If It's Too Loud...

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 ...

Photo by Erik Bardin For his upcoming album, jazz artist Kassa Overall has chosen to cover eight hip hop classics in an instrumental jazz style. The first song we can hear from this is a cover of Digable Planets' iconic "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)." The original was one of the breakthrough tracks for the jazz rap movement of the 90's, but Overall still reworks the song completely for his version. The instantly familiar horn line starts the song, and then Overall goes for it. It feels much more experimental and free than you would expect from a cover song, and if you missed the first minute or so you might not even realize it's a version of "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)." This is a great sampling of Overall's upcoming album that will make you desperate to hear his take's on Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, OutKast, and more. Kassa Overall says of his reworking of "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)": “ It   nods to Digable Planets’ smooth ...