Over the past two decades, the bond between hip-hop and jazz has tightened again – this time in reverse. After years of DJs sampling jazz records, hip-hop artists began collaborating directly with jazz musicians. On To Pimp a Butterfly(2015), Kendrick Lamar worked with Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, and Robert Glasper. The result: a blend of rap, social poetry, and live improvisation that helped redefine the sound of modern hip-hop.
This trend predates Kendrick. Anderson .Paak, Tyler, The Creator, Common, Tom Misch, and J. Cole have all worked with jazz bands, bringing jazz players into a mainstream spotlight they rarely enjoyed. At the same time, young jazz artists – Ezra Collective, Alfa Mist, Nubya Garcia, BADBADNOTGOOD, and others – fold hip-hop rhythms into their writing. Through hip-hop, jazz is becoming ever more normalized.
Today, hip-hop is the world’s most listened-to and influential genre, with an industry topping $15 billion annually. Yet behind the commercial success sits a spirit it shares with jazz: a drive for freedom, innovation, and stories that matter. Still, jazz could never become what hip-hop is, because it resists the pressure of outcomes. Jazz is an honest expression.
The two genres don’t cancel each other out. They coexist, inspire one another, and spark new forms of expression. Jazz and hip-hop aren’t past and present – they’re two voices singing the same idea: creativity has no end.
🎷 Did you know…
When Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018, it was for a hip-hop album with strong jazz influences. His collaborators included Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, and Robert Glasper – three major names on today’s jazz scene.
