Jazz vs Hiphop : Inseparable Twins?

"Young nation under a groove keeping it smooth with a jazz attitude", "Ringing
smooth in all the listeners' ears fulfilling the needs, and planting the seeds of a Jazz
thing", "Most intellectuals will only half listen so you can't blame Jazz musicians " "We got
the Jazz, We got the Jazz". As you must have noticed already, these are music lyrics. The first
one is my all-time favorite Aaliyah, the late R&B singer's famous song "Young nation". I
quoted the second lyrics from Gangstarr's "Jazz thing". The third one is probably the most
popular or well-known out of all four of them to the public. It is the rapper Nas' "Hiphop is
dead." And finally, the last one is the mellow music group, A Tribe Called Quest's
"Jazz(We've Got)." Three of these songs are on my old smart phone's playlist. I carry it with
me and listen to music every day. The lyrics from the everyday songs, that are not quite
particularly special or anyting, suddenly made me wonder. It seemed like so
many contemporary Hiphop music artists are strongly influenced by Jazz music. Everyone
knows that Hiphop and Jazz have many similarities and share a lot of great characteristics.
But I wanted to know more about the details so i started searching online. I came to the
conclusion that Hiphop and Jazz share similarities and differences with regards to their
origin, musical styles and techniques, and finally their popularities.
First of all, the major difference between Jazz and Hiphop is their origin.
Jazz originated from New Orleans and was introduced during the nineteenth century for the
first time. New Orleans was a port city filled with people from many different parts of the
world and naturally it sort of became a meeting spot for people of different ethnic groups and
cultures. Plus, the city was famous for its entertainment and nightlife which provided
the musicians and artists with the opportunities to perform and play together, be influenced
by one another and blend various musical elements. Jazz originally evolved from African

American's slave songs and spirituals and was mostly sung and played during their funeral
marches or other religious rituals. Later, the local bars and dance clubs started playing Jazz
music and it quickly spread all over the nation and after the World War I, finally gained its
popularity from across the globe. On the other hand, Hiphop was born in Bronx, New York.
The music and culture formed during the 1970's as block parties became increasingly popular
among young African Americans who lived in Bronx. The music had a great focus on
reflecting repressed emotions, thoughts and feelings of the African American youth during
that time as there were many serious issues around them like poverty, racism and social
changes. Hiphop music then made its way into the public and quickly became popular among
the young generation of America and now, it is one of the most popular music genres in the
world. To sum up, although these two genres seem to have similar roots, they do
have differences like their birthplaces and backgrounds.
Another important difference between Jazz and Hiphop is their general musical
styles. Jazz puts a great focus on improvisation, so much so that, a lot of people actually
consider it as a key element of Jazz. This does not mean that Jazz is all about improvisation,
though. The music is partly previously planned, of course, and also partly spontaneous and
this harmony and randomness is what makes the music more attractive and dynamic. Also,
Jazz musicians usually play various type of instruments or use their vocal skills to sing and
for them to perform, a great amount of effort and training, mastery of their musical
skills, or/and talent are required. In the case of Hiphop, things are slightly different, though.
Firstly, improvisation does not play a significant role in Hiphop music. Again, this does not
mean that Hiphop artists do not improvise, they do. It is called free-style. They gather up
around in the corner of a street, in the playground, in the club, just about anywhere they
could, basically unprepared, and improvise their lyrics and sometimes do free-style battles

with one another. But usually, most of the Hiphop musicians do write down their works,
record them and perform because improvisation simply does not play that huge of a role as it
does in Jazz. More importantly, Hiphop musicians do not necessarily play instruments or
train their vocal skills to perform on stage or record their music. They sometimes produce
their music using a technique called 'sampling' with computers and midi- programs, the other
times they create the whole new sound as well. The point is that not many artists and
producers have to play musical instruments although some still do. But that is rare in the
business because lyrics, rhymes, good hooks and catchy, rhythmical beat are the defining
elements in Hiphop. Hiphop musicians make their lyrics to rhyme in many creative ways and
play with their words, and that is the type of artistry that fascinates listeners. Although they
share many interesting similarities, they seem to have some major differences in their musical
styles at the same time.
Lastly, there is a difference between their popularities and current status in the music
industry. This is a very interesting part considering that Hiphop has its roots in Jazz and
that they are seemingly very closely related to each other, which is an undeniable truth. And
it is also true that both genres have become world-widely very popular. But still, Jazz is not
really considered to be main stream in today's music business compared to Hiphop while
Hiphop most definitely is. Jazz seems to appeal to broader ranges of people. To elaborate,
Jazz is more widely loved by people of different groups, ages and cultures. Jazz is not bound
to certain lifestyles. Jazz is not as keen to all the trends and drastic changes in the industry
as Hiphop is. Jazz does not get affected greatly by the trends. Meanwhile, Hiphop
successfully made its way onto the top of the mainstream music along with other popular
genres such as Rock, Country, Pop, Classical music and etc. Some people say that it is
because Hiphop is relatively more available and takes easier form when it comes to musical

styles, producing and performance methods, etc. It is controversial, but still, holds true to a
certain extent. Another contributing factor to its popularity is its straight-forwardness. It
contains a lot of qualities public loves. It is more stimulating, provocative and it can be
artistic at the same time as well. And another major difference is that Hiphop has certain
cultural styles whereas Jazz does not because Hiphop has other sub-genres that inevitably go
together with the music. Those are graffiti, break-dancing and djing and these elements affect
the styles of music and the way its culture forms. Although many people like to use the
phrase "Hiphop is the Jazz of today's young generations," it is hard not to notice the major
differences that eventually made the two genres shape their musical identities differently.
This is the era of endless options we live in. We have millions and billions of options
about what to eat, what to wear, where to go, what to listen, etc. It is a flow of information on
the internet we have. People literally just have tons of options and can make whatever
decision they want to as long as their situations allow them to. With this kind of trend and
rapid changes of the world we live in, it is of great worth to take some time out and really
consider about the decisions and options in life. Because, some choices people make can
seriously affect them and have a long lasting influence on them, both in good and bad ways.
Many people including critics have different opinions about Hiphop and Jazz and some of
them are compliments, and some of them are criticisms. Some people say that Jazz is too
spontaneous and distracting, and it is not main stream and cannot come up with the newest
and hottest trends. Others say that Hiphop has lost its true meaning and become a mainstream
monster that changes its colors to reflect the shallow trends and preference of the public. All
of them are not untrue. However, as far as I am concerned, it is always best not to jump into
the conclusion and judge quickly. After all, music has evolved through musical
experiments and attempts, and will always evolve reflecting our society's history.