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.
Phonte Lyshod Coleman, known mononymously as Phonte, is an American rapper, singer, and producer. He is currently of the North Carolina hip-hop trio/duo Little Brother and one-half of the duo The Foreign Exchange. He has also recorded R&B-flavored output as a singer, and with Nicolay on The Foreign Exchange. His rhymes tend to be no-frill perspectives on working-class life.
Ramon Ibanga, Jr., known professionally as Illmind, is an American record producer, songwriter, and educator. As of 2012, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Enigma is the second solo studio album by American rapper Keith Murray. It was released on November 26, 1996, via Jive Records. Recording sessions took place at Mirror Image Recordings in Long Island. Production was handled by Erick Sermon, who also served as executive producer, Ty Fyffe, The Ummah and Rod 'KP' Kirkpatrick. It features guest appearances from 50 Grand, Kel-Vicious, Erick Sermon, Busta Rhymes, Dave Hollister, Jamal and Redman. The album peaked at number thirty-nine on the Billboard 200 and number six on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States.
Supastition is an American underground hip hop artist from Greenville, North Carolina. He has also recorded under the name of Kam Moye and Blackmel. He has appeared on songs with the likes of KRS-One, The RZA, Ras Kass, Tech N9ne, Little Brother, Croup, The Soulution, S1 (producer), M-Phazes, Tajai of Souls of Mischief, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Royce da 5'9", Elzhi, and countless others.
You Already Know is the debut solo studio album by American Brooklyn-based rapper and record producer "The Don Bishop" Agallah p.k.a. 8-Off the Assassin. It was released on August 8, 2006 through Babygrande Records. Recording sessions took place at the Work Room in New York. Production was handled primarily by Agallah himself, along with The Alchemist, Big Zik, DJ Premier, Grimy Kid and Sid Roams, with Shiest Bubz serving as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Ike Eyes, Big V, Carl Anthony, Clutch, Dead Prez, Kool G Rap, The Alchemist, Umi and Prodigy. The album was supported by the two singles: "Club Hoppin'" and "New York Ryder Music".
Getback is the third studio album from Little Brother, released on October 23, 2007. Eleven days prior, Phonte leaked the album himself to Okayplayer.com
True Links is the first EP by the rapper Edgar Allen Floe.
Kenn Starr is an American rapper from Suffolk, Virginia, currently residing in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Starr is a member of the Low Budget Crew and also the duo Isaac Jones. His solo debut album, Starr Status, was released in 2006. His latest album, Square One was released in 2015.
Gregory Skyler Taylor, known professionally as Skyzoo, is an American rapper and songwriter. He has released a number of notable solo and collaborative albums, including Cloud 9: The 3 Day High with 9th Wonder in 2006, The Salvation in 2009, A Dream Deferred in 2012, Music For My Friends in 2015, and his most recent solo album All the Brilliant Things. Skyzoo has also released a plethora of non-commercial mixtapes including Corner Store Classic and The Great Debater throughout his career, and has worked with artists such as Jill Scott, Wale, Lloyd Banks, Tyrese, Dr. Dre, Raheem Devaughn, Black Thought, Jadakiss, Talib Kweli, Spike Lee, John Legend, and others. Skyzoo has headlined or co-headlined often-yearly tours throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, Africa, Australia, and Asia, and he owns and operates the independent record label First Generation Rich.
Wayna is an R&B/soul singer and songwriter who was born in Ethiopia and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. She worked as a writer for the Clinton White House before releasing three solo albums, garnering three Billboard-charting singles and a Grammy nomination. She currently tours as a vocalist with musical icon Stevie Wonder.
The following is a list of productions by !llmind, an American hip hop producer. He has had a number of co-written and/or produced singles and studio albums reach the Billboard 200 charts since the mid-2000s, including his 2010 album Live from the Tape Deck. He has also worked with musicians such as Joell Ortiz, Symbolyc One, Skyzoo, and 50 Cent.
Amir Mohamed el Khalifa, better known by his stage name Oddisee, is a half Black American and half Sudanese rapper and record producer from Washington, D.C. He is one third of rap trio Diamond District. He was also part of the Low Budget Crew. He is based in Brooklyn, New York.
Shabazz Palaces is an American hip hop group from Seattle led by Ishmael Butler a.k.a. Palaceer Lazaro. Much of the Butler's work as Shabazz Palaces has been made in collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Tendai "Baba" Maraire, son of mbira master Dumisani Maraire. Active since 2009, Shabazz Palaces has released five studio albums on Sub Pop after self-releasing two EPs. Their most recent album, The Don of Diamond Dreams, was released on April 17, 2020.
Hip hop music in Washington, D.C. has been an important part of the culture of the area.
Stanley Robinson, known as Substantial, is a hip hop recording artist from Prince George's County, Maryland. He now operates out of Virginia.
Journalist 103 is an American rapper. After starting his career as part of the hip hop crew Mountain Climbaz in 1997, he later joined hip hop group The Left. He served as primary lyricist on the group's 2010 album Gas Mask, which Sputnik Music named one of the Best Underground Hip-Hop Albums of 2010.
Mello Music Group (MMG) is an American independent record label based in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 2007, Mello Music has released hip hop compilations and albums by producers and rappers such as Oddisee, Apollo Brown, Mr. Lif, Ghostface Killah, Open Mike Eagle, L'Orange, Quelle Chris, Jean Grae, Kool Keith, Nottz, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Pete Rock, and Rapper Big Pooh. In 2012, MTV Hive described MMG as having a "dedication to intelligent, street-wise boom bap", although the label has released a number of purely instrumental albums as well. In 2016, Forbes magazine called Mello Music Group the most successful indie rap label of the decade.
Thomas Louis Jones III, better known by his stage name Big Pooh, is an American rapper, who, along with fellow rap artist Phonte, is a member of the acclaimed North Carolina hip hop group Little Brother. In addition to numerous records and EP's by Little Brother, Pooh released a solo album in 2005 entitled Sleepers to positive critical reception. He has been guest featured on numerous tracks by other artists. Big Pooh also appreciates basketball and has served as a guest writer on a basketball blog.
33 and a Third is the debut studio album by American record producer and rapper Def Dee. The album was released on July 23, 2013 by Mello Music Group. The album features guest appearances from Black Milk, The Black Opera, Boog Brown, Grynch, Hassaan Mackey, Jamall Bufford, John Robinson, Kenn Starr, Language Arts, Magestik Legend, Mic Phenom, OC Notes, Oddisee, Sydney Ranee, Tranqill, Uptown XO, Wise Intelligent, yU and Zar.
