Sour Soul | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 24, 2015 | |||
Recorded | 2014 | |||
Studio | Dunham Studios (Brooklyn) Kingsway Studios (Toronto) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 32:55 | |||
Label | Lex Records | |||
Producer | Frank Dukes | |||
BadBadNotGood chronology | ||||
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Ghostface Killah chronology | ||||
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Singles from Sour Soul | ||||
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Sour Soul is a collaborative studio album from Canadian jazz instrumental hip hop band BadBadNotGood and Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah. It was released worldwide on February 24,2015. [1]
Sour Soul is the collaborative album from for which BBNG and Ghostface Killah sought inspiration from the music of the 1960s and 70s. This included the recording techniques and production of that era,eschewing sampling in favor of live instrumentation. [2] All tracks are produced by Frank Dukes,with additional production from BadBadNotGood and Wayne Gordon. [3] [4] MF DOOM,Elzhi,Danny Brown and Tree contributed feature guest spots. Ghostface does not appear on tracks 1,5 and 12,which are instrumental tracks.
A majority of tracks were recorded in Thomas Brenneck's Dunham Sound Studios in Williamsburg,Brooklyn with contributors from New York soul revival scene including sessions musicians from The Budos Band and Daptone Records engineer Wayne Gordon. Other recording sessions took place in Frank Dukes' Kingsway Studios with contributions from Toronto artists River Tiber and David Lewis. [4]
As a companion record,Lex Records simultaneously released an instrumental version of the album. [5]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.3/10 [6] |
Metacritic | 76/100 [7] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [8] |
Billboard | [9] |
Drowned in Sound | 9/10 [10] |
Exclaim! | 6/10 [11] |
HipHopDX | [12] |
Paste | 8/10 [13] |
Pitchfork | 6.2/10 [14] |
Sour Soul has received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic,which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics,the album received an average score of 76,based on 27 reviews. In a mixed review for Exclaim! ,Eric Zaworski noted that the record "hurriedly finishes without giving its concepts enough time to bloom," further explaining that "the production is top-notch,but Ghost rarely shifts into uncharted lyrical territory,holding back Sour Soul's otherwise consistent production." [11]
In an extremely positive review,giving the album a score of 9 out of 10,Sam Moore wrote for Drowned in Sound that "Sour Soul is sublime." Adding that "rather than standing around starstruck,BBNG have more than proven their worth as Ghostface’s backing band." [10]
The album was a short-listed nominee for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize. [15]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Mono" (instrumental) |
| 0:58 |
2. | "Sour Soul" |
| 2:45 |
3. | "Six Degrees" (featuring Danny Brown) |
| 3:40 |
4. | "Gunshowers" (featuring Elzhi) |
| 3:03 |
5. | "Stark's Reality" (instrumental) |
| 2:12 |
6. | "Tone's Rap" |
| 2:58 |
7. | "Mind Playing Tricks" |
| 2:37 |
8. | "Street Knowledge" (featuring TREE) |
| 3:24 |
9. | "Ray Gun" (featuring MF DOOM) |
| 3:07 |
10. | "Nuggets of Wisdom" |
| 2:11 |
11. | "Food" |
| 3:23 |
12. | "Experience" (instrumental) |
| 2:37 |
Total length: | 32:55 |
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [16]
BADBADNOTGOOD and Ghostface Killah
Additional contributors
Chart (2015) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [17] | 54 |
Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA) [18] | 1 |
Australian Urban Albums (ARIA) [18] | 5 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [19] | 196 |
US Billboard 200 [20] | 109 |
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard) [21] | 6 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [22] | 9 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [23] | 12 |
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [24] | 12 |
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard) [25] | 5 |
Dennis David Coles, better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success. Ghostface Killah debuted his solo career with Ironman, which was well-received by music critics, in 1996. He has enjoyed continued success in the years that have followed, releasing critically acclaimed albums such as Supreme Clientele (2000) and Fishscale (2006). His stage name was taken from one of the characters in the 1979 kung fu film The Mystery of Chess Boxing. He is the founder of his own record label, Starks Enterprises.
Lex Records is a British independent record label. Most releases on the label are alternative hip hop, alternative rock or electronic music. Dazed described Lex as a label "...whose wildly creative output spans over a decade of landmark releases that have changed the music industry no end."
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BadBadNotGood is a Canadian instrumental band and production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinski. In 2016, they were joined by frequent collaborator Leland Whitty. Among other projects, the group has released five solo studio albums, with the latest, Talk Memory, released in October 2021. They have had critical and crossover success, finding audiences in the hip hop, jazz, and alternative music communities.
BBNG2 is the second studio album from Canadian music group BADBADNOTGOOD. It was made available on April 3, 2012, via the band's website as a free download in various formats. The album is a mixture of original compositions and covers of Earl Sweatshirt, Feist, Tyler, The Creator and Gucci Mane, James Blake, Kanye West, and My Bloody Valentine. It received generally very positive reviews.
BBNG is the debut album from Canadian jazz instrumental hip hop band BadBadNotGood. It was released as a free download in 2011. The album features a mixture of original compositions and covers of songs from the artists Flying Lotus, Gang Starr, J Dilla, Joy Division, Nas and Ol' Dirty Bastard. The cover artwork was designed and made by Connor Olthuis and Sam Zaret.
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Adam King Feeney, better known as Ging and by his former stage name Frank Dukes, is a Canadian musician, record producer, and songwriter. A prolific producer, he has worked with artists including Lorde for Melodrama, Camila Cabello, Post Malone and The Weeknd. Following a two decade production career, he retired as Frank Dukes in 2021 to pursue his own music and art as Ging; he released his debut solo album We're Here, My Dear in 2022.
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Tommy Paxton-Beesley, also known as River Tiber, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He released his debut studio album Indigo in 2016. As a songwriter, Paxton-Beesley has frequently collaborated with producer Frank Dukes and artists including Kaytranada, Daniel Caesar, and BadBadNotGood. He has co-written the charting songs "No Tellin'" by Drake, "Broken Clocks" by SZA, "AstroThunder" by Travis Scott, and "I Keep Calling" by James Blake.
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