Robert Glasper: Black Radio III

Robert Glasper is a genre-blurring musical force—part jazz virtuoso, part hip-hop alchemist, and all-around sonic innovator. Born in Houston, Texas, he was raised on gospel and jazz thanks to his mother, a singer and pianist, and later trained at the New School for Jazz in New York City.

He’s best known for his Black Radio series, which fuses jazz, R&B, and hip-hop with collaborators like Erykah Badu, H.E.R., Common, and Q-Tip. Glasper has won five Grammy Awards and even an Emmy for his work on Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th. He’s also contributed to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly and scored films like Miles Ahead and The Photograph.

Whether he’s leading his acoustic trio or his experimental group, the Robert Glasper Experiment, his music always feels like a conversation between genres—and generations.