Today's review is on the new collaboration album from Ghostface Killah and BADBADNOTGOOD. This is a project I have been pumped about for a while. This collab came out of nowhere, but it is really promising and cool. BADBADNOTGOOD is basically a jazz trio who have been successful making jazz and rock remixes of popular hip hop beats, while the legendary Ghostface Killah from the Wu-Tang Clan is just always awesome. He has recently released some good albums, but the BBNG production here has me way more excited for Sour Soul than I was for those. How will this collab sound throughout a full album?
BADBADNOTGOOD handles all of the production on Sour Soul, and as I expected, it was pretty stellar. The beats on this album are pretty unorthodox for Ghostface, as BBNG is really a jazz group more than they are a hip hop group. While there weren't any bad instrumentals and all these beats were good on their own, they sounded very samey across the album. Aside from a few songs, Sour Soul didn't have much variety in its instrumentals. The whole album sounds pretty sinister, dark, and dry. Most of the beats on here, while bringing cool instruments and effects, follow this formula. There were only a few beats that stuck out, one of them being Gunshowers. This track was led by an awesome string tune, with synthesizers and steady drums pacing the beat. It was super smooth and sounded great. The instrumental song Stark's Reality was also a standout. I loved the sound of this, with the vibe being very dramatic. So, there were a few that I did like a lot, and I'm not saying the beats here were bad, because I think BBNG did a solid job. I just think there wasn't much variety, and the production ended up sounding a bit forgettable.
As for Ghostface Killah, this guy is a legend in hip hop. He was awesome in Wu-Tang Clan, and continues to be with his consistent solo releases. On Sour Soul, he is back to his usual tricks, rapping with his high-pitched forceful delivery and spitting some great lines. The thing is, Ghostface only raps on eight of the twelve tracks, which is a massive disappointment. I was really excited mainly to hear him over this production, and I only get it on a handful of tracks. The ones he did rap on, though, only just alright for the most part. After the forgettable title track intro, Ghost brings out two straight bangers with Six Degrees and Gunshowers.The former is a dark, energetic fist pumping track that features an awesome feature from none other than Danny Brown. The latter is extremely smooth, with Ghost rapping effortlessly over the guitar beat. It features another Detroit MC, Elzhi, who I felt absolutely killed it, adding a new element to the song. Unfortunately, no other tracks match up to these two highlights. A lot of these were just boring to me, like Street Knowledge, Food, and Mind Playing Tricks. These solo Ghostface tracks were just forgettable, with no memorable qualities. The song Ray Gun, which featured the legendary MF DOOM, was also not great. I felt the song flowed in an odd way and DOOM just didn't do much of anything in his verse. Overall, this collab was a disappointment to me. It was very small, with Ghost only rapping several times. While Sour Soul did bring me two absolutely awesome tracks, everything else was a bit forgettable.
SOUR SOUL WRAP UP
+Cool vibes with dark production from BBNG
+Ghostface raps with usual energetic delivery
+Two great features from Danny Brown and Elzhi
-Not much variety with production
-A lot of forgettable, meh moments
Best: Six Degrees, Gunshowers, Food
Worst: Tone's Rap
Ghostface Killah & BADBADNOTGOOD- Sour Soul
6.4/10
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