Popularized by the group Tribe Called Quest in the 90s, the collaboration of jazz and hip-hop has persisted through decades of time. Throughout the decades, one might find that jazz rap has gone through a bit of a change; despite traditionally being based on jazzy samples, modern jazz rap commonly refers to rap records with jazz arrangements (as seen in the works of Little Simz or Moor Mother). Leading this change was the renowned jazz pianist Robert Glasper. Featured in the classic works of Common, Kendrick Lamar, and Talib Kweli, his adventure towards fusing jazz and hip-hop became crucial to today’s soundscape.
1987~2004
The major influence on Robert Glasper’s music came from his mother Kim Yvette Glasper. Being a mom and a professional jazz singer, she often took young Robert Glasper to her quotidian performances, as well as her Sunday church gigs. Soon, the church became Robert Glasper’s first stage, with him having swiftly improved his piano skills to be the institution’s principal musician. The influence of gospel performances is still existent in his creative process, shown by his description in an episode of Talib Kweli’s podcast: “When you play in the church too, you learn how to connect spiritually, with the music and the people.”
During his teen years, Robert Glasper also helped to accompany the works of his mother, in which he met pianists who would ultimately spark his interest in playing jazz. Attending the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and touring with the household names of jazz, Robert Glasper came across another major influence on his music—his classmate and an eminent R&B singer Bilal. Not only he open connections with other prominent artists such Common and Yasiin Bey, but he also embarked Glasper’s later ‘experiment’ to fuse R&B, hip-hop, and predominantly jazz. From featuring as a guest in Double Booked to performing an outstanding chorus with Lupe Fiasco in Black Radio, Bilal’s contribution to Robert Glasper’s work is remarkable. No wonder his featured song ‘All Matter’ proceeded to give Robert Glasper his first Grammy nomination.
2005~2009
In 2005, Robert Glasper signed to Blue Note Records, an acclaimed record label which has undoubtedly shaped today’s bebop, having contained musical revolutionaries including Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. There, he released a trilogy—Canvas, In My Element, and Double Booked—which would go on to define and conclude Robert Glasper’s era of post-bop. With In My Element being rhythmically inspired by J Dilla—his collaborator and a beat prophet—the albums satisfyingly deliver the progressive morph in Glasper’s soundscape, acting as a bridge connecting his various musical curiosities.
By the release of Double Booked, Robert Glasper has already become a familiar figure for thoes following deep into the music scene. Including Kanye West’s Late Registration and Q-Tip’s The Renaissance, he has contributed to more than 20 full-length records ranging from hip-hop to post-bop. Just Blaze, collaborator of Late Registration, shared his story on connecting Robert Glasper and Kanye West: “Me and Questlove found a young dude by the name of Robert Glasper, and we had him come to Baseline. He put some keys down, now homie’s winning Grammys left and right.” Another achievement was becoming the music director of rapper Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def. The street philosopher is seen in Robert Glasper’s ‘4eva’ before spitting his iconic line regarding the press in ‘Black Radio’. “I tend to love collaborating with people who love jazz,” Glasper expresses his affection for working with Yassin Bey.
2012~2013
During a tour with his bandmates, Robert Glasper picked up a call from his manager; “Yo, everyone’s available next week. I don’t know what happened, but everyone’s available in LA next week,” he recalls the exciting announcement. After canceling the tour, Robert Glasper instantly headed to L.A. Having contacted his associates such as Erykah Badu, Mos Def, and Lupe Fiasco, who were content to participate regardless of the album’s ‘jazz budget,’ Black Radio was released to the public during the sunlit spring of 2012.
Reaching out to audiences emerging from hip-hop to neo soul, Black Radio has become a sonic revolutionary in black mainstream music. The album also marked a significant upward trajectory in Glasper’s career. He was able to win the Grammys for Best R&B Performance, nearly reaching the peak of Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. ‘Afro Blue,’ a standard by Mongo Santamaria featuring Erykah Badu, was able to surpass the original by popularity—some Miles Davis there. There manifested a breakthrough in one’s career; Robert Glasper was clearly a producer, more than a performer. And the channeling crowd from the infamous jazz police station only further solidifies this.
Following the success of Black Radio, Robert Glasper took the chance to try out the classic Hollywood marketing: releasing a sequel right after. “I just started off the same way I started off part one, except this time I was heavily on twitter,” he described his next album, while simultaneously displaying his witty sense of humor. Released less than two years after the predecessor, Black Radio 2 used similar formulas as with Black Radio, while experimenting with a different set of singers including the neo-soul’s acclaimed treasure Jill Scott. The next series of the franchise, Black Radio 3, was released in 2022. It incorporated a more modern style of neo soul; Black Radio now became a measure for all the establishments in neo soul.
2014~2016
Yet, the success of Black Radio and Black Radio 2 may not have been much of a pleasure for his fans; during 2013-2022, Robert Glasper left a huge gap in his discography, with the sole studio album release being ArtScience. Instead, his focus moved on to his side projects, as well as production. To start things off, he became in charge of the music of Miles Ahead, a biographic film based on the well-known trumpeter Miles Davis, featuring reinterpretations of many of his original compositions. Collaboration with the long-gone performer has continued with the release of Everything’s Beautiful, featuring some of the most prominent artists on top of Miles Davis’s standards. While the album successfully gave Miles Davis another limelight, it’s up to one’s debate whether it was necessary or not in the jazz landscape. “I didn’t want to do just a remix record” Robert Glasper commented on the album’s intention, “My idea was to show how Miles inspired people to make new art”.
His next accomplishment may sound familiar to most hip-hop nerds. Connected by producer Terrace Matin, Robert Glasper performed Kendrick Lamar’s album To Pimp a Butterfly, which, to borrow the words of Anthony Fantano, was a benchmark in musical history. Touching on a significant part of the album, such as track ‘For Free?’ and ‘These Walls’, Robert Glasper recalled the studio session being surprisingly charming and relaxing. “Ironically, I went there to do more jazzier things than I was doing on my own” he describes the intimacy of Kendrick’s recording atmosphere, “I was actually thinking of it like he [Kendrick Lamar] was a saxophone player”. Not having heard the result of his contribution, Robert Glasper was rightfully shocked when the album was finally released to the public. Since the release, To Pimp a Butterfly became a cultural phenomenon; the playing of Robert Glasper went on to influence the lives of millions of listeners.
2017~
Besides the tributes to Miles Davis, Robert Glasper has continued to make noticeable contributions to black culture. He took a leading role in Nina Revisited..., a reimagining of jazz singer Nina Simone’s rebellious and dynamic qualities; his production on Radio Silence and Black America Again sparked the sociopolitical messages of Common and Talib Kweli; and being the co-producer of Our Point of View, he gathered and produced for Blue Note’s most talented jazz musicians. Speaking of jazz, or what we’ve been pondering for six pages, Robert Glasper has a fascinating approach to modern jazz and its frequent fusions: “Back in the '50s, they didn't have hip-hop. But they had musicals. So, they would take songs from musicals and make them jazz songs. And that was called risqué”.
Fortunately, this is not the end of the era of Robert Glasper. As a matter of fact, Robert Glasper is now more active than ever. Fuck Yo Feelings and Dinner Party have become some of the most renowned pieces of his career, and he has contributed to what many agree as the Denzel Curry’s best album—Melt My Eyez See Your Future. Glasper’s skill also reached the film music industry, composing scores for shows and movies such as The Photograph. With Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper stands firmly in the grey area between jazz and hip hop. Or else, one might say that they created a new movement. The sonic element of their music remains unique, even if their far-reaching contributions might have inevitably influenced the next few generations of musicians. By Jihoo Kim.