BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul

Certainly one of my most anticipated albums of the year, Sour Soul has arrived and there are a few things that anyone anticipating this album needs to know.

One of the most unique rappers in history, Ghostface Killah – A man who has now peaked in three different decades since coming to the fore with “Wu-Tang Clan” in 1993 off the back of “Enter the Wu-Tang 36 Chambers” – an album that still today matches anything the genre of hip-hop has produced – paired with “BadBadNotGood” – an anomaly in hip-hop where a group enter the genre without an M.C. and gain a substantial cult following as well as collaborating on tracks with Earl Sweatshirt, JJ DOOM, Danny Brown and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan for “The Man With Iron Fists” soundtrack. This combination was sure to have hip-hop fans frothing at the mouth to hear what kind of, imaginative project would unfold.

But in reality, it was never going to be that simple.

You see; BadBadNotGood, although indented in hip-hop are mainly a Jazz group and have only contributed to individual tracks for the aforementioned artists. Furthermore, BBNG create Jazz interpretations of Hip-Hop songs which mostly veer off into outright jamming, a feature which most of their audience are drawn to due to the spontaneity and energy these jams bring to the recordings. Moreover, the first three BadBadNotGood albums have ALL relied heavily on improvised Jazz solos from Keyboardist, Mathew Tavarez and Bassist, Chester Hansen with the fulcrum of BBNG’s hip-hop aesthetic stemming from Alexander Sowinski’s snappy, dense drumbeats.

Similarly, Ghostface Killah’s delivery and storytelling have him citing lenghty verses and taking his thoughts and ideas off-course. Mainly on solo projects, Ghost prefers to reel off lines like:

“Trauma, hands is like candy canes, lay my balls on ice

The branches in my weed be the vein

Swimsuit issue, darts sent truly from the heart, boo, I miss you

See daddy rock a wristful

Modern slave God, graveyard spells, fog your goggles

Layin like needles in the hospital

Five steps to conquer, Ax Vernon debt, big ass whistle Ziploc your ear, hear thistle.”

Ghostface Killah – One (Supreme Clientele)

With both artists making their respective names at what I describe as “Going Off”, neither have really done so on collaborative projects. And if now both made that decision and said "fuck it", would that work if both did?

Therefore, the idea that you would get the very best of both artists on this album was highly unlikely and although that proved to be true, in my opinion, both Ghostface Killah and BadBadNotGood bring you an album of short concise hip-hop songs that cut through any fat and go right to the bone.

Sour Soul, by and large, is as good as I could have hoped it to be. This album doesn’t "go off" for any noticeable length of time but instead uses its pacing across the 33 minutes it lasts, as well as its intricacies, to create a journey which has myself both, coming back for more and more listens, whilst simultaneously wishing there was more for me to enjoy.

Instrumentally, BadBadNotGood make it clear from the start that they will follow on from last years, “III”. However, as the album unfolds the trio use more guitars and orchestral arrangements than they have before. Lazy thinking would lead anyone who has heard Ghostface Killah's last two projects, to see the trend of old soul influences being the backdrop for him, and believe it is becoming a trend. But as I listen more and more, my understanding is that the instrumentation is as much BBNG becoming more experimental outside of their normal relm to embrace larger, more methodical soundscapes, without straying far from their normal rhythms and core drum, keys and bass tones.

Take the end of Ray Gun ft MF DOOM and its heavy, low-noted Piano-chords that end a track that sounds like the scene of an early 70s crime thriller that’s been animated in the form of a comic book or TV show. DOOM’s inclusion in the song makes this possible and demonstrates BadBadNotGood’s ability to compliment the rappers that they work with – Especially here, when DOOM drops a trademark final statement, “Blammo!” at the end of his short-lived verse providing the perfect Seg-way for BBNG to do their thing.


BadBadNotGood drop numerous moments of stellar instrumentation throughout, with the menacing drums and modulated guitar on Six Degrees providing the perfect backdrop for Ghostface Killah to get angry and spit, “Dangerous thoughts mind of a militia…” which sets the scene perfectly and ties in the thuggish mood of the track from the start. Danny Brown’s wacky high pitched voice breaks up the instrumental flow to allow Ghostface to finish off the track with a trademark, nasty, confrontational verse. The extraordinary waling slide guitar sounds on the following track “Gunshowers” are a unique venture for BBNG and help the track progress with a perpetual motion as Ghostface flows smoothly with an undertone of his usual anti-hero, ‘Tony Stark’ persona, rapping about blowing minds with his words whilst being the “…next Escobar or Sosa”. “Tone’s Rap” sees Ghostface blowing off steam as he reaffirms his gangster status, but this track belongs to BadBadNotGood with a spectacular progression and yet another soundtrack-esque instrumental.

“Mind Playing Tricks” and “Street Knowledge” hark back to “Twelve Reasons To Die”. The first of which Ghostface rides a frantic flow reeling off tales of paranoia similar to “Enemies All Around Me”. The latter of the two features “Tree” with his deep, crusty voice taking the listener on a guided tour of how to operate as a gangster on the streets with Ghostface taking over the hook and inforcing similar ideas before continuing this trend in his verse.

Side-note; hip-hop seems to be looking at fewer features on albums, a trend that I fully approve of – RATKING, Run the Jewels, Joey Bada$$ and now this.

Perhaps the track that provides a template for the album that could have been, Nuggets of Wisdom kicks off with Ghostface “Going off” but for a shortened period of time before a beat-switch half way leaving BadBadNotGood improvising for the rest of the track. This is a tiny showcase of what everyone anticipated this album to be. The fact that it is the one track in which both artists reach their stylistic peaks, reinforces my theory that BBNG and Ghostface Killah fans wanted something they were never likely to get.

BadBadNotGood close the album with Experience, a fully orchestrated composition of strings and horns which hopefully provides an insight to the solo album they are expected to drop later this year. But what should have been the albums closer in my opinion, “Food” possibly provides a blueprint, obviously, along with Ray Gun, for what Ghostface Killah and MF DOOM’s highly anticipated collaboration might sound like.

One can only hope.

In the end, it depends on what you look for in this album. I expected stellar instrumentals with nasty Ghostface verses and a few good features - that is what I got.

Well done everyone involved!