Jazz Rap
17 albums reviewed
Where jazz improvisation meets hip-hop rhythm. These albums blend live instrumentation, smooth samples, and cerebral lyricism into something timeless. A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Digable Planets pioneered the fusion in the early '90s, drawing from bebop, cool jazz, and soul. The tradition carries through Madlib's deep-crate production, Robert Glasper's genre-blurring experiments, and the jazz-inflected textures of Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly.
Atmosphere
God Loves Ugly Instrumentals
Hip-HopAlternative9 minRating: 7.2
JID
The Forever Story
Hip-HopSouthern12 minRating: 8.7
Earl Sweatshirt
Some Rap Songs
Hip-HopAlternative12 minRating: 8.7
Common
Resurrection
Hip-HopConscious13 minRating: 8.7
Talib Kweli
Quality
Hip-HopEast Coast11 minRating: 8.7
Chance the Rapper
Acid Rap
Hip-HopAlternative12 minRating: 9.2
Mac Miller
Faces
Hip-HopAlternative15 minRating: 9.3
Mos Def
Black on Both Sides
Hip-HopConscious14 minRating: 9.2
Isaiah Rashad
The Sun’s Tirade
Hip-HopSouthern12 minRating: 8.2
Smino
Luv 4 Rent
Hip-HopAlternative14 minRating: 8.3
A Tribe Called Quest
The Low End Theory
Hip-HopEast Coast14 minRating: 10.0
The Roots
Things Fall Apart
Hip-HopEast Coast10 minRating: 9.3
Nas
Illmatic
East CoastBoom Bap11 minRating: 10.0
A Tribe Called Quest
Midnight Marauders
JazzBoom Bap11 minRating: 9.0
Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly
ConsciousJazz14 minRating: 10.0
Tyler, The Creator
Flower Boy
AlternativeJazz11 minRating: 9.0
Jay-Z
Reasonable Doubt
East CoastBoom Bap11 minRating: 9.0