Jazz and hip-hop are dialects of the same language. Put them together and the conversation can be sublime. From jazz artists with hip-hop sensibilities to rappers versed in the rhythms of jazz, here are 15 albums that bridge the gap. The Last Poets The Last Poets (Douglas), 1970 The link between jazz and spoken-word poetry
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The link between jazz and spoken-word poetry would lead to the inception of hip-hop. That link was reinforced by the New York-based Last Poets, who harnessed the rhythms of jazz and the politics of revolution to illuminate the Black urban experience in America, a cause that hip-hop would later adopt and spread throughout the world. The fact that some of the most impactful artists in rap — The Notorious B.I.G., N.W.A. — would go on to sample tracks from The Last Poets’ debut album is evidence of its profound influence. Requisite track: “When the Revolution Comes”
Little surprise that Herbie Hancock’s first foray into instrumental hip-hop would wind up as a genre classic. Hancock’s playing is characteristically inventive and exhilarating, but it’s the inclusion of turntable scratches (courtesy of rap pioneer GrandMixer DXT), programmed drum loops and bass synths that make this album an early entry into the jazz-rap canon. To this day, you can find breakdancers top-rocking to the album’s lead-off track, “Rockit.” Requisite track: “Rockit”
Quincy Jones was among the first jazz artists to recognize the global impact of hip-hop, championing the careers of young rap artists before others in the jazz mainstream caught on. Back on the Block was one of the earliest excursions into jazz-rap fusion, and it’s remarkable for its stylistic breadth. Artists spanning nearly four generations made appearances, from Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and Ray Charles to Big Daddy Kane, Ice-T and Kool Moe Dee. For Jones, hip-hop wasn’t a flash-in-the-pan — in 1993, he founded the hip-hop magazine Vibe. Requisite track: “Back on the Block”
Any hip-hop album that features Ron Carter on bass is bound to pass the jazz-authenticity test, but that’s just one reason The Low End Theory belongs in the jazz-rap Hall of Fame. Rapper/producer Q-Tip’s beats nod to the language of jazz, sampling tunes by Gary Bartz, Weather Report, Eric Dolphy, Grant Green and Cannonball Adderley, and there are no shortage of lyrical references to jazz history: “You could find the Abstract listening to hip-hop/My pops used to say it reminded him of bebop,” rhymes Q-Tip in the opening tune, “Excursions.” Requisite track: “Check the Rhime”
Miles Davis Doo Bop (Warner Bros.), 1992
It’s a testament to the cultural import of hip-hop that Miles Davis’ final studio album was a hybrid of jazz and rap. A collaboration with MC Easy Mo Bee, Doo Bop wasn’t the pièce de résistance Miles fans might have been hoping for, but it was a powerful musical document nonetheless, if only because it made such a clear case for the musical similarities between the jazz-fusion of Davis’ later career and the harmonically advanced hip-hop emerging at the end of the millennium. Davis’ career was defined by evolution, his ears seemingly always attuned to the next “new thing.” It’s fitting that his final album passes the torch to a genre that continues to captivate audiences worldwide. Requisite track: “Mystery”
Guru Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 (Chrysalis), 1993
Rapper Guru had proven himself a formidable force in jazz-rap with the release of 1989’s No More Mr. Nice Guy, the debut album of Gang Starr, his duo project with producer DJ Premier. But it was 1992’s Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 that set him apart as one of the most jazz-versed rappers of all time. The album features Guru’s vocals atop solos by Donald Byrd, Branford Marsalis, Roy Ayers and Lonnie Liston Smith, and the result was as dynamic and free-flowing as an after-hours jam session. Requisite track: “Loungin’”
Us3, Hand on the Torch (Blue Note), 1993
Hand on the Torch, by the British hip-hop trio Us3, is likely the most popular jazz-rap album of all time. Released on kingmaking jazz label Blue Note, the album brims with repurposed motifs from jazz giants, including Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, Lou Donaldson and Bobby Hutcherson. Trumpeter Gerard Persencer’s slick and sophisticated solo on the Herbie Hancock-sampling “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)” made the song a radio hit and a jazz-fan favorite. Requisite track: “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)”
Nas Illmatic (Columbia), 1994
There’s a reason this 1994 Nas masterpiece has been studied in poetry classes at Harvard. Few rappers — or artists of any stripe — have illuminated the experience of Black urban youth at the turn of the century with more clarity, beauty and truth. As for musical texture, Illmatic certainly leans toward jazz. Producers DJ Premier, Q-Tip, Large Professor, Pete Rock and L.E.S. enliven their beats with samples from the Heath Brothers, Donald Byrd and Ahmad Jamal, but the jazz nods don’t end there. Nas (born Nasir Jones) is the son of cornetist Olu Dara, whose muted horn can be heard on the standout track “Life’s a Bitch.” Requisite track: “The World Is Yours”
Buckshot LeFonque Buckshot LeFonque (Sony), 1994
Given his jazz pedigree, saxophonist Branford Marsalis may seem an unlikely candidate for a jazz-rap trailblazer. But at the helm of the genre-defying group Buckshot LeFonque (named for an alias used by Cannonball Adderley on an off-label recording session), Marsalis made some of the most adventurous strides in jazz-rap experimentation. The group’s debut album, which also featured Jeff “Tain Watts, Kenny Kirkland, Greg Phillinganes, Victor Wooten and other jazz heavyweights, was a brilliant patchwork of grooves that evoked the spirit of hip-hop through stance and attitude. Vocal contributions by poet Maya Angelou make the connection between rap, jazz, poetry and the Black American experience even clearer. Requisite track: “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”
The Roots Do You Want More?!!!??! (DGC Geffen), 1995
Helmed by MC Blackthought and featuring arrangements by drummer-producer ?uestlove, The Roots were the original all-acoustic hip-hop group. This second studio album by the Philadelphia-based band made major waves upon its release, making a definitive statement that real instruments could interlace with rap vocals to produce music that was just as potent as anything concocted by loops and drum machines. Requisite track: "Proceed"
Madlib Shades of Blue (Blue Note), 2003
For one of the most captivating jazz/hip-hop hybrids of the 2000s, California-based producer Madlib was handed the keys to the Blue Note Records vault and given permission to remix to his heart’s content. The resulting album plays like a “Best of Blue Note” mixtape with rap DNA at its core. Songs from the label’s iconic albums — Horace Silver’s “Song for My Father,” Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints,” Herbie Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance” — are refracted through drum samples and DJ scratches, becoming something else entirely without losing their jazz identity. Requisite track: “Mystic Bounce”
RH Factor Hard Groove (Verve), 2003
Trumpet sensation Roy Hargrove was in the perfect place to ride the neo-soul wave that crested in the early 2000s. Well-versed in both jazz and hip-hop, he fit seamlessly into this musical movement that brought together grooves from modern jazz, contemporary R&B and vintage funk. Hargrove’s 2003 album with his big band RH Factor is a neo-soul standout, pairing some of the genre’s biggest names — Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Common and Anthony Hamilton — with head-bobbing beats and some electrifying improvisation from the trumpeter. Grooves don’t get much deeper. Requisite track: “I’ll Stay”
J Dilla Donuts (Stones Throw), 2006
Detroit-based producer J Dilla had the musical know-how and improvisational savvy of any top-notch jazz musician — his instrument of choice just happened to be turntables and drum machines. Donuts is his crowning achievement, a program of instrumental beats that layer samples and loops with all the nuance, complexity and emotive power of a Duke Ellington suite. This album has become a benchmark for hip-hop producers everywhere. Requisite track: “Gobstopper”
Robert Glasper Black Radio (Blue Note), 2012
“Rap - Lies = Hip-Hop”: So goes an oft-repeated quote by keyboardist Robert Glasper. Known both for his straightahead jazz chops and his close partnership with hip-hop and neo-soul powerhouses, Glasper minted a masterpiece with Black Radio, merging his own silky acoustic piano with Casey Benjamin’s slick vocoder riffs, Jahi Sundance’s incisive turntables and the tenchant boom-bap beats of bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Chris Dave. Vocal contributions from Erykah Badu, Bilal, Musiq Soulchild, Yassin Bey (Mos Def), Ledisi and Lupe Fiasco take this album to another level. Requisite track: “Afro Blue”
Kendrick Lamar DAMN. (TDE/Aftermath/Interscope), 2017
The release of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. was a groundbreaking moment for West Coast hip-hop, both for its inclusion of jazz artists (Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Thundercat) and for its impact on American culture. The album, which featured pointed lyrical takes on themes of love, violence and loyalty, was the first hip-hop recording to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Requisite track: “Loyalty”
Feature photo of A Tribe Called Quest courtesy of Discogs.com