Jazz Hip Hop -

Watch these tutorials and breakdowns to see how the genre's iconic sound is built from the ground up:

Jazz Hip Hop (often called ) is a vibrant fusion that emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, blending the improvisational spirit and complex harmonies of jazz with the rhythmic foundations and lyrical storytelling of hip hop. The Sound & Evolution Jazz Hip Hop

: Pushing or pulling the beat off the grid—specifically in the drums—to create a "swinging" or "lazy" groove typical of artists like J Dilla . Watch these tutorials and breakdowns to see how

: His Jazzmatazz series explicitly brought jazz musicians and rappers together. : Using compact, sophisticated chord movements (like vamps)

: Using compact, sophisticated chord movements (like vamps) and loose, unquantized piano or synth parts to mimic a live feel.

: Manipulating records by slowing them down, changing pitch, or extracting drum breaks.

For anyone looking to explore the genre, these names are widely considered the foundation: