Last Updated on 09/01/2022
These are the top 10 jazz rap albums in the genre’s history. Discover some of the best ever jazz rap and learn about the history of hip hop’s mellowest mode along the way.
Jazz and hip hop were always going to collide eventually.
Hip hop’s ravenous appetite for sampling means that everything from disco to prog rock has been hoovered up into the genre’s kaleidoscopic palette. And the common alignment of jazz and hip hop, with both acting as vital outlets of expression for African Americans (albeit primarily of different generations), made the union all the more inevitable. Both represent important cultural touchstones of the very same communities; rappers such as Q-Tip and Snoop Dogg grew up in homes surrounded by the many classic records of the Black America’s jazz greats.
Yet, the links run perhaps deeper still. There is an argument to suggest that the very form of hip hop was shaped by jazz. Bearing in mind the way in which both genres place such emphasis on improvisation, often over a backdrop of cyclical rhythms, it is easy to see how. Maybe this is why they form such a harmonious pairing; when you hear jazz loops and solos chopped up and sprinkled into a blissed-out boom-bap beat it does feel like hip hop was always meant to be that way.
While their meeting could have been anticipated what would have been more difficult to predict is the longevity of their relationship, as jazz and rap’s matrimony in the 80s went on to conceive a truly prosperous and enduring lineage of jazz rap tradition.
Maybe surprisingly, the earliest overlap of the two genres is owed to jazz’s veteran innovators rather than the fresh creative faces of hip hop, with jazz pianist Herbie Hancock enlisting DJ Grand Mixer D.ST to collaborate on his track “Rockit” as early as 1983. Listening to it now though it is obvious that this was not the particular blend that caught on. That winning formula can be more confidently credited to the hip hop groups of the late 80s.
De La Soul perhaps most famously adopted elements of jazz in trendsetting album 3 Feet High and Rising, although, at this point at least, they did not submerge themselves in the style quite as much as others. Early hip hop live band Stetsasonic do display a true-blue jazz rap bop with 1988’s “Talkin’ All That Jazz” and Gang Starr’s Guru and DJ Premier came through strong with “Jazz Thing” not long after – both are undeniably ancestors of the jazzy hip hop hits heard all-over the shop only 5 years later, when the style was to hit heights of popularity. As Digable Planets iconically chronicled on hit ‘Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)’, these new jazz rap MCs did in fact sound ‘cool like dat’. And fans of hip hop seemed to really appreciate this, as the unparalleled smoothness of a slick flow over a subtly swinging jazz sample was soon to be found everywhere.
![Digable Planets - Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat) [7" Single] Lyrics and Tracklist | Genius](https://i0.wp.com/images.genius.com/01a2eed1c2f190af3a151380811eb103.823x823x1.jpg?resize=319%2C319&ssl=1)
And the great-grandchildren of jazz and rap’s fateful pairing are spread far and wide today. What made the sound such a cult style in the early 90s has been sculpted and moulded without losing it’s magic.
I could probably write pages listing the various present day music scenes with jazz rap blood pumping through their veins, but I will try to keep it to a (relatively) quick summary.
In America alone the firm influence of jazz rap spans:
- the abstract hazy rap of the sLUms movement and affiliates (Mach-Hommy, Mavi, Earl Sweatshirt, for example);
- coke-rap revivalists Griselda and Freddie Gibbs;
- underground backpack rapper royalty Open Eagle Mike and Milo (now R.A.P Ferreira);
- Midwest rappers Noname, Quelle Chris, Saba and Jean Grae;
- instrumental visionary Flying Lotus;
- and the jazzy giants of the hip hop mainstream: Kendrick Lamar and J Cole.
The influence diffuses still further afield. In the British Isles, jazz rappers Loyle Carner and Rejjie Snow have experienced unprecedented popularity in recent years, Tom Misch fuses hiphop rhythms into his ever-sunny jazz-pop formula, and the wider jazz scene currently flourishing in London regularly pulls rap vocalists into their world.
And this is all without mentioning jazz rap’s slightly contentious cousin lo-fi hip hop. The ‘Music to Study/Chill to’ is a certified internet phenomenon. There is likely barely a college or university student in the English speaking world that has not at some point plugged into the endless conveyor belt of jazzy, downtempo beats that providers such as chillledcow present for your easy consumption on YouTube, Soundcloud and Spotify. Although jazz rap is not necessarily the only significant influence upon the style (some 90s electronic music definitely left an impression on its producers) it is undeniably an important one. I would highly recommending reading Victoria Vouloumanos’s in-depth breakdown of lof-fi hip hop’s myriad influences if you are keen to learn more.
Anyway, to the list.
Between that modest start in the late 80s and the current jazz rap landscape a lot happened, and a lot of brilliant albums have been released. With only one pick per artist, the following are the very best albums that jazz rap has had to offer.
Honourable mentions:
Jazzmatazz Volume 1, Guru
Enlisting some of the premier jazz musicians of the day, the Gang Starr MC brought us rap music with jazz (in what was a very ambitious combination for the time). Both the smooth and the swaggering of the two genres are brilliantly integrated in this smoky jazz rap cornerstone.
Dwight Spitz, Count D Bass
Before Madvillainy and J Dilla’s Donuts, Dwight Spat. Or rather Dwight Spitz. Well, he did back in 2001 at least. Anyway …
Though Count D Bass’s sophomore release would later go on to be eclipsed by the classics mentioned above, this excellent (and far jazzier) project displays some noticeable seeds of influence: the bite sized chunks of hiphop goodness that Donuts later delivered and the low-key delirium of Madvillainy (as well a DOOM verse or two) are both on show here.
If you are already a fan of either, it is a must listen.
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And now to the top 10…
10. Black Reign, Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah is one of the 90s’ most charismatic M.C.s and simultaneously one of the most underrated. Lead single “U.N.I.T.Y” may have won a Grammy back in 1995, but this dark jazzy project doesn’t get half the recognition it deserves today.
9. Modal Soul, Nujabes
In the introduction the branching of lo-fi hip hop beats from jazz rap was alluded to. Japanese producer Nujabes sits comfortably in that tree fork gently swinging his legs and making sweet, sweet music. Often cited as the father of lo-fi hip hop, it is difficult to quantify the exact extent of his influence – but listening to Modal Soul it is pretty straightforward to point and say that it is likely significant.
Capturing the entrancing comfort of ‘lo-fi beats’, this album has a couple of things over those endless YouTube/Spotify radios: 1. quality guest rap verses and 2. genuinely beautiful melodic song structures. There are some real quality tunes peppered throughout this lush, accessible beat tape.
8. Breakin’ Combs, Dred Scott
1994, LA. Released on the wrong coast and 3 years too late, this album and some of its best tracks should sit comfortably within the cannon of classic boom-bap jazz rap – if only more people knew about it. It has the gorgeous beats, the bars, the bangers and a little star quality; the subtly Caribbean tinged rhythms of Scott’s delivery and his dark sense of humour make him a bright buoy in the sea of 90s jazz rap.
7. Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note, Madlib
LA record label Blue Note is a monolith of jazz, with most of the genre’s biggest names from the late 50s and 60s putting at least a recording or two to wax there; this project sees Madlib given license to remix their entire catalogue.
There is a definite ‘kid-in-a-sweet-shop’ vibe to the way it is all put together (a very talented one obviously) – but it is endearing to feel the awe and excitement that Mr Lib must have felt sifting through the records that sit underneath the tracks here. And I suppose you would be excited when you have the ability to update them for the modern era this well – capturing their magic and enhancing it with little flourishes of genius. This is hip hop created like jazz, from jazz.
6. Blowout Comb, Digable Planets
Either of Digable Planet’s two brilliant albums could take this spot on the list.
Their debut contained the bigger hits (“Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” included) but this gorgeous rap adventure takes the mustard with its atmospherically lit alley-bistro vibes. The live instrumentation is subtle but beautiful, and for the delicious progression on “Black Ego” alone I would stick it on this list. Mwah *kisses fingertips*.
5. The Main Ingredient, Pete Rock and CL Smooth
Lots of people like jazz rap for its vibe. Lounging in a smoke-filled room or chilling in the hot sun with a cool flannel on your forehead kind of music (idk?). This album epitomizes that like no other.
CL Smooth is, as you would expect, smooth. He isn’t the most exceptional rapper you have heard, but he is very good, and the perfect foil for Pete Rock – resident producer extraordinaire. The understanding between CL’s liquid rhythms and the luscious jazzy instrumentals is seemingly telepathic. Rock’s beats groove and sooth sumptuously and Smooth always knows exactly how to follow.
A must listen jazz rap record.
4. Uptown Saturday Night, Camp Lo
One of the laziest ways to review an album is to say that it sounds like the cover looks. The reason such a temptation exists is that there is so often something to it – that is particularly true here.
A vivid dream of a night out (as all the best ones are in the current clubbing climate☹), why enter the Wu’s 36 chambers when you could enter the Uptown Saturday Night disco? Capturing the moody, sexy glee of the 70s dancefloor in jazz rap, it is a huuuuge amount of fun. Whether you’re talking about the raucous celebratory bounce of “Luchini AKA This Is It” or the gentle sway and bob of “Sparkle”, you will move. The beats are lushly composed and topped with a practically shimmering finish.
And the eccentrically named MCs Geechi Suede and Sonny Cheeba are definitely the most entertaining strangers you will meet on your foray uptown. To be completely honest, I don’t know what they are trying to say half the time. Beyond snippets of them flexing, pouring it up and meeting some ‘fly honies’, their bars are so compact with slang and non-linear sentence structures that they seem pretty intentionally opaque (even Dadaist). But I am fully sold on the two as top quality rappers. They are captivating, verses loaded with energy, and know exactly how to make rap sound good. Their fluid cadences and spot-on vocabularic concoctions make the whole thing jazz rap crack.
3.To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
Essays could be (and have been) written on this album. I won’t even attempt to cover the breadth and depth of its content in a little review like this. What is relevant here is that it is a great hip hop album – one of the most significant in the genre’s history (despite its relative newness) – and that it integrates rich jazz into the deepest levels of its sonic identity.
Grappling with society’s biggest issues Kendrick peers inwards at his own vices and insecurities. To use a well-worn metaphor, but one that suits the album well, he really pulls together a lyrical tapestry, complete with captivating narratives, powerful messages and emotional depth, high concept themes, monstrous flexes and bars bars bars. It isn’t just meaningful though, it is beautiful.
Kendrick does with jazz rap what hadn’t really been done before. Jazz first coalesced with hip hop in the late 80s – this album feels like jazz has careened back into the path of that happy union, absolutely smashing into it again, knocking some bits loose and adding extra. Even more ‘jazz’ seemed to stick to this time though – like Guru in the 90s before him, Kendrick doesn’t just sample but employs jazz, funk and soul musicians to add a dynamism that most jazz rap doesn’t quite exhibit.
‘For Free?’ sees Kendrick rapping freely over jazz improv: no loops, no samples, with the frenetic clatter perfectly mirroring Kendrick’s slightly desperate sounding rhetoric. This song poses as the perfect showpiece for his use of jazz on this album. It isn’t just used to create ‘a vibe’ but to convey the message or story of the music in tandem with Kendrick’s lyricism.
No other jazz rap album is quite its match with regards to its emotive use of jazz instrumentation, but time will only tell what mark this album has on the future of the genre.
2. Stress: The Extinction Agenda, Organized Konfusion
By no means popular upon its release, Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po’s second record had gained much deserved underground cult status by the end of the 90s. But unbelievably, it has now fallen back into relative obscurity. This is in no small part due to its absence from major streaming services, unlike other 90s hip hop classics – this decline has been compounded by its physical issues being long out of print. That is not to say it’s underrated by those who have heard it, it’s just that the contingent who have is much smaller than it should be.
Many other albums on this list play (very competently) into a jazz rap stereotype: soothing, buttery beats, with some silky rhymes over the top to lightly stimulate your mind. Organized Konfusion shake up this expectation of the genre big time. With a sound influenced as much by the Wu-tang Clan as A Tribe Called Quest, there is not much room for laidback, smoked-out spitting here – the two MCs are samurai sword sharp and hyper energetic. The beats are dark, menacing even at times, and deeply jazzy, with everyone from Herbie Hancock to Charles Mingus sampled. These excellent instrumentals take a back seat though, primarily serving as a fitting backdrop for some of the best rapping to ever be put to tape.
Perhaps you could argue there are other jazz rap albums that out-do this one with higher-concept story-telling or profound topical messaging etc., but bar for bar, track for track, lyrical hip hop doesn’t get much better than this. Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po absolutely body every verse. Monch in particular has to be one of the most talented MCs to ever rock the mic. His flows are elastic and complex, never settling into comfortable monotony for a second, as he deftly induces an instant or two of melody before it is whipped from under your feet again. And lyrically, he is a joy to listen to. As he brags, battle raps, story-tells, jests and philosophizes he does something that is so rare even among hip hop’s greats: he avoids cliché. Each time the easy choice of phrase or punchline is available, he offers a comfortably superior alternative. And his flexibility (which is impressively matched by Po) allows the album to carry an insanely diverse selection of rap tracks, as the two contort their skills to make each song the best it can be.
If you are a fan of lyrical hiphop: LISTEN. Look it up on YouTube, get your hands on a copy (physical or digital) and digest some real top tier lyricism, backed by some quality jazzy beats.
1. Midnight Marauders, A Tribe Called Quest
As if you could have a jazz rap list without Tribe.
They are the genre’s biggest stars; whose popularity signalled its rise to cultural relevance in the early 90s. It is difficult to imagine that many jazz rap musicians since have avoided being (at the very least indirectly) influenced by the group; their music perfectly embodies the cool, groove centric, conscious magic of jazz rap.
Choosing just one of their albums though was always going to be the contentious bit. As far as I am concerned they have 4 jazz rap classics: the seminal debut (Peoples Instinctive Travels…); jazz rap’s most iconic LP (The Low End Theory); possibly hip hop’s greatest comeback record (We’ve got it from Here…); and last but not least, Midnight Marauders. The only reason the latter usurps that intimidating sounding group is because it is easily one of the most perfect hip hop records I have listened to. Making it for me, not just the peak of the most influential group in jazz rap’s career, but a pinnacle of the genre itself.
I can only really describe the experience of listening to this album as being like seeing in HD for the first time. Every hue is vivacious, every texture is so exquisitely crisp.
From the start, Midnight Marauders is conceptually framed as some kind of listening program (complete with robotic announcer interludes). Rappers Q-Tip and Phife Dawg are your gracious and thoroughly charismatic hosts, making you feel at home and lightly stimulating your brain with their lexicon, as what isn’t exactly a short album flashes by at what feels a leisurely pace. They have truly effortless and kinetic chemistry. Light on their feet, they weave nimbly past one another track to track, knitting together narratives both intriguing and infectiously fun. Q-Tip is his usual magnetic self while Phife Dawg really ups his game from the first couple of Tribe records, coming through with very entertaining anecdotes and chuckle-worthy one-liners.
Equally if not more important are the instrumentals which the two vocalists effortlessly slot into. As alluded to before, they are gorgeous. The rich, organic. jazzy instrumentation Tribe became well known for on their previous album, The Low End Theory, seems to radiate a gentle neon luminescence here, that hints at a bright electricity flowing beneath the surface.
Weird comparison, but if it were more fun and less dangerous, the living forest on the planet of Pandora in James Cameron’s Avatar might be the physical manifestation of this audio experience. Only this jungle softly glows red, green and yellow not blue. A useless analogy if you haven’t seen the film, but then again who hasn’t? (sorry lol)
The obligatory cherry on top would then have to be the host of earworm samples that make up the foundation of the album’s beats. The whole experience is incomparably soothing and without a dud song in sight.
The best album in jazz rap? I think so.
Listen to our playlist below for a flavour of all the albums mentioned above.
