Music Review: Yasiin Gaye (Yasiin Bey x Marvin Gaye) – Soul Mates Part 1

Amerigo Gazaway (@amerigo615) has made himself known for his blends of two different musical approaches into one conceivable whole. It all started with 2011’s Fela Soul (Fela Kuti + De La Soul). From there, it has evolved into critical acclaim, another project (The Pharcyde + A Tribe Called Quest = Bizarre Tribe), and even production work. Yet, no project was more celebrated than his mixture of Yasiin Gaye (Yasiin Bey added to Marvin Gaye grooves). On this project, he garnered the title “mash up king”.

Me being the skeptic that I am, I decided to give this project a spin. What I found after listening for many weeks is that Amerigo Gazaway has crafted an album that could rival most hip hop that is being made for sale today.

What makes this mashup work is the matching of Yasiin’s lyrics to Marvin Gaye influenced productions and samples to practical perfection. “I Want You Til The Summertime” mixes Yasiin’s lyrics with some of Marvin’s “Mercy Mercy Me”. “Peculiar Mathematics” does it with so much respect to DJ Premier’s original production that it almost sounds better than the original. “The Panties”, by far the greatest jewel in a bag of gems, pairs up the original Yasiin lyrics with sensual Marvin production/singing and a superb Teddy Pendergrass interlude. Like I said earlier, much of this album was made to perfection.

With all the greatness, there are maybe two glaring tracks that slightly hamper the flow of this album. “Ms Fat Booty” does not lyrically match the production as well as other tracks. Yet, the song (in itself) is still pretty good. Also, the “Inner City Breathin” should have had the rhymes on the track. Thus, the album may have some things that keep people from calling it an overall classic.

Regardless of a couple of “missteps” (depending upon musical preferences), Soul Mates Part 1 is greater than expected. Then again, judging from the requested cease-and-desist of download for some of this project, this album is way more popular than expected. That is just a pure testament of how impressive and fluid the lyrics and production was put together. What Yasiin Bey and Marvin Gaye have made for music has been legendary. What Amerigo Gazaway has done with both of their music is nothing short of an honor to that greatness.