All-star collaborations (Jazzmatazz Vol.3: Streetsoul - Guru)

Member Name: ajaybee

Product:	Jazzmatazz Vol.3: Streetsoul - Guru
Date:	26/03/01 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: so many excellent guest artists

Disadvantages: n/a

An album which seems to have been ignored by the commerical masses in 2000 was this all-star album by Guru. The third in the groundbreaking Jazzmatazz series', the part-time GangStarr member has created on this album an impressive hiphop-jazz fusion, with his rapping intertwined with the vocal stylings of a number of considerably high-profile guests.

One of these collaborators is none other than Craig David, whose haunting vocals on the track 'No More' is surely one of the album's highpoints, proving quite a sharp contrast to Guru's edgier-than-normal rapping and a track which deserves a single release.

In keeping with most of Guru's previous work, Jazzmatazz, as the title suggests, is a fairly funky workout, in the most part quite chilled. Amongst the other A-list urban celebrities guesting on the album are Angie Stone (on Keep Your Worries - an excellent track), Donnell Jones ('Hustlin' Daze') and Erykah Badu ('Plenty'). Elsewhere upcoming talents such as Bilal and French hiphop sistas Les Nubians are given a chance to shine.

The album is worth buying for the Craig David track alone - it's as good as anything on Born To Do It - but the album as a whole is generally extremely impressive; Guru is a proven talented rapper, and the huge of star guests make it an interesting, and quite possibly influential album.

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