adventurous moment. The track builds from ambient textures into a full-blown sonic assault, with Stetson's growling horn providing an almost industrial counterpoint to the band's more refined interplay. It's challenging music that rewards patience, revealing new details with each listen.

But it's "Hedron" that truly captures BADBADNOTGOOD's unique alchemy. The track begins with what sounds like a lost Madlib loop – dusty, warm, and impossibly groovy – before opening up into a full-band exploration that incorporates elements of post-rock dynamics and electronic music's textural approach. Hansen's bass walks the line between jazz tradition and hip-hop's bottom-heavy aesthetic, while Whitty's saxophone adds colour without ever feeling gratuitous.

The production, handled by the band themselves alongside Frank Dukes, deserves special mention. Every element sits perfectly in the mix, from the snap of Sowinski's snare to the woody thump of Hansen's upright bass. There's a warmth to the sound that recalls the golden age of Blue Note recordings, yet it never feels retro or pastiche.

What sets III apart from the countless jazz-hop experiments that have emerged in recent years is the band's genuine understanding of both traditions they're drawing from. These aren't jazz musicians slumming it with hip-hop beats, nor are they producers trying to add sophistication through jazz samples. They're true synthesists, creating something that honours both lineages while pointing toward new possibilities.

The album's influence has been considerable, inspiring a whole generation of musicians to explore the spaces between genres. BADBADNOTGOOD's approach – treating hip-hop as seriously as any other musical tradition worthy of jazz interpretation – has become a template for countless artists. Their subsequent work with Kendrick Lamar, Kali Uchis, and others has only cemented their reputation as the go-to collaborators for artists seeking to push boundaries.

Nearly a decade later, III sounds remarkably fresh. While some of their contemporaries have been trapped by the very genre-blending that initially made them interesting, BADBADNOTGOOD created something timeless – music that works equally well in a smoky jazz club or through headphones on a late-night walk through the city. It's an album that proves the best fusion isn't about combining styles but transcending them entirely, creating something that feels inevitable in retrospect but revolutionary in the moment.