New York instrumental outfit El Michels Affair team up with rapper Black Thought on Grateful from their 2023 album Glorious Game.

It’s not a rule but I’ve always tended to like hip-hop tunes that stand up on the music alone. So I immediately liked the instrumental outfit El Michels Affair.

Not that the vocals don’t stand up on this one, because it’s very much a case of the music complementing the vocals by guest rapper Black Thought – and vice versa.

Leon Michels’ outfit have been making their cinematic soul music in New York since the turn of the century, initially backing Raekwon and other Wu-Tang Clan members.

Nine names are listed on the songwriting credits while a tenth, Shabba Ranks, is the main vocal sample. Throw in those trumpet blasts, that insistent flute riff, and the curlicues of electric guitar, shake, stir and turn up the volume.