‘Match made in heaven’ is a term that gets thrown from time to time in the music industry, but it’s widely accepted that only the most highly regarded duo of artists are worthy of such a tag. Lennon and McCartney? Surely. Cave and Minogue? Maybe. But former Wu Tang member Ghostface Killah and Toronto jazz group BadBadNotGood? At first glance, that’s an audacious claim for sure.

But to shrug off this pairing – and their debut collaborative album, Sour Soul – as a failed experiment would be to overlook one of the key facts about hip-hop: much of its development as a genre came through the adaption and customisation of traditional jazz music. Indeed, it’s so common to hear a polyrhythmic jazz drum beat behind modern hip-hop that jazz’s influence on the genre often flies well below the radar as contemporary rappers meld their style with radio-friendly pop. Therefore, Sour Soul is a timely reminder that the jazz/hip-hop fusion that artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Madlib fought to create is far from forgotten.

Nevertheless, the pairing of these two artists is peculiar to say the least. BadBadNotGood’s experimental and improvisational jazz has been circling the depths of the internet for close to four years now; despite the release of three albums, the band keeps a visage of anonymity and mystery that adds to the intrigue of their smoky sound.

Ghostface Killah, on the other hand, is arguably on the downhill of an illustrious career: an integral piece of one of New York’s most celebrated music groups – rap or otherwise – and the orchestrator of several acclaimed solo albums. Why these two artists chose to collaborate is anyone’s guess, but the outcome… It’s everything you’d expect.

Indeed, the most surprising part about Sour Soul may be the lack of surprise at all. If you’re more than partly familiar with the style of either of the artists – Ghostface’s characteristically high voice and BadBadNotGood’s dark and subtle instrumentation – there’s little here that will make you raise an eyebrow. The players play, the rapper raps. Any magic, therefore, comes from perfection of the trade: prevalent, if you know where to look.

Take ‘Gunshowers’, for example: a subtle but resounding back and forth strum leading one of the most innovative melodies that the group has ever produced, uniting seamlessly with boisterous rhymes recalling the rappers’ glory days: “I’m an activist, socialist, deadly-ass poetrist/ Supreme Clientele, I’m a goddam vocalist”. Although he may never again reach the heights of 2000’s Clientele, his sheer passionate fanaticism certainly takes Ghostface back to his glory days.

Thrust upon Sour Soul is a plethora of guests: those with a keen ear may hear the saxophone and violin of BadBadNotGood favourite Leland Whitty, while Frank Dukes once again takes the title of album producer.

Vocally, the guests on Sour Soul present a mixed bag: underground Detroit rapper Elzhi is sublime on ‘Gunshowers’, while the eccentric Danny Brown is uncharacteristically sloppy on the pitter-pattering ‘Six Degrees’. However, Sour Soul’s lift-off moment comes on late album cut ‘Ray Gun’, featuring the masked master MF DOOM. On what is quite clearly the albums’ most ambitious and zealous track, Ghostface blows the dust off his IronMan alias to do battle with DOOM, only to be beaten at his own game: the latter wins the duel game-set-match with a typically verbose verse, concluded with a sublimely satisfying “Blammo”.

Behind the roller-coaster storytelling rhymes of Ghostface, BadBadNotGood combine solidly – but there is no attempt to re-invent the wheel, not by any stretch. It seems there is an unspoken agreement of respect from the jazz group towards the veteran rapper: more often than not, the trio seem more than happy sitting back, looping the same riff or chord progression, and letting the expert work his magic.

Indeed, listeners are left salivating for a slice of experimental charm that was prevalent on BBNG and BBNG2; perhaps the lack of space to improvise hurts the trio more than they would have expected.

For those who heard of a new hip-hop/jazz album and were excited to hear a neo-Low End Theory wrapped up in themes of Afrocentrism and general positivity, Sour Soul is a cold bucket of water to the head. This collaboration serves to contribute much to alternative hip-hop in the modern era, and cements what we know about both Ghostface Killah and BadBadNotGood. You may not consider them fit for the label ‘match made in heaven’, but do they look like the type of match that really cares?

Sour Soul is out this Friday the 20th February, pre order here.

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