Beloved songs from the 90s and aughts transformed on Kassa Overall’s new album

Kassa Overall releases his fourth solo studio album ‘CREAM’, on which he pays homage to the twin passions of his youth, by transforming songs into timeless standards that are rhythmically adventurous, witty, and often sublime. Turning ‘Back that Azz Up’ by Juvenile into a cinematic, sensitive odd-tempo swing and Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Big Poppa’ into a Brazilian bossa nova.

Reversing the convention of rap albums sampling jazz, Overall pulls off another backflip in a stunning career, illustrating his mastery as a producer, drummer and arranger who aggressively mines the continuum between jazz and hip-hop from every angle without any shortcuts. “To take music that originally comes off as crass or as a club hit and to reframe it with an intellectual and intimate feel, shows some kind of humour or absurdity. The point is to open the listener up.” says Overall.

While his previous solo projects relied heavily on drum machines, micro-edited programmed sounds, Ableton Live, and samples, ‘CREAM’ is more like the classic jazz recordings. it shows his imagination as an arranger of acoustic jazz. “This project is a full circle moment for me, creatively.”