So states the opening to the rapper Guru's first Jazzmatazz album. Since actually listening to the first 2 albums of this current four part series after buying them last week, I've listened to little else (always some Hamilton though haha).
Hip-hop has its roots in jazz, so the project seems only natural. Guru is among my top 5 emcees ever; he is so underrated that it's not even funny. That was the main reason I got these, along with being interested to hear him over some jazz. I'm not familar with jazz itself at all, but the popular opinion about the artists appearing on this album seems to be that they are some extremely credible jazz musicians that give people who are into jazz a reason to look at the titled quote and not snort in disbelief.
Both records are very soulful and moving. Guru is always on point lyrically and unlike other people, I find his smooth and laid back voice appealing, expecially over these jazz beats. To put it simply, the saxophones, trumpets, flutes, piano, etc are incredible to listen to. In general, I get really excited all the time about lots of new hip-hop I listen to, but I have to stress that my mind was truly blown listening to these albums. I listened to the first one first obviously and bumped it for a few days before trying the second...which is somehow even better! I really don't know what else to say since I'm a complete noob when it comes to jazz. I just know that these albums could have opened the gate for me to start exploring the genre.
At the moment, I'm definitely leaning towards volume 2 making an appearance somewhere in my favorites list.
Top 5 Favorite Songs (both albums). It took longer to whittle this list down to a handful than it did making the whole damn blog.
5. Transit Ride
3. For You
2. Skit B (Alot On My Mind)/Revelation
1. Insert B (The Real Deal)/Nobody Knows
Final Grades (points earned out of 5/total points possible *total tracks times 5 stars*)
Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1- 55/60= 91.7%
Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality- 94/100= 94.0%
True hip-hop.
