The Rap & Hip-Hop Recommendation Thread

[LoathsomePete]

Originally Posted by Kaimon

Looking for some jazz influenced hip-hop, like something along the lines of Nujabes and the Sound Providers.

Here's a few groups that share a similar sound to Nujabes:

The first is Kenichiro Nishihara who is the beat maker and often collaborates with emcees. It's very mellow and relaxing beats with often a jazz piano accompanying it. I've listened to two album so far, Humming Jazz (2008) and Life (2010) and both were pretty good, although I think I preferred Humming Jazz more.



The second is another Japanese beatmaker called Nomak who I don't know much about actually. I've only got his 2009 album Muziq and Foto and it was alright, but didn't do that much for me. I've heard his other stuff is better, I just haven't gotten around to listening to it. Still if you're after jazzy hip hop in lieu of Nujabes, he's definitely worth a look.




There's also a growing trend among the American underground hip hop scene to form full on bands, with guitarists, horn players, etc. to create a more jazzy sound. A few groups to check out would be:

Abstract Giants
ArtOfficial
Animate Objects
Audible Mainframe
The Roots
A Tribe Called Quest
Gang Starr