Jazz rap

Jazz rap is a style of Hip Hop established during early 1990s that incorporates elements of Jazz music to varying degrees, whether through the use of samples from jazz recordings or the incorporation of live instrumentation. While combinations of hip hop with elements of jazz existed prior, the establishment of the style is most commonly associated with the Native Tongues collective, most notably A Tribe Called Quest, who combined Boom Bap rhythms with looped samples of jazz instrumentation phrases including trumpet, saxophone, piano, double bass, etc. sourced from various forms of jazz, most commonly Jazz-Funk, Hard Bop and Soul Jazz. These groups and other mostly East Coast Hip Hop artists including Gang Starr and Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth usually opted for a more laid back, mellow sound compared to the increasingly popular Hardcore Hip Hop and Gangsta Rap at the time, with lyrics that were more playful and focused on positivity, Afrocentricity and other themes common of Conscious Hip Hop.