{"id":81,"date":"2018-12-13T09:05:26","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T14:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-11\/?page_id=81"},"modified":"2018-12-13T09:14:24","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T14:14:24","slug":"modern-jazz-rap","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-11\/modern-jazz-rap\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Jazz-Rap"},"content":{"rendered":"

This musical and cultural relationship between jazz and Hip Hop did not die out in the 90s. The Jazz Rap subgenre, which often overlaps with conscious rap, is one of the most popular styles of Hip Hop today. Its most successful artists, including Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, have released some of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed projects in recent years and were undoubtedly influenced by early jazz rap groups like A Tribe Called Quest. The closing tracks on both J Cole\u2019s 2016 record, 4 Your Eyez Onl<\/em>y, and Kendrick Lamar\u2019s 2015 record, To Pimp A Butterfly,<\/em>employ soft jazz instrumentation over prominent basslines and hard-hitting but laid-back drums and sound like they could have easily fit into A Tribe Called Quest album. Specifically in the title track on 4 Your Eyez Only, <\/em>Cole uses a sample consisting of soft trumpet, bass, and guitar instrumentation from Yuji Ohno, who seems to be a jazz-influenced soundtrack producer (WhoSampled \u201c4 Your Eyez Only\u201d). The drums on Cole\u2019s track also mirror the style of A Tribe Called Quest as they are loud and the main focus of the beat, in typical Hip-Hop fashion, but are also swung and slightly behind the beat. J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar even collaborated on an homage to A Tribe Called Quest called \u201cForbidden Fruit\u201d in 2013, in which the two used the same sample that wasused in the 1993 song by A Tribe Called Quest, \u201cElectric Relaxation\u201d.<\/p>\n

The video style of A Tribe Called Quest also influenced a generation of rappers who grew up with their music and through them, were influenced by Jazz. The video for \u201cAlright\u201d, by Kendrick Lamar, contains so many stylistic similarities to the \u201cJazz (We\u2019ve Got) Buggin\u2019 Out\u201d video, there is almost no doubt it was an inspiration. For one, both videos are shot mostly in Black and White. In both, this choice seems to signify the past and specifically in the \u201cAlright\u201d video, probably is making a statement that race relations, are essentially still stuck in the past like the scenes in the video. Both videos also employ blatant stereotypes of black culture, before returning to scenes depicting reality. In the \u201cBuggin\u2019 Out\u201d section of the two-part video, Q-Tip and Phife Dawg wear fake eyes that are reminiscent of black-face caricatures. Just after that scene the video ends as the non-diegetic music is cut, leaving the viewer with a scene of the three musicians rapping in a circle, in a dark area outside, or reality. In the \u201cAlright\u201d video, the music begins with the four TDE artists rapping, dancing, and partying in a car, before the camera zooms out to see the reality of the situation. Four police officers are carrying the car, which seems like a more accurate reality than the party lifestyle often portrayed in Hip Hop.<\/p>\n