Badbadnotgood | Artist
Badbadnotgood is a Canadian nu-jazz Instrumental hip-hop band formed 2010 in Toronto, Ontario. The lineup is keyboardist Matthew Tavares, bassist Chester Hansen, saxophonist Leland Whitty, and drummer Alexander Sowinski. Their sound spans multiple genres and their excellent musicianship has attracted collaborations with names such as Kendrick Lamar, Tyler The Creator and Ghostface Killah. They formed when Tavares, Sowinski, and Hansen met in 2010 through the Humber College jazz program in Toronto. The trio united over a shared love for hip hop music, including that of MF DOOM and Odd Future. The band's first recording was a self-produced piece based on Odd Future's music. They played the track for a panel of their jazz performance instructors, who did not find that it had musical value. After they released the track on YouTube as "The Odd Future Sessions Part 1" it got the attention of rapper Tyler, The Creator, who helped the trio's video go viral. They uploaded their first EP BBNG to Bandcamp in June 2011, which included covers of songs from A Tribe Called Quest, Waka Flocka Flame and several tracks from Odd Future. In September 2011, they released their debut album, BBNG, recorded in a single three-hour session. Sputnikmusic called the album "a welcome reinterpretation of modern jazz without the pretense of snotty wine parties and thick rimmed hipster dinosaurs." The trio played their first show together at The Red Light in Toronto that September. There, they met hip hop producer Frank Dukes who would become a close collaborator. In October 2019, Matthew Tavares announced his departure from the band, however he continues to collaborate with the group as a songwriter and contributor to side projects. To-date the band has released five studio albums plus two live sets. In addition they've released three collaboration albums, Sour Soul, and the live RB×BR 006 SXSW with Ghostface Killah, and Toon Time Raw! with Jerry Paper. Also Matty has released numerous solo albums. Standout BBNG albums include BBNG2 (2012), III (2014), IV (2016), and their most recent release Talk Memory (2021). In terms of their musical style, BBNG don't label themselves as primarily a jazz band, acknowledging that their music contains elements of rock music, Brazilian music, electronic music, and soul music, and does not maintain jazz tradition. The band themselves state, "all we’re really trying to do is create something that’s unique and honest to who we are... we don’t really belong in any sort of box or are following any tradition or anything like that.” A Prefix magazine review called BadBadNotGood "a jazz trio on paper - but often strange, forever imaginative, and ultimately revolutionary hip-hop and electronic beatmakers at heart". They have been nominated for the Polaris Music Prize, Canada's most prestigious music, award four times. The band's drummer Alex Sowinski often donned a pig mask during performances in the first years of the group, in part inspired by MF DOOM.
Artist Website: badbadnotgood.com
Featured Albums: Badbadnotgood
Related Artists: Ghostface Killah, Tyler the Creator
Collections: Movers Shakers
