Amerigo Gazaway on Vinyl: A Guide to the Soul Mates Blend Albums
Amerigo Gazaway is a Nashville producer, emcee, and DJ who builds albums that never happened. The son of a jazz trumpeter and a Brazilian vocalist, he grew up around records and learned early to hear them as raw material. Since launching his Soul Mates project in 2011 with his brother, he has specialized in the blend album: a full length that splices two artists who never shared a studio into something that plays like a lost collaboration.
What separates his work from a novelty mashup is the care. Gazaway treats acapellas, instrumentals, horn charts, and drum breaks like session musicians, arranging them into songs with real structure and flow. A Marvin Gaye groove holds down a Mos Def verse. A Fela Kuti horn section answers a De La Soul punchline. The seams are almost invisible, and the results have earned him a devoted following among crate diggers and casual listeners alike.
These projects live in a gray area, released outside the majors and pressed in small runs, which is exactly why a record store shelf is the best place to find them. GOOD TASTE Records carries a deep run of the Soul Mates catalog on vinyl. Here is where to start, and where to go once you are hooked.
Amerigo Gazaway - Fela Soul (Fela Kuti x De La Soul)
Fela Soul is where the whole story starts. Released in 2011, it sets De La Soul's playful rhymes against the deep Afrobeat grooves of Fela Kuti, and the match is so natural you wonder why no one tried it sooner. Pick up Fela Soul on black vinyl.
Why it's worth purchasing:
- The album that launched the Soul Mates project, on vinyl
- Afrobeat horns and rhythms under classic De La Soul verses
- A welcoming gateway to both artists for new listeners
Amerigo Gazaway - Yasiin Gaye: The Departure (Mos Def vs Marvin Gaye)
Yasiin Gaye: The Departure, from 2014, is the project that made the widest impression, folding Mos Def's voice into a full band's worth of Marvin Gaye. It moves like a proper soul record, warm and unhurried, and it treats both artists with obvious love. Order The Departure on vinyl. The story continues on its companion volume, Yasiin Gaye: The Return, also in our racks.
Why it's worth purchasing:
- Mos Def vocals arranged over lush Marvin Gaye instrumentation
- A blend album that plays like a lost soul LP
- Paired by its sequel, The Return, for the full set
Amerigo Gazaway - Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to the Pharcyde
Bizarre Tribe, from 2012, pits A Tribe Called Quest against The Pharcyde, two pillars of jazz inflected hip-hop, and lets their worlds bleed together. Loose, sunny, and endlessly quotable, it is a love letter to the golden age from someone who clearly lived inside those records. Grab Bizarre Tribe on vinyl.
Why it's worth purchasing:
- A Tribe Called Quest and The Pharcyde woven into one album
- Jazz sampling hip-hop in its warmest, loosest form
- Essential for fans of early 90s East and West Coast rap
Amerigo Gazaway - The B.I.G. Payback (Biggie vs James Brown)
On The B.I.G. Payback, Gazaway backs The Notorious B.I.G. with the raw funk of James Brown and his band, and the pairing feels almost inevitable. Biggie's storytelling rides those tight rhythm section grooves like it was built for them. Pick up The B.I.G. Payback on vinyl.
Why it's worth purchasing:
- Notorious B.I.G. verses over live James Brown funk
- Hard breakbeats and horn stabs from start to finish
- A natural bridge between the soul and hip-hop shelves
Amerigo Gazaway - Nina Simone vs Lauryn Hill: Miseducation of Eunice Waymon
Named for Nina Simone's birth name, this 2019 project threads Lauryn Hill's voice through Nina Simone's arrangements, two singular artists separated by a generation and joined here by theme as much as sound. It is among his most emotionally direct works. Order Miseducation of Eunice Waymon on vinyl.
Why it's worth purchasing:
- Lauryn Hill vocals set against Nina Simone arrangements
- A conceptual tribute that honors both singers
- Soul and neo-soul listeners will find plenty to sit with
Amerigo Gazaway - Common vs Stevie Wonder: Common Wonder
On Common Wonder, the Chicago rapper Common meets the songbook of Stevie Wonder, and the result glows. Wonder's melodies give Common's reflective verses a bright, generous backdrop. Grab Common Wonder on vinyl.
Why it's worth purchasing:
- Common's verses over Stevie Wonder melodies and grooves
- Bright, soulful production from front to back
- A feel good entry point to the Soul Mates catalog
Amerigo Gazaway - Soulmates Vol. 1 & 2
Soulmates Vol. 1 & 2 gathers a run of his shorter blends and loose singles onto one LP, a fine survey for anyone who wants the range of the project in a single sitting. Think of it as the sampler that sends you back to the full lengths. Pick up Soulmates Vol. 1 & 2 on vinyl. The collection continues on Soulmates Vol. 3 & 4.
Why it's worth purchasing:
- A single LP survey of the blend singles
- An easy overview of Gazaway's range
- Continues on the companion Soulmates Vol. 3 & 4
If You Like Amerigo Gazaway
A few kindred names on our shelves, for the blend fan who wants more:
- Danger Mouse: the other great blend auteur, from DangerDOOM to the Grey Album lineage.
- A Tribe Called Quest: one of the source groups behind Bizarre Tribe, and a cornerstone of jazz rap.
- De La Soul: the voices at the heart of Fela Soul, sample based hip-hop at its most inventive.
- Marvin Gaye: the soul foundation under Yasiin Gaye, and a catalog worth its own deep dive.
- Erykah Badu: neo-soul kin whose records share the same warm, unhurried gravity.
Gazaway's blends sit right where two of our biggest sections meet. Browse more rap and production forward records in Hip-Hop, dig into the grooves that feed his work in Funk / Soul / Disco, or see everything we carry from him on the Amerigo Gazaway collection page. Deeper cuts like Trill is Gone, his UGK and B.B. King blend, and Variations of Voodoo, his tribute to D'Angelo, are waiting there too.
It's all in GOOD TASTE.
