It's nice that the trump cards aren't put aside: the first track, the title song 'Sour Soul', is a beautiful, lingering trip. The majority of such airy, very melodic, almost physically enjoyable songs here. Stand out are "Gunshowers" with crazy guitar, the relaxing "Nuggets of Wisdom" and the cheeky and unhurried "Tone's Rap" (we'll talk about it below). Juxtaposing complex, volatile melodies with the blunt bravado of a standard hip-hop track is one of the hooks that keep BBNG hooking the listener like a clothesline and keeping them hooked until the final interlude.
The guest list is mathematically accurate. There's Doom for aesthetes, for younger listeners there's Danny Brown, a master of spoiling the soul where it ain't already spoiled, and for trashies there's fellow J Dilla Elzhi (read: "Elzai"), who delivers a muscular and worthy host album verse.
The host himself - superman, thug, artist, man and steamroller - could not fail. Through steady, quality work he has made himself such a renaissance in recent years that his current influence on the genre essentially surpasses that of Wu-Tang Clan, of which he has been a member for over 20 years.
-The Flow