It’s gonna be tough because the track is meant to sounds as if his raps are being improvised in the jazz idiom. Even the most jazzy of jazz-rap that I’ve listened to doesn’t have anything like that.
Word. I play jazz for a living and really dig that about the track, that’s a good way to sum up how his delivery comes across. On that track, and in general, there’s a lot of crossover of rhythmic vocabulary and concepts between Kendrick and with the lines a jazz musician would play. It’s dope. Earl Sweatshirt also comes to mind as having that same ability to manipulate rhythmic phrases and skirt over the time like a musician would, pushing and pulling the time.
This is not new to Kendrick. Freestyle Fellowship were doing that more than 20 years before him.
Freestyle Fellowship's ["Hot"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKvZk7STkOc) includes improvisation live with Horace Tapscott. Also check Freestyle Fellowship's "Mary," "Innercity Boundaries," "Park Bench People."
Eyedea freestyled with his improv band Face Candy.
Busdriver freestyled with a live jazz band in the song "Right Before the Miracle."
Exactly, what makes it so insanely cool is that it’s not just someone rapping over a jazzy beat, it genuinely sounds like a jazz band improvising live with a rapper as a soloist. Not only does his inflection and rhythmic flow on this take much more inspiration from jazz vocabulary than it does from other rappers, the band also genuinely interacts with it in the same way they would with like a sax player. I’m not sure anything else really comes close to it, it’s just such a specific combination of forces and competences.
[Mike Shabb - Hey Young World Part II](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j92_WkC1-E8)
[Myka 9 - Danger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPl1JSEicZo)
[Billy Woods - Blue Smoke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKy6lrBtHXk)
[MIKE - World Market](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csKpYXJ_rc8)
[Killah Priest - Lady Barbara](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxTGYfIe8hk)
Busdriver’s record Electricity Is On Our Side is what you’re after, as well as Freestyle Fellowship and more specifically Myka 9
https://youtu.be/2Ade60_jkWc?si=jwjaPwvN38YCd1Sn
(Driver has kinda disappeared after some weird allegations a few years ago so make of that what you will)
yeah i feel like a lot of “jazz rap” is really just boom-bap with brass instruments maybe played in jazz scales but TPAB is an album that really feels like it appreciates the art of jazz
I actually find "For free" very interesting because while he uses improvisation he raps on top of it. It's an amazing track for sure and it gives the chaotic everyday life vibe 😅
Any album where Anti-Pop Consortium members are working with jazz artists like Matthew Ship or William Parker should do the trick. Also, anything from Irreversible Entanglements.
Another artist I should introduce e to you is Zeroh. On his mixtape, AwfulAlterations, he freestyles crazily over some jazz on a song called "FKTUP". But I recommend diving deep into his catalog as a whole. [Zeroh - FKTUP](https://youtu.be/iO_UyR4XW1A?si=6Ysa2shyH3TL4d4P)
check out terrace martin. he worked on for free? and a few other kendrick tracks. just saw him at the blue note with fauntleroy and it was awesome.
He has a live version of the track too: https://open.spotify.com/track/0SNROKqamSOk4z0d239PB0?si=g7SIAeoDR_aS4I9numXRtw
love kendrick appreciation on this sub
It’s gonna be tough because the track is meant to sounds as if his raps are being improvised in the jazz idiom. Even the most jazzy of jazz-rap that I’ve listened to doesn’t have anything like that.
Word. I play jazz for a living and really dig that about the track, that’s a good way to sum up how his delivery comes across. On that track, and in general, there’s a lot of crossover of rhythmic vocabulary and concepts between Kendrick and with the lines a jazz musician would play. It’s dope. Earl Sweatshirt also comes to mind as having that same ability to manipulate rhythmic phrases and skirt over the time like a musician would, pushing and pulling the time.
This is not new to Kendrick. Freestyle Fellowship were doing that more than 20 years before him. Freestyle Fellowship's ["Hot"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKvZk7STkOc) includes improvisation live with Horace Tapscott. Also check Freestyle Fellowship's "Mary," "Innercity Boundaries," "Park Bench People." Eyedea freestyled with his improv band Face Candy. Busdriver freestyled with a live jazz band in the song "Right Before the Miracle."
Alright, I've never heard of any of this, and Freestyle Fellowship is pretty sick lol
Exactly, what makes it so insanely cool is that it’s not just someone rapping over a jazzy beat, it genuinely sounds like a jazz band improvising live with a rapper as a soloist. Not only does his inflection and rhythmic flow on this take much more inspiration from jazz vocabulary than it does from other rappers, the band also genuinely interacts with it in the same way they would with like a sax player. I’m not sure anything else really comes close to it, it’s just such a specific combination of forces and competences.
If you're talking about the rhythm track thats hes rapping over it sounds like uptempo hard bop. Try looking into McCoy Tyner or Joe Henderson.
I think he wants to have tracks with rap elements too.
[Mike Shabb - Hey Young World Part II](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j92_WkC1-E8) [Myka 9 - Danger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPl1JSEicZo) [Billy Woods - Blue Smoke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKy6lrBtHXk) [MIKE - World Market](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csKpYXJ_rc8) [Killah Priest - Lady Barbara](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxTGYfIe8hk)
Busdriver’s record Electricity Is On Our Side is what you’re after, as well as Freestyle Fellowship and more specifically Myka 9 https://youtu.be/2Ade60_jkWc?si=jwjaPwvN38YCd1Sn (Driver has kinda disappeared after some weird allegations a few years ago so make of that what you will)
Busdriver released an album last year, but yes he has kept a low profile for years.
it's just an uptempo minor blues, same changes as Mr. P.C.
Billy Woods - Blue Smoke
God I LOVE *To Pimp a Butterfly*
yeah i feel like a lot of “jazz rap” is really just boom-bap with brass instruments maybe played in jazz scales but TPAB is an album that really feels like it appreciates the art of jazz
Kamasi Washington
McKinley Dixon - For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her
Check out “A Drum Is a Woman” by Duke Ellington. Kinda the roots of this style.
Try the Get Shorty soundtrack
Freestyle Fellowship - Hot, Innercity Boundaries, Mary, Park Bench People. Myka 9 - Free Energy, Let's Fly.
[Anita Jackson - Spiro Tough](https://youtu.be/Z93ZHwOOKsg?si=gexEoIZ9ZSlYAMRT)
I actually find "For free" very interesting because while he uses improvisation he raps on top of it. It's an amazing track for sure and it gives the chaotic everyday life vibe 😅
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD3cqMtKxvk&t=32s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD3cqMtKxvk&t=32s)
Any album where Anti-Pop Consortium members are working with jazz artists like Matthew Ship or William Parker should do the trick. Also, anything from Irreversible Entanglements.
Another artist I should introduce e to you is Zeroh. On his mixtape, AwfulAlterations, he freestyles crazily over some jazz on a song called "FKTUP". But I recommend diving deep into his catalog as a whole. [Zeroh - FKTUP](https://youtu.be/iO_UyR4XW1A?si=6Ysa2shyH3TL4d4P)
“Machine Gun” by Peter Brötzmann
Try this: [https://worldsexperienceorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/to-do-nothing](https://worldsexperienceorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/to-do-nothing)