Jazz rap is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present, paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter." The rhythm was rooted in hip hop over which were placed repetitive phrases of jazz instrumentation: trumpet, double bass, etc. Groups involved in the formation of jazz rap included A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Gang Starr, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, and Dream Warriors.
The music of Finland can be roughly divided into folk music, classical and contemporary art music, and contemporary popular music.
Roy Anthony Hargrove was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles of jazz in 1998 and 2002. Hargrove primarily played in the hard bop style for the majority of his albums, but also had a penchant for genre-crossing exploration and collaboration with a variety of hip hop, soul, R&B and alternative rock artists. As Hargrove told one reporter, "I've been around all kinds of musicians, and if a cat can play, a cat can play. If it's gospel, funk, R&B, jazz or hip-hop, if it's something that gets in your ear and it's good, that's what matters."
RinneRadio is a Finnish group of electro jazz pioneers. Operating on the boundaries of jazz and electronic music, RinneRadio fused jazz into ambient music and techno years before it became a worldwide trend and added hints of world music into it. In the third part, Suomi soi 3 ‒ Ääniaalloilta parrasvaloihin of a book series about popular music in Finland, it has been written that RinneRadio was several years ahead of their time when they started.
Kurtis el Khaleel, known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik, is a Jamaican-born hip hop and electronic-music artist, DJ, remixer, and producer. He was the leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the influential 1980s hip hop and electro-funk group Mantronix. He currently lives in South Africa where he has produced and remixed house and techno music tracks by artists such as India, Junior Senior, Kylie Minogue, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, Michael Gray, Victoria Beckham, Liberty X, and Mim. Mantronik was influential in the development of hip hop music: notably, he laid the foundations for Southern hip hop genres such as Miami bass and trap music, and helped popularize the Amen break.
Mark Howard James professionally known as The 45 King, is an American hip hop producer and DJ from The Bronx, New York. He began DJing in the mid-1980s. His pseudonym, the 45 King, came from his ability to make beats using obscure 45 RPM records.
Foreign Beggars were an English hip hop and dubstep group. Since their formation in 2002, the group's trajectory had seen them evolve from an underground hip hop group to an electronic crossover act. The group consisted of four artists individually known as Orifice Vulgatron, Metropolis Graham, DJ Nonames, and Dag Nabbit. Vulgatron and Metropolis combined with Noisia to make the side project and supergroup "I Am Legion". They released their collaborative album I Am Legion on 2 September 2013.
Justin Boland, also known as J Boogie is a DJ, music producer, radio host, music director and music curator from San Francisco with over 25 years of experience in the music industry.
Daniele Nicole E. Willis, aka; Nicole Willis and/or Daniele Willis is an American singer-songwriter, producer, director, and visual artist. Willis lives and works in Helsinki, Finland.
Pepe Deluxé is a Finnish electronic music oriented band, formed in 1996 by DJ Slow JA-Jazz and James Spectrum in Helsinki, Finland. They started to experiment with sounds of hip hop, big beat, breakbeat and downtempo. With the 2007 release Spare Time Machine the band gave up on sampling and concentrated on vintage music styles including psychedelia, baroque pop and surf rock. DJ Slow left the band in 2001 to pursue solo projects. JA-Jazz has been off-duty since 2008. Multi-instrumentalist Paul Malmström became an official member of the band in 2008.
Raymond Anthony Ebanks, also known as B.O. Dubb, is a Finnish rapper best known as the frontman of the hip-hop group the Bomfunk MC's.
Tapani Rinne is a Finnish musician, composer, record producer and sound designer, who is known for his experimental and innovative style with the clarinet and saxophone. It has earned him a reputation as one of the most respected and unique Nordic instrumentalists.
Mark de Clive-Lowe is an American-based Japanese-New Zealand DJ, musician, composer and producer raised in Auckland and now based in Los Angeles, California.
Lasse Mellberg, better known by his stage name Redrama, is a Finnish rapper. He made a breakthrough in 2003. Redrama, who performs primarily in English, but also in Swedish and Finnish was part of a hip-hop group Alien Allies which also included the Norwegian Paperboys and Madcon. Redrama won the English-language Finnish championship of rapping in 2001 and he also won the Finnish Grammy (Emma) award for The Best Hip Hop Album in 2005.
SlowHill are a Finnish instrumental downtempo/lounge band formed in 2002 by Slow and award-winning saxophonist Tapani Rinne. The band fuses downtempo beats into easy listening jazz atmospheres.
Smoove & Turrell are a British group hailing from Gateshead in the North East of England. They play a style of music they describe as "Northern Funk" - a contemporary fusion of funk, soul, northern soul, hip-hop and electronica.
Tim K, born Timothy John Kvasnosky, is a Los Angeles-based music producer and film composer who was born in Seattle, Washington, United States.
Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop trio composed of Michael Small, Nathaniel Hall, and Sammy Burwell. Hailed as pioneers of the fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and house music, they were the first hip-hop group to collaborate with a house-music producer. The trio released their debut album, Straight out the Jungle in July 1988. Their hip-house club hit single, "I'll House You" was added to the album in late-1988 reissues. Fostered by Kool DJ Red Alert, the Jungle Brothers' success paved the way for De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and eventually the Native Tongues collective that they founded.
Joshua Paul Davis, better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ and record producer. His debut studio album, Endtroducing....., was released in 1996.
Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen is a Finnish jazz guitarist, pianist, composer, bandleader and producer. He is best known as bandleader and composer of the 20-headed Ricky-Tick Big Band and the award-winning jazz-sextet Dalindèo.
