Jazz drummer, producer, bandleader, and rapper Kassa Overall takes Digable Planets’ “Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” and gives it a new interpretation. Overall speeds things up and takes the funk, opting for a straight jazz feeling. The song combines his longtime love of jazz and hip-hop. He had plenty of time to learn every quirk of the song as a fan and as an opening act for Digable Planets and their drummer for a year. He broke down the methodology in a press release.
“It nods to Digable Planets’ smooth flow and Art Blakey’s ‘Stretching.’ Knowing the song so well, I was able to flip the script with odd time rhythms and utilize many elements from the original, from vocal parts to production details. This one is high energy and still crispy.”
The song is among a collection of hip-hop covers that will be on Overall’s forthcoming album, CREAM, which is his fourth. The forever conversation between jazz and hip-hop is still alive and Overall’s passion for both will be fully unleashed on CREAM. The album comes out September 12 on the Warped label and he will start his next American tour before its release. You can see all of the dates and buy tickets on his website.
