BadBadNotGood (stylized in

all caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in ...

) is a Canadian

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instr ...

band and

production team A production team is the group of technical staff who produce a play, television show, recording, or film. Generally the term refers to all individuals responsible for the technical aspects of creating of a particular product, regardless of whe ...

from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist

Matthew Tavares Matthew Adam Tavares (born September 15, 1990), also known as Matty, is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and music producer. He is best known as a founder of the instrumental group BADBADNOTGOOD, with whom he released five studio albums and pro ...

, and drummer

Alexander Sowinski Alexander William Sowinski (born October 11, 1991) is a Canadian musician, producer, and drummer for instrumental group BADBADNOTGOOD. With the band, he has released five studio albums and is noted for his jazz drumming musicianship. Life and ...

. In 2016, they were joined by frequent collaborator Leland Whitty. Among other projects, the group has released five solo studio albums, with the latest, '' Talk Memory'', released in October 2021. They have had critical and crossover success, finding audiences in the hip hop, jazz, and alternative music communities. The group combines jazz musicianship with a hip hop production perspective and are well known for their collaborations with artists like

Tyler, The Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape ' ...

Daniel Caesar Ashton Dumar Norwill Simmonds (born April 5, 1995), known professionally as Daniel Caesar, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After independently building a following through the release of two critically acclaimed EPs, ''Praise Break'' (2014 ...

, Mick Jenkins,

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

, and

Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 C ...

. For their songwriting and production work, they have been nominated for four

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, winning two.

History

2010–12: Beginnings and mixtapes

Matthew Tavares, Alexander Sowinski, and Chester Hansen met in 2010 through the

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, commonly known as Humber College, is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has two main campuses: the Humber North c ...

jazz program in Toronto. The trio united over a shared love for hip hop music, including that of

MF Doom Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

and

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF, was an American hip-hop music collective formed in Los Angeles County, California in 2007. The original members were Tyler, the Creator, Casey Veggies, ...

. In this lineup, Tavares handled keys, playing rhythms on a

Prophet '08 The Prophet '08 is a polyphonic analog synthesizer created by Dave Smith of St. Helena, California, US, for Dave Smith Instruments (DSI), released in late 2007. As with DSI's other instruments, the Prophet '08 uses analog subtractive synthesis, ...

and electric piano, joined by Hansen, an acoustic and electric bassist, and drummer Sowinski. Sowinski often donned a pig mask during performances in the first years of the group, in part inspired by MF Doom. The name of the band came from the tentative title of a comedy television project that Tavares was working on, which was eventually abandoned. In a 2012 interview, the trio commented that both Tavares and Hansen had since withdrawn from Humber, while Sowinski had remained enrolled "for the school's dental plan;" Sowinski later left Humber as well. One of BadBadNotGood's first collaborations was a cover of "

Lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage. There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using le ...

" by

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

. They played a piece based on Odd Future's music 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

, who felt differently and helped the trio's video go viral. BadBadNotGood uploaded their first EP ''BBNG'' to

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

in June 2011, which included covers of songs from

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

Waka Flocka Flame Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. Signing to 1017 Brick Squad and Warner Bros. Records in 2009, he became a mainstream artist with the release of his singles " O Let ...

and several tracks from Odd Future. In September 2011, they released their debut album, '' BBNG'', recorded in a three-hour session. Dante Alighieri on

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

called the album "a welcome reinterpretation of modern jazz without the pretense of snotty wine parties and thick rimmed hipster dinosaurs." The trio had their first show together at The Red Light in Toronto that September. There, they met hip hop producer

Frank Dukes Adam King Feeney (born September 12, 1983), better known as Ging and by his former stage name Frank Dukes, is a Canadian musician, record producer, and songwriter. A prolific producer, he has worked with artists including Camila Cabello ("Havan ...

who would become a close collaborator. The album was followed by two live records, '' BBNGLIVE 1'' and '' BBNGLIVE 2'', which were released in November 2011 and February 2012, respectively. BadBadNotGood recorded a live jam session with Tyler, The Creator in Sowinski's basement in October 2011. Videos from the session received more than a million views between them on YouTube. In the following year, they also connected with other Odd Future members like

Earl Sweatshirt Thebe Neruda Kgositsile (born February 24, 1994), also known by his stage name Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Kgositsile was originally known by the moniker Sly Tendencies when he began rapping in 2008, ...

and

Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...

and their contemporaries

Joey Badass Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A native of Brooklyn, New York City, he is a founding member of the hip-hop collective Pr ...

and

Danny Brown Daniel Dewan Sewell (born March 16, 1981), better known by his stage name Danny Brown, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He has been described by MTV as "one of rap's most unique figures in recent memory". In 2010, after amassing ...

, among others. The trio opened for

Roy Ayers Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Po ...

at the Nujazz Festival in January 2012 and played for

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brown ...

's Worldwide Awards in London. At a February tribute to

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon vari ...

in Toronto, their covers of "Lemonade" and " Hard in da Paint" had hundreds

moshing Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is an extreme style of dance, dancing in which participants push or slam into each other, typically performed to "aggressive" live music such as heavy metal music, heavy metal and punk rock ...

. BadBadNotGood released their second album, '' BBNG2'', in April 2012. Recorded from a ten-hour studio session, it features Leland Whitty on saxophone and Luan Phung playing electric guitar. The notes to the album indicate that "No one above the age of 21 was involved in the making of this album." The album has original material as well as covers of songs by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, My Bloody Valentine, James Blake,

, and Feist. The trio was the band-in-residence at the 2012

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

and backed

of Odd Future both weekends.

2013–2015: ''III'' and ''Sour Soul''

BADBADNOTGOOD - The Harley - Tramlines 2014 (19002337808)

Prior to the release of the album '' III'', the first single "Hedron", became available on June 20, 2013 when it was featured on the compilation album '' Late Night Tales: Bonobo''. BadBadNotGood assisted in production and musical composition for the soundtrack of ''

The Man with the Iron Fists ''The Man with the Iron Fists'' is a 2012 American martial arts film directed by RZA and written by RZA and Eli Roth. The film stars RZA, Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu, Byron Mann, Rick Yune, Dave Bautista, and Jamie Chung. Set in ...

''. On January 14, 2014, the second single from ''III'' was released titled "CS60". The third single, "Can't Leave The Night", was released on March 11, 2014 with the B-Side "Sustain" and would later feature in the third season opening episode of

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, '' Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

. In March 2014, BBNG took part in

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

for a second time and played a series of shows, including one with Tyler the Creator. ''III'' was released on May 6, 2014 on CD, vinyl, and digital download, and was the group's first album of entirely original music. Following the release of the record, BBNG toured through the end of the year, first in Europe, then Canada and the US East Coast, ending their tour in December with a hometown show in Toronto. The fourth album, '' Sour Soul'', was released by Lex Records on Feb 24 2015 in collaboration with Ghostface Killah. Unlike their earlier works, it is more of a heavy hip hop album with light jazz accents. The group toured from April through October 2015, with Ghostface making a few appearances along the way. Leland Whitty joined the band unofficially at this time, with BBNG needing a fourth musician to play tracks from ''Sour Soul'' on the road, and continued to work with the group in the studio. In December 2015, the band posted covers of some holiday classics on their

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

channel, including a performance of "

Christmas Time Is Here "Christmas Time Is Here" is a popular Christmas standard written by Vince Guaraldi and Lee Mendelson for the 1965 television special ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'', one of the first animated Christmas specials produced for network television in th ...

" in collaboration with Choir! Choir! Choir!. During this time, the group continued to song write with Frank Dukes and also began extensively collaborating with producer KAYTRANADA, with whom they wrote dozens of songs during this time. Additionally, they produced "Hoarse" on Odd Future member

's studio debut, '' Doris'', and "GUV'NOR", a remix on

JJ Doom JJ DOOM was an American alternative hip-hop duo composed of Jneiro Jarel and MF DOOM. History On 15 February 2012 the website ''Pitchfork'' ran an article stating that JJ DOOM's debut album would be called '' Key to the Kuffs'' and released via ...

's ''Key to the Kuffs (Butter Edition)''.

2016–2019: ''IV'' and production work

Saxophonist Leland Whitty, a frequent collaborator of the group, joined the band on January 1, 2016. In April, BBNG took part in the Coachella Music Festival, making their first official appearance there. Their fifth studio album, titled '' IV'', was released by Innovative Leisure on July 8, 2016. It features several guest collaborations including Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Herring, saxophonist

Colin Stetson Colin Stetson (born March 3, 1975) is a Canadian-American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer based in Montreal. He is best known as a regular collaborator of the indie rock acts Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Bell Orchestre, and Ex Eye. In additio ...

, Kaytranada, hip hop artist Mick Jenkins, and singer-songwriter Charlotte Day Wilson. In December 2016, the album was picked as

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available on ...

's #1 album of the year. In the following two years, the group would release a series of unreleased tracks from their ''IV'' sessions as singles, namely collaborative songs with Colin Stetson, Sam Herring, and

Little Dragon Little Dragon are a Swedish electronic music band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1996. The band consists of Yukimi Nagano (vocals, percussion), Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards). Little Dragon' ...

. To support the release of ''IV'', the band toured extensively for two years. This included festival and US club dates throughout Summer 2016, followed by European and Australian tours at the end of the year. In Fall 2016, jazz pianist James Hill joined the group on stage for the first time as a touring member. Hill, who knew Tavares from their time together at Humber College, filled in for Tavares, who stepped away from touring to focus on producing music as well as developing his solo project Matty. The group continued to tour throughout 2017 and into 2018, playing many more shows in North America, Europe, and Australia. In mid-2018, they toured Canada, before more US and European festival dates through November. For this work, the group was awarded the

Libera Award for Best Live Act The Libera Award for Best Live Act is an award presented by the American Association of Independent Music at the annual Libera Award which recognizes "best live concert performances by an independent label" since 2013. Winners and nominees Art ...

by the

American Association of Independent Music The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a trade association that represents independent record labels in the United States, founded in 2005. A2IM is headquartered in New York City, with chapters located in Nashville, Chicago, North ...

in the following year; other nominees in the category included

Run the Jewels Run the Jewels, also known by the initials RTJ, is an American hip hop super-duo composed of Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike. They released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut studio album ...

and

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are an Australian rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria. The band's current lineup consists of Stu Mackenzie, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Cook Craig, Joey Walker, Lucas Harwood and Michael Cavanagh. They ar ...

. Outside of a few one-off shows and a short Fall tour in South America and Asia, the band took a break from touring during 2019. In 2018, the band served as the musical opener and instrumental backdrop to the

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and lea ...

Spring/Summer 2019 Collection runway show held in the gardens of the

Palais Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal R ...

. Opening with a cover of

's "Ghost Town" from his 2018 album ''Ye'' and playing a variety of original work and covers for the remainder of the show. The band worked with Benji B and

Virgil Abloh Virgil Abloh (; September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. He was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection beginning in 2018, and was given increased creative responsibilit ...

, both frequent collaborators with Kanye, to refine the creative direction of the music of the show. During and following the production of ''IV'', the members of BBNG took time to develop other musical projects together and bringing other artists into their Toronto studio to produce and record. This included artists like

Kali Uchis Karly-Marina Loaiza (born July 17, 1994), known professionally as Kali Uchis ( ), is an American singer. She released her debut mixtape, ''Drunken Babble'', in 2012, which was followed by her debut EP, '' Por Vida'', released in 2015. In 2018, U ...

and Mick Jenkins, as well as fellow Torontonians like Charlotte Day Wilson, Jaunt, and Jonah Yano. During this time, they also contributed two compositions of note for

-produced albums; the instrumentals for the track "

Lust Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for something, or circumstance while already having a significant amount of the desired object. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It ca ...

" on ''

DAMN. ''Damn'' (stylized as ''DAMN.'') is the fourth studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on April 14, 2017, through Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Lamar assembled numerous artists an ...

'' (2017) and "The Ways" on '' Black Panther The Album'' (2018). Both albums received

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nominations for Album of the Year. In October 2019, Matthew Tavares announced his departure from the band. He continues to collaborate with the group as a songwriter and contributor to side projects.

2020–present: Collaborations and ''Talk Memory''

In a February 2020 interview with Sowinski and Whitty regarding their collaborative film score for the indie thriller '' Disappearance at Clifton Hill'', the two noted that BBNG was currently working on a new album, tentatively due later in 2020. Before the rescheduling and cancellation of live events in 2020, the band was planning to resume touring in April beginning with Coachella. In April 2020, BBNG released the single "Goodbye Blue" backed with "Glide (Goodbye Blue Pt. 2)," their first original release in almost two years. To promote their new track "

The Chocolate Conquistadors Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

" with

for ''

Grand Theft Auto Online ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' is an online multiplayer action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 1 October 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 18 November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and X ...

'', the group was interviewed on December 12, 2020 by

on Worldwide FM during which Sowinski said, “we definitely will have a new album

n 2021 N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

and that will be the first record in, like, five years… hopefully, that is what the music will represent, a path forward, and changing and growing – that’s one record. We’re trying to finish two, I suppose." In July 2021, they once again inferred multiple albums were in the works via Twitter. In June 2021, their track "

Time Moves Slow "Time Moves Slow" is a song by Canadian instrumental group BADBADNOTGOOD and American singer Samuel T. Herring, from the former's album '' IV''. The track was released on May 17, 2016, as the second single from the album to critical and commercia ...

" featuring Samuel T. Herring received renewed attention when it was sampled in "

Running Away "Running Away" is a single recorded by Hoobastank. It was the third single released from their self-titled debut album on April 1, 2002. The song peaked at number two on the US ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerl ...

" by musician VANO 3000 in his viral

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

trend on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

. With the band, VANO 3000 officially released the single on June 21, 2021 via Innovative Leisure; as of the release date, videos tagged with "#adultswim" have been viewed some 3.4 billion times. In July 2021, the band announced their instrumental album '' Talk Memory'' via social media. The announcement approximately marks the five year anniversary of their last record, ''IV''. To support the album ahead of the release, the band announced a limited

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

series ''Memory Catalogue'' distributed via independent record stores and published sheet music for the lead single "Signal from the Noise" on their website. On July 15, 2021, they released the nine-minute single "Signal from the Noise", co-produced by

Floating Points Sam Shepherd, known professionally as Floating Points, is a British electronic music producer, DJ, and musician. He is the founder of Pluto Records, co-founder of Eglo Records and leader of a 16-piece group called Floating Points Ensemble. Bi ...

. On September 8, 2021, the band released "Beside April" as a second album single and announced touring dates in three legs: Canada in December 2021, the United States in March 2022, and Europe in Fall 2022. ''Talk Memory'' was well received by critics and is nominated for the 2022 Polaris Music Prize. The band produced the sophomore album of collaborator Jonah Yano, ''Portrait of a Dog'', set to be released in January 2023.

Style

BadBadNotGood The Come Up Show (37163263673)

Publications have often referred to the band's sound as a combination of jazz and hip hop (or jazz rap and

instrumental hip hop Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "s ...

). They have also been associated with the genres

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...

alt-jazz Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and k ...

nu jazz Nu jazz (also known as jazztronica, or future jazz) is a genre of jazz and electronic music. The music blends jazz elements with other musical styles, such as funk, electronic music, and free improvisation.Definition from Sergey Chernov, June 7, ...

jazz-funk Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat ( groove), electrified sounds, and an early prevalence of analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the cre ...

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in it ...

, cinematic jazz, and psychedelic jazz. In all, the band has generally eluded identification with one specific sound or movement, with ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awa ...

'' referring to them as "genre-fluid." BBNG generally eschews being called 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, with Whitty commenting, "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.” When asked in a 2016 interview about the group's relationship with jazz, Sowinski explained: BBNG's relationship with the style is further complicated by the fact that the jazz community at large sees the group as outside of the genre but more mainstream music fans, those with less knowledge of the tradition and musicianship, perceive them to be jazz and representative of a bright future for the genre because of their accessibility. Ethnomusicologist Matthew Neil noted, “BBNG will continue to represent jazz, even as the jazz community, and even the group themselves, wish that they did not speak for jazz. Put simply: BBNG is jazz if people think they are.” BBNG has cited a wide range of influences, including Brazilian composer Arthur Verocai,

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

, saxophonists

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and rai ...

and

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. After early experience playing R&B and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Howev ...

, Sam Rivers, drummers Tony Williams and

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the ...

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

, producer

, Kurt Cobain, and

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close a ...

Reception

Early on, in 2012, 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." ''NOW'' magazine lauded BadBadNotGood's "spastic, sonorous, genre-fucking rap covers." In describing BadBadNotGood's hip hop influences, the '' Huffington Post'' wrote that the group "deconstruct the four bar loops, understanding how to work crescendos by stretching out and reshaping the music into their own vision of silky smooth key progressions, pounding drums, and tasty bass lines." Despite BBNG’s rising popularity and press coverage by popular music media in the early 2010s, the band went unnoticed by the jazz community at large until after the release of their second album when off-the-cuff comments disregarding the jazz establishment were perceived as inflammatory by the jazz media. Critics quickly jumped to compare BBNG’s musicianship to jazz artists that had achieved similar-sized audiences, not accounting for age or experience, and thus comparing them to musicians who had spent years developing their skills. In hindsight, the reactionary response was likely due to the fact that BBNG's popularity and success in popular music preceded any recognition or approval from the jazz community itself. The band was quick to walk back some of their comments and have been increasingly complimentary of their jazz contemporaries; in the following years, sentiments on both sides have relaxed and reversed. In a 2017 retrospective, ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of grow ...

'' responded positively to the album ''IV'' and their career journey thus far.

Band members

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist, ...

, sampler (2010–present) * Chester Hansen –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

, keyboards (2010–present) * Leland Whitty –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

and

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

(2016–present; featured/touring 2011–2016) Former member *

– keyboards, guitars (2010–2019; collaborator 2020–present) Touring members * James Hill – keyboards (2016–2020) * Felix Fox – keyboards (2021–present)

Discography

*'' BBNG'' (2011) *'' BBNG2'' (2012) *'' III'' (2014) *'' Sour Soul'' (with

) (2015) *'' IV'' (2016) *'' Talk Memory'' (2021) Production discography Early in their career, BBNG helped produce two tracks for the soundtrack of ''

'' which were performed by

Idle Warship Idle Warship was a musical duo composed of Brooklyn emcee Talib Kweli and Philadelphia singer Res. Res has appeared on each Talib Kweli album since 2000's ''Train of Thought''. They have also toured together, including on the summer 2005 MGD F ...

and

with

Kool G Rap Nathaniel Thomas Wilson (born July 20, 1968), better known by his stage name Kool G Rap (or simply G Rap), is an American rapper from Queens, New York City. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as ...

. This was followed by songs by

, and multiple tracks for Mick Jenkins, among others. In the late 2010s, BBNG coproduced songs for

Freddie Gibbs Fredrick Jamel Tipton (born June 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper from Gary, Indiana. After initially being signed to Interscope Records in 2006, Gibbs recorded his debut studio album under the labe ...

(" LUST."),

(including " Get You"),

(including " After the Storm (feat.

Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape ' ...

and

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading ...

)," and

Thundercat Thundercat or Thundercats may refer to: * Thundercat (snowmobile), a series of snowmobiles produced by Arctic Cat * Thundercat (musician), stage name of Stephen Lee Bruner, an American musician * ThunderCats, a media franchise, featuring a fictio ...

. In the producer role, BBNG often collaborates with fellow Canadian producers

and KAYTRANADA.

Awards and nominations

Accolades for production and songwriting Per Grammy guidelines, all fully-credited producers of each track on an album are Grammy-eligible.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Canadian instrumental musical groups 2010 establishments in Ontario Musical groups established in 2010 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian jazz ensembles Musical quartets Lex Records artists Because Music artists Canadian hip hop groups