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What do you get when you cross legendary hip hop producer, his associate, and the keyboardist from the perhaps greatest funk collective to survive the 1970s? Apparently, an infant pachyderm. Baby Elephant is the newest experiment concocted by hip hop genius Prince Paul, Newkirk, and Bernie Worrell, late of Parliament Funkadelic. The album's melodies are driven by Worrell's fingers, and his sound dominates the proceedings. Paul lays the foundation, providing most of the production, while Newkirk provides some percussion and scant vocals (with the help of some guests). The name of the group conjures memories of Mancini's “Baby Elephant Walk,” that drunken orchestral exercise. I imagined something along the lines of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, which is to say, P-Funk fused with hip hop, albeit tempered by Paul’s signature, low-key style. I was simultaneously excited and disappointed. Turn My Teeth Up! was going to be something special (exciting) even if it had already been done (disappointing). It's all of these things and none of these things—Mancini, Dre, exciting, disappointing—and more.

The mostly instrumental Turn My Teeth Up! is, rightfully, a showcase for Worrell, a record without the gaudy fantasy of Parliament or Paul’s overt expressions of genre. What remains is excellent musicianship and direction, innovation, and mind-bending sound. There’s influences here from across the musical spectrum, including funk, reggae, soul, jazz, R&B, 80s new wave, and boom bap. There might be something here for fans of Dre’s aforementioned opus, but don’t expect straight hip hop. Turn My Teeth Up! is some kind of Frankenalbum, with different bits sewn together and brought to life.

Beneath the title track, the liner notes simply say, “Teeth by Bernie Worrell” as casually as they explain, “Drums by Newkirk,” and “Harmonica by Big Nancy.” The only explanation is in the song itself, where Worrell exclaims, “Turn My Teeth Up!” before a flurry of strange percussive clicks; he's playing his teeth. What's more, they work, blending effortlessly with Newkirk's drums and Big Nancy's harmonica, until they seemingly dissolve into a scampering blues riff on a honky tonk piano.

Composer and former Talking Heads brain trust David Byrne checks in on “How Does the Brain Wave?” In front of rising synths punctuated by electronic beeps (courtesy of David Barron), the guttural voice over introduction states, “It is the Year 3000. Civilization has just been reconstructed with the aid of computerized Funknology . . .” before Worrell and Byrne, with the help DJ Roc Raida, release the lovechild of Worrell’s brand of psychedelic funk and Byrne’s subversive new wave.

“Plainfield” brings long-time rapper, producer, musician, artist, P-Funk touring mate, and Digital Underground co-founder Shock G (also known as Humpty Hump) into the fold for a trippy, groovy, organ-fueled grinder. Shock G’s vocals are ghostlike, swimming behind Worrell’s freeform melodies, and they leave you wishing he’d appeared as Humpty on one of the funkier tracks.

A master of production, Prince Paul knows precisely what to do with Worrell’s genius: turn it loose. Worrell has long been known for his ability to fill the white spaces of any recording with necessary, if esoteric, noise. Turn my Teeth Up! is exactly the sum of its parts. It's soulful and funky and hip, and while it’s not the easiest album to digest, the labor is part of the fun.

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