Does dismissing something as art school bullshit qualify as good criticism? It’s a question that has been raised in the mini debate over the latest Future Brown album, but on the other hand there’s Ontario post-bop/hip-hop band BADBADNOTGOOD—a group that met through the jazz program at Humber College that has permeated hip-hop with strong covers of new rap standards that have ultimately led to a full-length collaboration with legendary Shaolin MC Ghostface Killah. The idea that BADBADNOTGOOD are auteurs pushing hip-hop forward might be overblown, especially since their dark, woozy aesthetic has been done better by Suicideyear and a few double cups, but the hip-hop they gravitated to has fumbled for new ideas. It’s fitting that they themselves are working in hip-hop, a genre often accused of being stuck in neutral, having called out academic jazz for stopping the textbook at A Love Supreme. As it turns out, the trio is not edgy or progressive in practice—just a damn good hip-hop band floating around in a post-2006 hip-hop atmosphere.
These days, the notion of early 2006 marking a sea change in hip-hop is more clear because of two of the year’s best works: J Dilla’s Donuts and Ghostface Killah’s Fishscale. Since Donuts, there is a relatively agreed upon cut-off date for indie/backpack/what have you, rapper’s rappers that have released great music. A month later, Ghostface Killah released Fishscale, arguably his best album, which was full of vague street bars and featured beats from seminal producers including but not limited to Just Blaze, Dilla, Pete Rock and MF Doom. Since then, Ghostface has been more about concepts than rhymes and the results have been mixed. His previous two releases, 12 Reasons To Die and 36 Seasons were great, the former being rap opera par excellence and the latter being enough of a bar fest to distract from to borrowed concepts from its predecessor. On the other hand, there was Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, which we’re just not going to talk about. Of the post-Fishscale Ghostface Killah albums, 12 Reasons To Die, produced entirely by composer Adrian Younge, is analogous to his newest release, Sour Soul, simply because there’s one party handling all of the beats. And while BadBadNotGood holds up their end of the bargain, Ghostface seems to have used up all of his A-material on 36 Seasons.
While critics have bellyached about Ghostface not rhyming like he has in his prime, his Tony Starks opera has been his freshest material since Fishscale. Sour Soul sees Ghostface Killah approximating his rhymes from his legendary 2000-2006 run, but the result is a flaccid rapper saying his enemies move like Paul Blart and coming up with new ways to announce his presence as an O.G., which is very true, but insisting upon a reputation sounds more like a cry for relevance than interesting bars. However, the opportunity to work with the legendary Starks proves to bring the best out of Detroit’s Elzhi, whose dexterous verse on “Gunshowers” is the highlight of the album. Elsewhere, Danny Brown, DOOM, and Chicago’s Tree outdo Ghostface Killah.
Even though this is one of Ghostface Killah’s worst albums, it’s one with plenty of silver lining. The man who drew a blueprint for what a good hip-hop album can be nine years later continues to play tastemaker to old heads who are in need of a few new acts to throw into their rotation and Tree, Danny Brown, and BADBADNOTGOOD are the right artists to co-sign. But this a release for fans and if you don’t need an introduction to the artists Ghostface Killah works with on Sour Soul, skip over this and give 36 Seasons another listen.
Rating: 2.5/5