Prince Paul has been behind some of the most innovative ideas in hip hop since his career began in the ’80s. He’s produced De La Soul, introduced the comedy filler skit to the rap world, which now appears on just about every hip hop album, and even wrote a hip hop opera.

His latest project is Baby Elephant, a collaboration with Newkirk and Bernie Worrell, formerly of Parliament-Funkadelic and Talking Heads. The result is Turn My Teeth Up!, an experimental hip hop album that incorporates jazz and funk and just about everything else with a list of impressive guest contributors.

“Cool Runnins” is a free-and-easy reggae jam with Yellowman, while “If You Don’t Wanna Dance” is as club-ready as anything 50 Cent could’ve come up with. “How Does the Brainwave” features David Byrne and is another notch on the belt of the dance-rock genius.

The remarkable variety on Turn My Teeth Up! Means the album plays like a mix tape, which is not to say that it’s disjointed. It flows well, and Prince Paul never gets in over his head stylistically.