Earlier this year, Ghostface Killah teamed with Toronto production outfit BadBadNotGood for a 10-inch single via Lex Records. Undoubtedly finding a certain chemistry between Ghostface’s menacing rhymes and the trio’s more jazz-inspired approach, the collective has since reconvened for a full-length album.
Due out February 17th, 2015, Sour Soul was recorded earlier this year alongside producer Frank Dukes (50 Cent, Lloyd Banks). According to a press release, the album is influenced by music of the ’60s and ’70s, with BadBadNotGood drawing “inspiration from the recording techniques and production of that era while eschewing sampling in favor of live instrumentation. With the album, BadBadNotGood have created a cinematic musical staging for Ghostface Killah’s vivid storytelling.” That’s the cover art above.
Already we’ve heard one album track, the Danny Brown-aided “Six Degrees”. Today, BadBadNotGhostface team with Detroit rapper Elzhi for “Gunshowers”. The trio immediately set the stage by laying down a beat that certainly recalls early Wu Tang, a subtle and hypnotic mix of steady percussion and guitars that run the gamut from jangly to animalistic wailing. From that sonically familiar place, Ghostface spits a maddening barrage of rhymes, referencing everything from Book of Eli to inflation, offsetting the hazy instrumentation with white-hot vigor.
Listen in below.
