S.O.U.L.

S.O.U.L. – “What Is It” (BGP, BGPD 1087) is Cleveland hard‑funk at full strut: drum breaks hot enough to loop for days, organ swells that testify, grease‑slick guitar vamps, and horn lines that punch holes in the air. The band’s sense of pocket is outrageous—tight enough to cut, loose enough to swagger—and each tune arrives with open sections that DJs and samplists dream about. BGP’s reissue gives the low‑end the authority it deserves and pulls grit from the tapes without sanding off attitude. It’s a primer in stripped‑down groove architecture, a dance‑floor detonator, and a window into a regional scene that shaped hip‑hop crates for decades. File under essential, then file a spare for emergencies.