Kassa Overall Covers Wu-Tang Clan

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Photo by Erik Bardin

When Kassa Overall announced his upcoming hip hop covers album, the song I was most excited for was his cover of Wu-Tang Clan's iconic "C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)." I no longer have to wait, since the jazz visionary just released his reworking of the song. Overall's cover is everything I hoped it would be. It's a laid back jazz song with some flourishes that are reminiscent of free jazz. Somehow he makes the classic hip hop track sound even cooler, and if you weren't paying attention you might not even pick up on the fact that it's a cover. The iconic sample of The Charmels "As Long as I've Got You" is the main thing that will jump out at you that screams "C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)," and Overall has recreated the song in his own mind-blowing way.

Kassa Overall says of Wu-Tang Clan:

“Their whole energy was an alternative to the get-the-money-shiny-suit mentality. For me, the original ‘C.R.E.A.M.’ was a commentary on ‘Get Money.’ It was realism. It pointed out everyone's scrambling and striving to get ahead, but it also nodded at something beyond that. You could transcend and even control the material world through a higher divine nature.”

You can watch the video for Kassa Overall's reworking of "C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)" below. CREAM is due out September 12 on Warp Records. For more on Kassa Overall, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the video and include September 6 at De La Luz in Holyoke, MA, September 9 at Cafe 939 in Boston, MA, and September 10 at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth, NH.


September 2025
3rd - Solar Myth - Philadelphia, PA, USA
4th - Mannys - State College, PA, USA
5th - Otis Mountain Get Down - Elizabethtown, NY, USA
6th - De La Luz - Holyoke, MA, USA
8th - The Falcon - Marlboro, NY, USA
9th - Cafe 939 - Boston, MA, USA
10th - Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club - Portsmouth, NH, USA
12th - Jazz Gallery - New York, NY, USA
13th - Jazz Gallery - New York, NY, USA
14th - Keystone Korner - Baltimore, MD, USA
16th - Snug Harbor - Charlotte, NC, USA
17th - Missy Lane's - Durham, NC, USA
18th - Missy Lane's - Durham, NC, USA
26th - Exit/In - Nashville w/ Tune-Yards
27th - Off Broadway - St. Louis, MO w/ Tune-Yards
29th - Hi-Fi - Indianapolis, IN w/ Tune-Yards
30th - Vivarium - Milwaukee, WI w/ Tune-Yards

October 2025
1st - Fine Line - Minneapolis, MN w/ Tune-Yards
2nd - Majestic Theatre - Madison, WI w/ Tune-Yards
8th - Blue Note Tokyo - Tokyo, JP 
9th - Blue Note Tokyo - Tokyo, JP 
10th - Blue Note Tokyo - Tokyo, JP
11th - Singer Live - Shanghai, CN
12th - DDC - Beijing, CN
18th - Vagabond Festival Taiwan - Tainan City, TW
23rd - Minaret - Los Angeles, CA, USA
25th - Earshot - Seattle, WA, USA
31st - JazzKlub - Frankfurt, DE

November 2025
2nd - Bird - Rotterdam, NL
3rd - Lower Third - London, UK 
6th - Mladi Ladi Jazz - Prague, CZ
7th - Nefertiti - Gothenburg, SE 
8th - Rockit - Groningen, NL
11 - Locomotiv Club - Bologna, IT
12th - Biko - Milan, IT

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