Robert Glasper: “Jazz is the mother of hip-hop” | JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA

Why do hip-hop producers gravitate towards jazz samples?
---------------------
by ALEX ARIFF
For a mood, for sonic timbre, for a unique rhythmic component. Swing is a precursor to the boom-bap. "If you're a hip-hop producer that wants a lot of melodic stuff happening," pianist Robert Glasper says, "you're probably going to go to jazz first."
Glasper has lived in an area of overlap between jazz and hip-hop for more than two decades - and you can hear it in his piano playing, which often drifts into cyclical rhythms akin to a beat-maker's loops. It's all one and the same to Glasper: recasting the music of Miles Davis for an R&B audience or rocking live shows with Q-Tip; playing acoustic jazz with his trio or streamlined soul with his Grammy-winning Robert Glasper Experiment.
In this short doc, Glasper identifies three jazz samples, from tracks by Ahmad Jamal and Herbie Hancock, that have served as source material for famed hip-hop producers J Dilla and Pete Rock.
MUSIC:
Ahmad Jamal Trio, "I Love Music," The Awakening (1970)
Nas, "The World Is Yours," Illmatic (1994)
Herbie Hancock, "Come Running To Me," Sunlight (1978)
Slum Village, "Get This Money," Fantastic, Vol. 2 (2000)
Ahmad Jamal, "Swahililand," Jamal Plays Jamal (1974)
De La Soul "Stakes Is High," Stakes Is High (1996)
*Correction to the video: Slum Village's album Fantastic, Vol. 2 was released in 2000, not 2009.
---------------------
FOLLOW US!
Facebook: / jazznight
Twitter: / jazznight
Instagram: / jazznightinamerica

[@JonathanOgdenMusic]

This should be 3 hours long.

[@glaurossi]

YES! hahahahaha

[@mattfelsen]

If you haven't already heard it, check out Questlove's "The Lesson" mix vimeo.com/9437979

[@EvanBlack11]

You ain't never lied!

[@rainygyal6771]

Heyyy can’t believe I found you in a comment, I love rivers and robots 🙌🏾

[@CLBurrough]

This should be a mini series

[@fisher314]

Can you make a two hour version of this please? Sooo good.

[@GVM7Street]

Yeahh please make a movie or documentary about this!!! :D

[@angelreed2276]

Brigham Fisher those were my thoughts exactly. I also want to see Glasper performing a Stakes Is High solo

[@laflama.]

Same page!

[@Dave-bo8ry]

As long as the filmmakers devote a few minutes to the DJ from Black Sheep. Because I want to know how he took seven notes from an *improvised* bass solo in McCoy Tyner's "Impressions" and turned it into the loop for "The Choice is Yours." What kind of mind comes up with that?

[@NullCreativityMusic]

Yeah what he said, please. I enjoyed it a lot! I was a bit sad when I found out it was 3 min and not 30 min like I thought at first

[@williammacdonald1181]

So the artist Nas' dad was a jazz musician called Olu Dara.... I guess Jazz really is the father of Hip Hop

[@tupd]

William Macdonald lol wtf does this have to do with anything?

[@StreetHierarchy]

funk is the dad; jazz is the mother

[@madchillnotes9322]

Street Hierarchy Jazz its like the Grandfather

[@antonb9459]

Street Hierarchy I guess blues was somehow a one-night-stand too

[@jrg302]

I peep what you did there

[@MeMyHustleN-I]

My younger brother is Ali Shaheed the DJ and Producer from A Tribe Called Quest...we were raised on all types of music but Jazz has genres within it as well. RIP DILLA

[@jordanleng204]

I came back to this video after Ahmad Jamal passed away. Watching this for the first time sparked my interest in jazz, and rekindled my love for music as a form of expression and therapy as a young musician. Years ago, listening to "I Love Music" and "Swahililand" for the first time absolutely blew my mind. I owe it to this video for the exploration that resulted. Thank you Jazz Night in America. RIP Ahmad Jamal.

[@rapaeng1539]

Jazz meeting the hip hop is like mother and daughter having tea time. Two beautiful people talking about the small things in life that overall weave a wonderful story.

[@Riva55555]

so true

[@Aleph_Null_Audio]

The graphics in this video agree with my synesthesia.

[@ShonTolliverMusic]

The Hard Problem couldn't have said it any better

[@RayasNegroOvejas]

The Hard Problem while I can see that, I think it's hard to believe that the 32 people who have given this thumps up have synesthesia (but they have maybe given it thumps up for the reason I gave)

[@Aleph_Null_Audio]

PJ - To be honest, I used "synesthesia" colloquially because it's more catchy than "the way I personally visualize music". The actual neurological phenomenon is much too personal and varied for thirty two synesthetes to agree. I guess it's like people who talk about being "OCD" when they really mean "fastidious"...except I'm not making light of a psychological disorder.

[@nothanks1066]

They gave me a seizure.

[@thomastakeshita4979]

That's insane

[@Paulsicles]

J. Dilla was the missing link between Hip-Hop and Jazz. RIP Dilla. 🙏

[@elliotyeager]

you're missing nas, mf doom, madlib and common

[@granddolph]

Respect on his name - but there were plenty that came before Dilla that established the link. Mike Carr/Gang Starr/ Rakim (with Eric B)/Stetsasonic/Native Tongues to name a handful.

[@elliotyeager]

@@granddolph very true, thank you for pointing them out

[@silas7811]

Dilla dawg definitely a GOAT

[@hastalasopasequemo3645]

Its defintely dj primier he pretty much created boom bap style alongside Q-tip and pete rock

[@samuelele]

J Dilla is just amazing👀

[@etherliteqp1751]

Simeon Bell yeah, may he rest in peace

[@eliboi3443]

Fcking agree

[@thevillagehiddeninthehood1573]

The 🐐

[@victoriaappiagei1482]

rlp jdilla hip-hop dope history ear legacy jazz samples king now Kanye west soul samples

[@oldschoolsang93]

Definitly from paris

[@mongoslade259]

I’ve probably watched this video 15 times over the years. Never gets old

[@ExemploBeats]

So... Now we want the 2 hour documentary!

[@rodneycampbell2030]

The way he casually dropped that knowledge was pretty fly

[@martinlutero6694]

jazz is the father of every conteporaney music

[@arqmanuelmoreno7970]

Martin Lutero. For me, jazz is humanity music conclusion! There's a before and after!

[@kennyr1161]

@kdt nah the romans

[@OsvaldoBayerista]

@@kennyr1161 nah the greeks

[@jeisonalpizararce8478]

I am agree with that

[@eman0828]

I guess you mean blues? Just about Everything originated from blues as Jazz came from blues and ragtime piano.

[@cleetus1715]

dont underestimate soul funk and r&b too,

[@Kadenxe]

facts

[@ingridayarza]

They are also jazz babies hehe but I know what you mean.

[@jeromebeck7297]

soul and r&b pre-date jazz.....they are born from gospel

[@SchergeFX]

that's not true, new orleans jazz exists since 1910, Rnb since the '40 s, it took jazz elements...

[@jeromebeck7297]

SCHERGE R&B is nothing more than secular Gospel music .....Gospel music came before jazz

[@jannmikoingelrabagogamingc6012]

Ah, just reading through the title...it reminds me of the time when Roy Hagrove, one of the greatest jazz musicians in our generation, once pioneered in combining the role of jazz in the modern hip-hop scene. It kickstarted my love for jazz and finding different ways of combining other genres, really.

[@b4thepreposition]

Robert just seems so cool. What an amazing guy; love what he's doing for music in general. This dude's stuff breaks so many genre boundaries, all the while making it perfectly natural.

[@rosemcginnis914]

He is the same in his live shows.

[@robertglasper7691]

Hi fan?

[@IronMan-tk8uc]

Come on, this is too good, I think I hit the jackpot here, one of my favorite musicians of modern times, Robert Glasper, explaining the beauty and the origin of samples. Awesome video!

[@darkhalo0868]

Glasper is leading the way in Jazz!!! He's THE TRUTH!!

[@vernellthomas6644]

Keith Barrett He has taken it to another level by continuing to carry the torch of pushing the boundaries. Thundercat Flying Lotus Kareem Riggins and many more are doing the work

[@fancyfingerwork]

Keith Barrett Yes Indeed! Him , Bilal and Esperanza brought me back to Jazz.

[@cootiemya1]

He really is! My MCM. I love him! 🎶❤️

[@3VLN]

He slacking lately but yeh

[@RelaxingSpringAmbience]

I am playing this music every morning welcoming my kindergarten students to classroom. The music brings calmness as they enter and play quietly waiting for class to begin. Thank you.

[@PowMusic]

that's awesome!!!

[@Bby_ye]

I can't even explain how long I have been looking for a vid like this. I play the sax and I love jazz, I also listen alllooott of rap and I love those jazzy r and b cords in music. Please make a longer vid, myself and many others will be able to connect with what we truly love.

[@jaboojaboo222]

I'm 4 months into beat making, and was at the studio over the weekend (Saturday) with my producer having not seen him for a long time and also for him to check out my production skill. We were discussing about beat making and he was like mentoring me discussing on beat production. One thing he was saying over and over was that jazz is the mother of hip hop (music), that i should go learn jazz music I'll be good at making hip hop beats (any beat). Fast forward to right now. on getting to the office and opening KZbin, wholla! in my face is this video! I was like wow, this is definitely divine, lol... thanks gamie for this video. I'm digging deep....

[@Hamuelin]

Life goal: Get good enough at piano to justify owning a Steinway (and have the room and money for one).

[@s1dest3p]

You got that right!

[@lax398]

i feel this bro

[@sittinonthegodamcornerdoindope]

We on this lifelong journey with the ivory keys it’s whenever you wanna start

[@manolin.6597]

Robert Glasper speaks directly to my soul, cant explain it

[@ShermanKyle]

Ahhh dude you picked the type of samples that really speak to me, the kind I look for in hip hop. Can you PLEASE do an extended video with more of this exact style of breakdown? Love this

[@michaela_nk]

3 minutes and 8 seconds of absolute enjoyment. love the editing and the explanation, so beautiful!

[@tommasoparolini6234]

this vibe can full your heart. the real hip hop can't die

[@el_bigbabadoney5753]

We need more of this!!!❤

[@marynewson771]

More of this, please! Robert Glasper is amazing.

[@ShayanGivehchian]

The "Jazztronica" playlist in Spotify is basically all of these. BOMB

[@saurabhthackeray]

Thank you brother.

[@Thesedays15]

I always love to show friends the many samples of Jazz, Soul, and Funk that were taken in the name of Hip Hop.

[@supperbeunhaas]

Yoo, i think this is one of the dopest videos on KZbin. I’ve been listening too this for almost a year. I need more of these videos man! Gotta keep the jazz up

[@mrimmabreakitdown]

Man. I've watched this 20 times in the last 20 days. It is so inspiring just hearing this man

[@DMSFister]

I legit could listen to this man talk about music all day. His passion and love for it is so apparent.

[@dithatomogoiwa9424]

Thanks brother men...I enjoyed this video

[@MrLordofcoffee]

This is just the most perfect video. The editing, the animations, the content, presentation...literally perfect. Could watch it over and over again.

[@sumthinsumthin523]

The music played in this video is beautiful! Glasper has a brilliant way of describing/explaining things. Great video, thanks for posting!

[@jwilson544]

i honestly LOVE jazz

[@peterpeter3134]

goosebumps every time he plays his version of Swahililand

[@asmodeo111]

I need an hour for this!! Robert Glasper, so much charismatic!

[@jindo112]

Thanks for this video! I'm telling to my Korean friends about impact of Jazz on Hip-Hop, But ppl are just not listening to me. This will help.

[@christorychannel2175]

My relationship with both Jazz and Hip Hop grew out of strange circumstances. My introduction to Jazz was most likely brought about by the Nickelodeon show, Hey Arnold! - a cartoon I adored for the deep messages and the deep music that Arnold listened to every episode. Moving to Hip Hop, I attribute my love affair to either playing Tony Hawk Underground and looping Nas's 'The World is Yours' or when I was a 12 year old kid, shopping for clothes with my mother, and asking about the beats being played. It was Mos Def's 'Black on Both Sides'. Over the 16 years that followed, I learned how to blow sax and my car playlist consists of 80% Hip Hop. It's weird, because in Glasper's words, both genres are rooted in African-American oppression of which I had no experience. I'm a white Brit and in the lottery of life, was fortunate enough to have some relative stability growing up. But there's an introspective, defiant, reflective something that these genres give me that no other genre can. I adore them for that, and am grateful that the likes of Glasper, Kendrick, J Cole, etc are keeping this vibe alive. Amazing video.

[@TV-lk1xf]

This kind of content is exactly what i've been looking for. I've always thought there might be a common reason why i love both jazz and hiphop. This exactly answers to my question.

[@smileyent.3055]

That explains my love for jazz hop hop, my 2 favourite genres and they mix together!

[@SantiagoInsane]

"El jazz es el padre o madre del hip Hop" buena frase

[@TheClaumigue]

Hip-hop is the daughter of Jazz

[@vaqueroliquido7339]

That 1974 version of Swahililand is my favorite version. There are a lot of versions but only on this one that Dilla sampled do those frases feel so climatic.

[@verabutler866]

Robert is the bomb man. So dig how he demonstrates the links and is my goto/place when this topic (frequently) comes up in musician hangs. Would love Mr Glasper to do more of these clips 🤓

[@evangelineisolde]

Oh my! The sound of Jazz...leaves me breathless

[@iEatChocolate257]

"You can find the Abstract listening to hip hop My pops use to say it reminded him of be-bop" -A Tribe Called Quest Those lyrics always get to me.

[@mattmaiorano]

I need that shirt.

[@3VLN]

Same

[@josetato]

Man, i wish jazz was the most popular genre nowdays. I cant get enough of it.

[@skitahoe9]

I find myself coming back to this video every couple years and wishing Glasper had an hour long episode of different jazz influences on 90s and early 2000s hip hop songs

[@Skamux]

robert glasper has to be my favourite musician of all time.

[@coleemmersonhallman5329]

I've seen this too many times... I'm starting to memorize the words...

[@lonesurvivor9876]

My inspiration ❤ I will keep coming back 🎶

[@TangleWireTube]

More! Make more of these!

[@VivaLaZee]

The piano cover at 2:31... I have no words to describe it

[@loenklos7823]

i know right? this actually convinced me to buy a piano.

[@BulletTrucking99]

VivaLaZee do u know what its called?

[@weeweethemagicalbee8758]

It's is perhaps the most beautiful progression of piano chords I've ever heard in my life. I cannot express it. Ahmad Jamal is a genius.

[@KmelBeatz]

Choppin is like plastic surgery..perfect example lol ✊🏽

[@cyberschn1tzel997]

Nothing like choppin chopin

[@ruguoserliegise2716]

So it’s like transcription and Okazaki fragments

[@georgerussell2947]

You mean analogy

[@Ratarue]

This is one of my favorite videos on KZbin. I agree this could have been 3 hours and it would have been dope. It’s very inspirational!

[@patrickalovi3039]

Man where have you been!! This is what I’ve been waiting for! Lookin for! Make it 40minute episodes😃

[@bazel1176]

Yo big ups to Ahmad Jamal. I don't even know why I was shocked when he was brought up. I remember stumbling across "I love music." And thinking "WAIT". Jazz and Soul is the parents of hip hop hands down.

[@markwadsworth7481]

please, somebody loop 2:53 to 3:00 on this video - absolutely amazing playing from Glasper!

[@tobieaina]

Check out dillalude #1 by Robert glasper experiment

[@marselmusic]

i never understood this awesome man until listening to jazz hop for 17 months. jan 2018 my brother showed me this same video and something made me want to listen to this again.... discovering this music has transformed my life

[@chet732003]

I knew all of these, but hearing him break it down was so elemental. He definitely could teach at the collegiate level

[@johnnyy2604]

Even jazz and swing dancing are so related. If you see jazz dancing and then hip hop there are so many similar steps and and new steps based on jazz moves.

[@tynitty516]

Swing is a style of Jazz prevalent in the 30's. It's not Jazz. It's a type of Jazz. Jazz existed before Swing with Dixieland and Stride. Jazz also evolved past Swing. Think of Swing as like "New Wave" as it relates to Rock.

[@pipdang2468]

damn I wish I could hear a full version of him playing at 2:32

[@jackcollins2568]

I love Slum Village's "Fall in Love" so chill and smooth.

[@edgarmedina2130]

I love jazz and hip-hop 😍 couldn't be better...

[@VIDAMIN-X]

How I wish this was 24 Hours long.

[@katekatekate518]

Lo-fi hip hop is like the younger cousin. Although it isn’t oppression music. It has aspects of both which is why I personally like it.

[@PowerfulKundalini]

Some of the greatest lofi songs aren't by accident; they are emotions producers are feeling, and certain samples breathe life into them for a brief moment.

[@katekatekate518]

saki saki well spoken.

[@bigpantsmallwheels5760]

favorite video on the internet, thank you

[@nathanradich9374]

This video has been so important for me. Expanded my ears to so much

[@RIOTlaBESTIA]

please make a loong version of this

[@gavinreid8351]

Be Bop, Hard Bop. Hip Hop

[@DMSFister]

Just absolute top quality of a video.

[@cjdixon1995]

As an aspiring Jazz musician, and an Extreme lover of Rap music as a whole, I was hype the entire time as I'm watching this video because I know exactly what songs he's referring to, the Jazz Artists, the Hip-Hop Artists and Producers too. One of my fav samples that wasn't mentioned is Bill Evans-Nardis used by Madvillan. Man, I wish the whole world would just sit down for 4 mins and watch this.

[@Brerenee23]

Jazz is the mother of most modern music

[@ForMindlessConsumption]

Glasper's playing around 2:31 sounds very similar to what he played at the end of Mortal Man. Different rhythms and inversions but still, it caught my ear.

[@ezraleslie1361]

Nick Puente same, I was trying to place it too (~8:19 and 8:59 in MM). beautiful.

[@roweart]

Thank you Robert

[@guvenkin]

I HAVE SEEN 2 VIDEOS OF THIS CHANNEL BUT I LOVED THIS CHANNEL

[@3VLN]

"I could pray to this"

[@davidjeong1156]

i hope u guys make a video about bossa nova

[@fazarsargani177]

So cool! Liking the visual very much!

[@jackcoltrane5532]

LOVE this video!!!! Thank you for this...

[@madimakes]

I wonder if Robert ever heard dela’s “the robert glasper beat tape”

[@nessy3098]

“Is hip hop just a euphemism for a new religion? The soul music of the slaves that the youth is missing.”

[@archerwhite5647]

Kanye carrying on Dillas's legacy

[@warunagomis]

Robert G is simply amazing

[@vernellthomas6644]

This was dope!!!!! Robert bridges the gap between Jazz R&B and Hip Hop! Please go see this brother live!

[@dragonfly4484]

I genuinely believe that Robert Glasper is the most influential musician of the decade.

[@ruggedtechie5867]

Quest love is in the room too

[@braveman1641]

@@ruggedtechie5867 Arguably so. Robert embodies core of music , which is jazz.

[@ruggedtechie5867]

@@braveman1641 quest can play that too. He embodies hip hop which is jazz and everything else amalgamated. Both are definitely needed definitive voices in music.

[@yingghit97]

Just embrace love and uphold African American culture in general!

[@anthonyperez6173]

Blues :)

[@b3at2]

They say we have no culture..

[@IronMan-tk8uc]

@@b3at2 ''Mainstream'' American culture is inherently and completely connected to Black American culture and music. If the United States is a cultural superpower, apart from the military/economic spheres as well, thank blacks for that!

[@pierreg9328]

Black people are the heartbeat of the world.

[@NB-nh2sf]

Yasssss!!

[@GMoneyDYT]

More of these please!

[@marceloribeirosimoes8959]

Really beautiful. Thank you...

[@dahalofreeek]

Am I stupid to think that producers are way, way more important than rappers in pushing hip-hop forward? I feel like Dr Dre, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, J Dilla, Madlib, Kanye West, RZA, and Prince Paul to name a few are more important than any rapper has ever been. These are the dudes that actually inspire and change the sound.

[@mitsukathiem5250]

So good. Love Robert Glasper!!!

[@timmccoy9881]

That was slick.... thanks, ROBERT!😁👍🏽

[@CaptainYaadie]

Jazz is an essential influencer of hip hop, especially the 90s, but not the mother OR father.

[@josemariareyes3448]

UnevenestColt10 So like that one family friend who's basically an uncle/aunt?

[@EJCraig-uw4mg]

UnevenestColt10 wtf. what is then?

[@djpioneer937]

Funk and R&B/Disco would be more appropriate and direct

[@garveyg2083]

UnevenestColt10 Bullshit. Its Funk/Reggae and Jazz

[@greencontact]

Electro is, 808 is.

[@coimbralaw]

I love how this begins with one of the most beautiful clips ever used in classic hip hop.

[@MiladJPanah]

J Dilla was a legend

[@SolidMixx]

That short cover at the end just gave me the chills

[@germyw]

This lifts my soul!!!