BadBadNotGood

Matthew Tavares, Alexander Sowinski, and Chester Hansen met in 2010 through the Humber College jazz program in Toronto.[2] The trio united over a shared love for hip hop music, including that of MF Doom and Odd Future.[3] In this lineup, Tavares handled keys, playing rhythms on a Prophet '08 and electric piano,[4] joined by Hansen, an acoustic and electric bassist, and drummer Sowinski, who often donned a pig mask during performances in the first years of the group.[2] The name of the band came from the tentative title of a comedy television project that Tavares was working on, which was eventually abandoned.[5][6] As of 2012, both Tavares and Hansen have since withdrawn from Humber, while Sowinski had remained enrolled "for the school's dental plan".[7]

One of BadBadNotGood's first collaborations was a cover of "Lemonade" by Gucci Mane.[3] 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.[7] After they released the track on YouTube as The Odd Future Sessions Part 1, it got the attention of rapper Tyler, The Creator, who felt differently and helped the trio's video go viral.[8]

BadBadNotGood uploaded their debut album 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. The trio had their first show at The Red Light in Toronto.[2] In September 2011, they released their first album, BBNG, recorded in a three-hour session. Dante Alighieri on Sputnikmusic called the album "a welcome reinterpretation of modern jazz without the pretense of snotty wine parties and thick rimmed hipster dinosaurs."[9]

BadBadNotGood recorded a live jam session with Tyler, The Creator in Sowinski's basement in October 2011.[4] Videos from the session received more than a million views between them on YouTube.[2]

The trio opened for Roy Ayers at the Nujazz Festival in January 2012 and played for Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards in London. At a February tribute to J Dilla in Toronto, their covers of "Lemonade" and "Hard in da Paint" had hundreds moshing.[2][10]

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."[12] The album has original material as well as covers of songs by Kanye West, My Bloody Valentine, James Blake, Earl Sweatshirt, and Feist.[13]

The trio was the band-in-residence at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival[2] and backed Frank Ocean of Odd Future both weekends.[13]

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.[14] BadBadNotGood assisted in production and musical composition for the soundtrack of The Man with the Iron Fists.[15] On January 14, 2014, the second single from III was released titled "CS60".[16] The third single, "Can't Leave The Night", was released on March 11, 2014 with the B-Side "Sustain".[17] III was released on May 6, 2014 on CD, vinyl, and digital download.

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. In December 2015, the band posted covers of some holiday classics on their YouTube channel, including a performance of "Christmas Time Is Here" in collaboration with Choir! Choir! Choir!. The group produced "Hoarse" on Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt's studio debut, Doris, and "GUV'NOR", a remix on JJ DOOM's Key to the Kuffs (Butter Edition).

Saxophonist Leland Whitty, a frequent collaborator of the group, joined the band as tenor saxophone player and multi-instrumentalist on January 1, 2016.[18]

Their fifth studio album, titled IV, was released by Innovative Leisure on July 8, 2016. It features several guest collaborations including Future Islands front-man Sam Herring, saxophonist Colin Stetson, Kaytranada, hip hop artist Mick Jenkins, and singer-songwriter Charlotte Day Wilson. In December 2016, the album was picked as BBC Radio 6 Music's #1 album of the year.[19] In Fall 2016, jazz pianist and composer James Hill joined the group on stage for the first time as a touring member. Hill, who got to know Tavares during their time together at Humber College, filled in for Tavares, who stepped away from live performances to focus on producing music as well as developing his solo project Matty.[20][21]

In 2018 the band served as musical opener and instrumental back drop to the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2019 Collection runway show held in the gardens of the Palais Royal. Opening with a cover of Kanye West'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 both frequent collaborators with Kanye to refine the creative direction of the music of the show.

In October 2019, Matt Tavares announced his departure from the band.[1]

• BBNG (2011)
• BBNG2 (2012)
• III (2014)
• Sour Soul (with Ghostface Killah) (2015)
• Toon Time Raw! (with Jerry Paper, under the pseudonym "Easy Feelings Unlimited") (2016)[23][24]
• IV (2016)

• DOOM MIX (2013)[25][26]
• LateNightTales (2017)

• BBNGLIVE 1 (2011)
• BBNGLIVE 2 (2012)

• "BBNGSINGLE" (2011)[27]
• "Flashing Lights / UWM" (2013)
• "Hedron" (2013)
• "CS60" (2014)
• "Can't Leave The Night / Sustain" (2014)
• "Six Degrees" (with Ghostface Killah, featuring Danny Brown) / "Tone's Rap" (2014)[28]
• "Velvet / Boogie No. 69" (2015)
• "Here & Now / Timewave Zero" (2016)
• "To You" (2017)
• "Confessions, Pt. III (feat. Colin Stetson) (2017)
• "I Don't Know" (with Samuel T. Herring) (2017)
• "Tired" (with Little Dragon) (2018)
• "Nervous" (with Jonah Yano) (2019)
• "Key to Love (Is Understanding) (feat. Jonah Yano)" / "Key to Love (Is Understanding)" (with Majestics) (2019)
• "Goodbye Blue" (with Jonah Yano) / "Glide (Goodbye Blue Pt. 2)" (2020)

• "Lavender feat. Kaytranada & Snoop Dogg [Nightfall Remix]" (2017)
• "In Your Eyes (feat. Charlotte Day Wilson [Nosaj Thing Remix]" (2017)

• "Seasons (Waiting on You) (BADBADNOTGOOD Reinterpretation)" by Future Islands (2014)
• "Now or Never" by Black Milk (2015)
• "Paradise (feat. Badbadnotgood & Sean Leon)" by Daniel Caeser (2015)
• "On the Map (feat. BADBADNOTGOOD)" by Mick Jenkins (2016)
• "Drowning (feat. BADBADNOTGOOD)" by Mick Jenkins (2016)
• "Weight Off" by KAYTRANDA (2016)
• "Ultimate (BBNG Sessions)" / "Sick and Tired (BBNG Sessions)" by Denzel Curry (2017)
• "Our Conversations w/ Badbadnotgood" by Little Simz (2017)
• "Telling the Truth" by Mary J. Blige (also feat. KAYTRANDA) (2017)
• "Smoking Song (feat. BadBadNotGood)" by Mick Jenkins (2018)
• "King of the Hill" by Thundercat (also feat. Flying Lotus) (2018)

JJ Doom - Key to the Kuffs

• 19. "Guv'nor (BadBadNotGood Version)"

Various - The Man with the Iron Fists

• 05. "Get Your Way (Sex Is a Weapon)" (performed by Idle Warship) [produced with Frank Dukes]
• 06. "Rivers of Blood" (performed by Wu-Tang Clan and Kool G Rap) [produced with Frank Dukes]

Earl Sweatshirt - Doris

• 14. "Hoarse"

Danny Brown - Old

• 19. "Float On" (featuring Charli XCX) [produced with Frank Dukes]

Kali Uchis - Por Vida

• 06. "Rush" (produced with Kaytranada)

Kaytranada - 99.9%

• 06. "Weight Off" (featuring BadBadNotGood) [produced with Kaytranada]

Mick Jenkins - The Healing Component

• 06. "Drowning" (featuring BadBadNotGood)

Hodgy - Fireplace: TheNotTheOtherSide

• 10. "Tape Beat" (featuring Lil Wayne)

Snoh Aalegra - Don't Explain

• 02. "In Your River" [produced with Christian Rich]

Freddie Gibbs - You Only Live 2wice

• 02. "Alexys" (produced with Kaytranada)

Kendrick Lamar - Damn

• 09. "Lust" (produced with DJ Dahi and Sounwave)

Daniel Caesar - Freudian

• 01. "Get You" (feat. Kali Uchis) [produced with Matthew Burnett and Jordan Evans]

Various artists - Black Panther

• 04. "The Ways" (Khalid and Swae Lee) [produced with Kendrick Lamar and Sounwave]

Kali Uchis - Isolation

• 13. "After the Storm" (feat. Tyler, the Creator and Bootsy Collins)

Shay Lia - Dangerous

• 03. "Blue" (produced with Kaytranada)