BADBADNOTGOOD - IV
As you read this—whether it’s fresh out of the plastic or picked up after years on a shelf—chances are the four members of BADBANOTGOOD are crisscrossing the globe en route to or from a new string of performances. Since they started playing together at the beginning of this decade, the Canadian jazz outfit (well, not purely jazz, but we’ll get to that) has become one of the most well-reviewed acts in live music for their unique combination of precision and fluidity. So in support of the release of IV, their fourth full-length record under the BBNG banner, the group has wrapped up a hectic run stateside and jetted across the Atlantic to play all through Europe. And as even a cursory listen will convince you, the passport stamps have been earned.
BBNG’s core members met while they were music—jazz—students at Humber College, just north of Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. They quickly gained a small cult following online for re-imagining hip-hop songs; some such experiments made it onto their self-titled debut (officially BBNG) from the following year. Chester Hansen (bass), Alexander Sowinski (drums), and Matthew Tavares (keys) were tapping into something that would prove potent in years to come.
That record did plenty to bolster the word-of-mouth fanfare that had carried the group since singles first started trickling onto YouTube. Less than a year after BBNG hit (digital) shelves, they returned withBBNG2, a grimmer, often more technical record that accelerated their buzz, which was then beginning on snowball.
On the sequel, saxophonist Leland Whitty, a long-time collaborator, was officially credited as a featured guest on two tracks. For IV, Whitty has been added to the group proper after being in and around BBNG for years. But as Hansen explains, the resources weren’t there to make him a proper partner until recently. “It was long overdue to have the means to bring him in full-time and play every show, and to be in the studio,” he says. But having him around permanently “expands what we do by a whole other dimension. To have that fourth element in there is amazing—and he plays every instrument, so that helps too.”
But back to the initial rise: The same month they dropped BBNG2, the then-trio served as the band-in-residence at Coachella, where they made the most of one of the largest captive audiences any musicians could have. What’s more, they served as the backing band for Odd Future and for Frank Ocean’s solo sets, further highlighting their line-straddling between out-and-out jazz and something closer to hip-hop and pop. (It was around this time that BBNG crafted “Hoarse,” the gasping, monolithic song from fellow Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt’s commercial debut, Doris.)
"From there, the group’s creative direction took two concurrent, but diverging roads. For their third album, titled simply III, BBNG eschewed the covers of popular, generally hip-hop songs from their first two LPs in favor of original compositions."
But the full-fledged forays into rap continued, eventually reaching an unlikely climax. BBNG was billed alongside Ghostface Killah, the legendary Wu-Tang Clan rapper, for his album Sour Soul. Together with the revered Frank Dukes, BBNG produced the entirety of the record, which was well received by listeners and critics alike. In addition to showcasing the Staten Island native’s inimitable vocals and writing style, Sour Soul featured collaborations with Detroit stalwarts Danny Brown and Elzhi, Chicago up-and-comer Tree, and the underground hero MF DOOM. In short, the LP was a must-have for many music fans, and further cemented BBNG as one of the most important cross-genre lynchpins working today. But before long, it was time to head back to the studio.