3 Classic Hip-Hop Songs that Have Roots in Traditional Music

When hip-hop music was created in the late 1970s, one of the founding tenets was that it sampled other genres to create something new. One of those staples was James Brown’s music. DJs would take the breaks from those hit songs and play them on a loop as people danced and rapped. It was a remarkable and resourceful thing.

But funk music isn’t the only genre that rap songs have borrowed from. Here below, we wanted to showcase three hip-hop tunes that have taken sounds and styles from other traditional genres, from swing to jazz to the blues. Indeed, these are three classic hip-hop songs that have roots in traditional music.

[RELATED: Legendary Bassist Ron Carter Talks ‘A Low End Theory’ and Wanting Precision]

“Swing Set” by Jurassic 5 from Quality Control (2000)

This instrumental song from the seminal 2000 rap album Quality Control from the Los Angeles-born group Jurassic 5 comes to listeners via producers Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark. It’s over five minutes of samples and beats and musical bliss that hearkens back to the 1930s and 1940s when swing music was popular (hence the title “Swing Set”). The song makes you want to get on the dance floor and start throwing your partner up in the air or having them swoop and dive between your legs, or wrapping them around your waist. It’s evocative and pleasant and lovely.

“Verses from the Abstract” by A Tribe Called Quest from The Low End Theory (1991)

When the New York City-born rap group A Tribe Called Quest realized they wanted to employ an upright bassist for their song “Verses from the Abstract” from their groundbreaking album The Low End Theory, there was no one better than iconic jazz bassist Ron Carter. Said Tribe’s lead emcee Q-Tip, “We wanted that straight bass sound, and Ron Carter is one of the premier bassists of the century.” Indeed, Carter is the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. And while rap music is known for sampling sounds such as the bass from other existing albums, when Tribe used live instrumentation for their work they were pushing the music forward.

“Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)” by Us3 from Hand on the Torch (1993)

This hit song from 1993 by the British-born rap group Us3 borrowed a famed piano riff from the iconic jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. Sampling the artist’s well-known 1964 number “Cantaloupe Island,” Us3 turned the vibrant lick into one of the most quotable and exciting songs from the early 1990s. Hitting No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, the track stood out in an era of rap when violence and rebellion were the norm. And while nothing is wrong with that, this song was like a palate cleanser amidst a heavy meal.

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