Jazz...well you can call it that

Download all tracks here - so tight they're ziplocked

Hip Hop has had a long and sometimes fruitful relationship with Jazz. But Jazz is like Marmite, and so is Jazz Rap. I don't even know much about either genres, simply because I have greater musical interests. For me, Jazz is music to relax to. One of the most relaxing things about it is that when listening I don't have the urge to know who it's by, what it's called, when it was released or where I can buy it. I just listen to it and if I never hear it again it's OK. I don't dislike it, I'm just not obsessed or even that interested.

Rap and Hip Hop, on the other hand, compel me to do the exact opposite: I hear it and regardless of quality, I want to know more. To be honest, this constant striving to hear more music and to know more about it is quite depressing. I have to tell myself that loving music isn't just about hearing something new or amassing great quantities of mp3s, CDs or Vinyls. I have to remind myself that I should be thankful for all the music I already own, love and know about. There's no way I'll ever hear it all anyway and life is not a competition to amass music or knowledge either.

So when I do hear something that I like but am not overly obsessed with then it's quite refreshing, and that's why I'm posting this now. Having said what I have, this post (and for that matter, this blog) shouldn't exist but no matter how tiresome I find myself at times, I'm still me and I still do these things.

The tracks I've chosen to post today are all Jazz Rap related. You may enjoy listening to them without bothering to find out more, you may enjoy them so much that you do want more but in the spirit of this post I'm not going to say much about the tracks or the artists.

Soweto Kinch is Birmingham's trendiest (only?) fad. He is trained in the art of saxophoning (actual terminology) and also happens to have the gift of the gab.

Soweto Kinch - Ridez

Soweto Kinch - Expansion

Guru of Gang Starr has put together some excellent tracks with various Jazz and Rap stars. Pick up a Jazzmatazz album to sample his work (or download these to have a listen).

Jazzmatazz - State of Clarity
Jazzmatazz - Living Legend

Jegsy Dodd is a scouser who is into spoken word; he's quite thought provoking.

Jegsy Dodd & The Original Sinners - The Day the World Stopped Working
Jegsy Dodd & The Sons of Harry Cross - 8000 Miles Away

US3 do a nice line in Jazz Rap, what they do is sample Blue Note recordings and then have people rap over the results.

US3 - Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)

Digable Planets and A Tribe Called Quest were doing their thing in the 90's with jazzy samples and rapping and it all sounded pretty nice.

Digable Planets - Cool Like That

A Tribe Called Quest - Jazz (We've Got)