Amerigo Gazaway’s new *Soul Mates* series continues the theme of his
previous work in creating collaborations that never were. On the series’
first installment, the producer unites Brooklyn rapper Yasiin Bey (Mos
Def) and soul legend Marvin Gaye for a dream collaboration aptly titled
“Yasiin Gaye”. Building the album’s foundation from deconstructed
samples of Gaye’s Motown classics, Gazaway re-orchestrates the
instrumentation into new productions within a similar framework.
Carefully weaving Bey’s dense raps and Gaye’s soulful vocals over his
new arrangements, the producer delivers a quality far closer to Gaye’s
famous duets than that of a “mashup” album.
