Worst case scenario for this kind of thing is you run into a Vitamin String Quartet situation, and there are a few moments on CREAM when the effort does briefly veer into "jazz brunch" territory, which is not a territory anyone who really cares about jazz likes the genre to head into. As a guy who famously is not down with jazz, even I from my moron's perch know that way lies death.
These moments are fleeting and not really worth getting into right now. For the most part, Kassa Overall has done what one hopes is done on these kinds of albums, which is reinvent the songs they are covering, treating them less like sacred texts and more life partially-finished lego constructions; foundations from which to get weird with it. The best tracks are the ones you'd have to be a real sicko to recognize as their source material, specifically the long, bounce-free unwinding of "BACK THAT AZZ UP" and the serpentine reimagining of "NUTHIN BUT A 'G' THANG."
Overall paints an interesting picture of what kind of rap they're into here. Dr. Dre and Wu-Tang make a lot of sense, and Juvenile's presence suggests that Kassa and I were likely watching 106 & Park at roughly the same time. Digable Planets, though, that's a name I haven't thought about in a long time.
Even jazz that is reimagining the rap songs of my youth will only get me so far, but as a hater, it was a treat to find well-constructed and lovingly considered background music, as opposed to Bottomless Mimosa background music.
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