IV
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Album Summary
Now, if you want to talk about a record that stopped people cold when it dropped — IV by BadBadNotGood is that album. Released on March 4, 2016, through Innovative Leisure, this was the Toronto collective's fourth studio album, and baby, they came correct. Self-produced by the group and recorded through late 2015 into early 2016, IV represented a bold and deliberate shedding of skin — these young cats walked away from the hip-hop sampling aesthetics that first put them on the map and stepped fully into the light of abstract, atmospheric jazz composition. The result was something organic, sprawling, and deeply felt, a record that proved BadBadNotGood weren't just skilled — they were visionaries.
Reception
- The album received widespread critical acclaim, with reviewers celebrating its adventurous instrumental approach, cohesive sonic architecture, and the collective's remarkable technical maturity.
- IV reached number one on the Canadian Albums Chart and earned international recognition, firmly planting BadBadNotGood's flag in the landscape of contemporary jazz.
- Critics were particularly moved by the album's ability to demonstrate serious artistic growth while remaining emotionally accessible — no guest vocalists, no samples, just pure musical intention.
Significance
- IV arrived as a defining document of the mid-2010s instrumental jazz resurgence, carrying the torch for a generation of younger musicians who saw in it a roadmap for making jazz feel urgent and alive again.
- The album marked a profound turning point in BadBadNotGood's artistic identity, trading beat-tape sensibilities for deep compositional thought and the kind of collective improvisation that honors the tradition while refusing to be imprisoned by it.
- By achieving commercial success on an independent label without major label machinery behind it, IV helped reframe jazz as a forward-thinking, culturally resonant genre for a new generation of listeners.
Tracklist
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A1 And That, Too. —
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A2 Speaking Gently 78
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A3 Time Moves Slow 69
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B1 Confessions Pt. II —
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B2 Lavender 99
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B3 Chompy's Paradise 114
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C1 IV 129
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C2 Hyssop of Love 87
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C3 Structure No. 3 144
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D1 In Your Eyes 79
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D2 Cashmere 98
Artist Details
BadBadNotGood is a Toronto-based jazz collective that came together around 2010, built on the wild idea of blending the improvisational soul of jazz with the raw grit of hip-hop, and baby, they made it work beautifully. These cats — originally a trio of music school rebels — caught the world's ear by reinterpreting tracks from artists like Tyler, the Creator and Odd Future with live instruments, eventually growing into a full creative force that dropped original albums dripping with jazz fusion, psychedelic soul, and cinematic depth. Their cultural significance lies in how they threw open the doors between jazz purists and a whole new generation of listeners who never thought they'd fall in love with a saxophone, proving that great music don't know no boundaries.