It’s hard to be anything but a cynic these days, but somehow Mitchell & Dewbury have managed to rise above the times on this album of uplifting deep jazz. Rolling organs, testifying choruses and fat, sassy basslines are all present and accounted for on epic jams like “Globetrotter,” while elsewhere the pair pays much respect to Afro and Latin roots, and nods to disco on the title track. If you can open those jaded ears (and overlook some occasionally heavy-handed lyrics), Rappin With the Gods is full of the unified sounds of hope.