Urban Jazz: History, Sound, and Style with DOPE FIEND BEATS (with producer Steafon Perry)
Table of Contents
- Before we talk Urban Jazz, remember where jazz comes from
- What is Urban Jazz?
- A brief history of Urban Jazz
- Characteristics of Urban Jazz
- Key instruments and production in Urban Jazz
- Urban Jazz vs. R&B, Hip‑Hop, and traditional jazz
- Urban Jazz inspirations: artists to explore
- How Steafon Perry crafts Urban Jazz as DOPE FIEND BEATS
- How to get started listening to Urban Jazz
- Resources & further listening
Before we talk Urban Jazz, remember where jazz comes from
Before we talk about Urban Jazz, it’s important to remember that jazz is Black American music.
Jazz was born in the early 20th century in New Orleans and other Black communities across the United States. African rhythms, spirituals, blues, gospel, and work songs collided with European harmony and instruments. The result was music that carried both resistance and celebration of freedom inside structure and individual voice inside community.
Over time, that sound stretched from swing to bebop, soul‑jazz to fusion, and into the R&B, Hip‑Hop, and DIY beat culture that shapes today’s Urban Jazz. Through all the rebranding and playlist names, the roots remain the same: this is Black music, born from lived experience, joy, grief, and survival.
What is Urban Jazz?
Urban Jazz is a contemporary, city‑shaped evolution of jazz that blends:
- Jazz harmony and improvisation
- R&B and Neo‑Soul chord language
- Hip‑Hop and trap‑influenced drums
- Soulful bass lines and atmospheric textures
If classic cool jazz traded speed for space and subtlety, Urban Jazz trades genre boundaries for honest storytelling. It lives where late‑night R&B, boom‑bap drums, lo‑fi textures, and modern jazz phrasing meet.
On a DOPE FIEND BEATS record, that might sound like:
- brushed‑snare swing layered over 808 sub‑bass
- extended chords that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Robert Glasper or D’Angelo track
- horn or synth lines phrased like a sax solo but processed like a vocal sample
- the emotional weight of R&B ballads, but delivered through instrumental Urban Jazz beats
Urban Jazz doesn’t apologize for being modern. It embraces playlists, streaming, beat tapes, and DIY producers with the same spirit of experimentation that fueled earlier jazz movements
- "Night Shift". Released: 2023.
A brief history of Urban Jazz
Urban Jazz doesn’t have one album like Birth of the Cool that “started it all,” but you can trace its DNA through several waves of Black music.
From electric soul‑jazz to hip‑hop generation
In the late 60s and 70s, artists like Herbie Hancock, Donald Byrd, and Grover Washington Jr. started plugging jazz directly into funk and soul:
- Herbie’s Head Hunters fused synths, clavinet, and deep grooves.
- Donald Byrd’s records on Blue Note moved from hard bop into soul‑jazz and funk.
- Grover Washington Jr.’s smooth tone and R&B‑infused arrangements laid groundwork for what would later be called “contemporary” or “smooth” jazz.
At the same time, gospel harmony and soul ballads were pushing R&B into more sophisticated territory. Those rich voicings and emotional melodies still echo through today’s Urban Jazz.
By the late 80s and early 90s, the first wave of Hip‑Hop began sampling these exact records—looping jazz and soul phrases over drum machines. A new language appeared: sax lines over SP‑1200 drums, Rhodes chords over boom‑bap kicks and snares.
Acid jazz, neo‑soul, and the 90s city sound
In the UK and US, acid jazz and neo‑soul blurred everything even further:
- Acts like Brand New Heavies, Incognito, and Jamiroquai mixed jazz musicianship with funk, soul, and club rhythms.
- In the US, artists like Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Jill Scott, and Maxwell brought jazz‑inflected harmony and phrasing into Soul and R&B of what we now call neo‑soul.
These movements weren’t yet called “Urban Jazz,” but they were already living in that space—chord progressions with jazz depth, grooves with street edge, and recordings that felt equally at home in a jazz club, car stereo, or bedroom.
Kendrick’s horn lines, Robert Glasper’s keys, and beyond
In the 2000s and 2010s, the blend became undeniable:
- Robert Glasper moved effortlessly between straight‑ahead jazz, Hip‑Hop, and R&B on projects like Black Radio.
- Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, and José James explored modern jazz that openly spoke the language of Hip‑Hop and soul.
- Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly brought jazz players, funk, and Hip‑Hop into the same universe, with horn lines and harmony that could sit next to classic records and still feel futuristic.
This is the climate that Urban Jazz breathes in—where playlists mix Anderson .Paak with Thundercat, Snoh Aalegra with Yussef Dayes, and the line between “producer” and “jazz musician” is thin.
- "Mean Harlem Blues".
Where DOPE FIEND BEATS fits in
Steafon Perry, the producer behind DOPE FIEND BEATS, is part of this wave.
Working in R&B, Soul, Hip‑Hop, Pop, and Urban Jazz, DOPE FIEND BEATS is less interested in fitting into a genre box and more interested in capturing a feeling:
- The late‑night city energy of Hip‑Hop.
- The emotional depth of Soul and R&B.
- The harmonic richness and improvisational spirit of jazz.
When you hear a DOPE FIEND BEATS Urban Jazz track, you’re hearing that whole lineage that’s translated into tight drum programming, lush chords, and melodic lines that feel like a conversation rather than a lecture.
Characteristics of Urban Jazz
While Urban Jazz isn’t a rigid category, you’ll notice some common traits, especially in the way producers like Steafon Perry approach it.
1. Groove first, then everything else
- Drum programming leans on Hip‑Hop, trap, and R&B: swung hi‑hats, punchy kicks, weighty snares, percussion that feels human even when it’s programmed.
- The tempo can sit anywhere from laid‑back 70–85 BPM to double‑time feels around 140–160 BPM, often with half‑time or Dilla‑style swing.
2. Jazz harmony through a modern lens
- Extended and altered chords (9ths, 11ths, 13ths) are common, just like in traditional and neo‑soul jazz.
- Chord progressions might be simple on the surface, but there’s often subtle movement—a bass note shift, an inner voice resolving, a borrowed chord from a parallel key.
3. Melodies that sing, not just solo
- Horn, keyboard, or guitar lines are lyrical and vocal‑like, closer to singers such as Sade, D’Angelo, or H.E.R. than to purely virtuosic soloing.
- Hooks matter. Even instrumental Urban Jazz relies on memorable motifs and refrains.
4. Texture and atmosphere
- Vinyl crackle, tape hiss, ambient field recordings, and subtle sound design create cinematic space.
- Pads, synths, and reverb are used not just to “fill space” but to paint emotional context—late‑night streets, city lights, quiet apartments.
5. Balance of live and electronic
- Electric bass or upright samples, live guitar, or keys can sit comfortably next to digital drums and synths.
- Urban Jazz is comfortable being half band, half beat tape.
6. Emotional tone
- The vibe is often introspective, romantic, or reflective music for thinking, driving, or confessing, not just background.
- Even when the drums hit hard, there’s usually softness somewhere: in the chords, melodies, or overall mix.
Key instruments and production in Urban Jazz
Urban Jazz relies as much on production choices as on traditional jazz instrumentation.
Drums and percussion
- Inspired by Hip‑Hop (J Dilla, Pete Rock, 9th Wonder) and modern trap/R&B.
- Kicks and snares are carefully layered; swing is everything.
- In a DOPE FIEND BEATS track, the pocket often comes from slightly off‑grid placements that feel more like a drummer than a grid.
Bass
- Electric bass à la Pino Palladino / Thundercat, or deep 808/sub bass underpinning the harmony.
- Melodic lines that interact with the chords instead of just holding root notes.
Keys and chords
- Rhodes, Wurly, piano, and warm polysynths provide the core harmonic language.
- Voicings draw from neo‑soul and gospel as much as straight‑ahead jazz.
Guitar and horns
- Clean, soulful guitar for licks and chordal support.
- Sax, trumpet, or flute lines that function like lead vocals or sampled hooks—even when played live.
Production & sound design
- Sidechain compression, subtle saturation, and lo‑fi effects help glue the track together.
- Chopped vocal samples, reversed pads, and creative delays add modern flair without drowning the jazz roots.
- "Like This". Released: 2025.
Urban Jazz vs. R&B, Hip‑Hop, and traditional jazz
Urban Jazz vs. R&B
- R&B centers on lyrics and vocal performance; Urban Jazz can be instrumental and more spacious, even when borrowing the same chords.
- Urban Jazz might feel like “the instrumental B‑side” to your favorite slow jam.
Urban Jazz vs. Hip‑Hop
- Hip‑Hop is built around an MC or vocal narrative; Urban Jazz often uses instrumental melodies in place of verses.
- Both share drums and sampling language, but Urban Jazz leans into richer harmony and extended improvisation.
Urban Jazz vs. traditional jazz
- Traditional jazz often prioritizes acoustic instruments and live interaction in a single take.
- Urban Jazz embraces multi‑track production, sound design, and beat‑making as part of the art, while still honoring jazz’s spirit of improvisation and exploration.
Urban Jazz inspirations: artists to explore
To understand where DOPE FIEND BEATS sits, it helps to explore neighboring voices. These aren’t “Urban Jazz” in a strict marketing sense, but their work lives in the same universe:
- Robert Glasper – especially Black Radio and Black Radio 2: a blueprint for jazz‑R&B‑Hip‑Hop fusion.
- Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – “stretch music” that holds jazz, trap, and Afro‑diasporic rhythms in one hand.
- Terrace Martin – from his own albums to work with Kendrick Lamar, a key voice in modern jazz‑infused Hip‑Hop.
- Kamasi Washington – large‑scale jazz projects that still resonate with contemporary listeners, especially The Epic.
- Yussef Dayes & Tom Misch – groove‑driven collaborations like What Kinda Music.
- BADBADNOTGOOD – improvising band steeped in Hip‑Hop and jazz, comfortable backing rappers or standing alone instrumentally.
Each of these artists responds to the same questions Steafon Perry asks in DOPE FIEND BEATS:
How do you honor jazz roots while speaking in the rhythm and language of the present?
How Steafon Perry crafts Urban Jazz as DOPE FIEND BEATS
For DOPE FIEND BEATS, Urban Jazz isn’t a gimmick. It’s a branding language for the sound Steafon Perry actually lives in.
A typical DOPE FIEND BEATS Urban Jazz track might start with:
- a progression on keys—lush, bittersweet, pulling from R&B and gospel voicings
- a drum skeleton: swinging hi‑hats, chest‑hitting kick, crisp snare, ghost notes moving in the cracks
- a top line on synth, guitar, or horns, phrased like a vocalist telling you the truth at 2:00 a.m.
From there, Steafon builds:
- layered textures: pads, sampled atmosphere, filter swells that create depth
- bass movement that turns static chords into a slow‑motion journey
- mutes, drops, and breakdowns that keep the track breathing—more conversation than monologue
The result is Urban Jazz that feels:
- cinematic without being overproduced,
- modern without chasing trends,
- rooted in jazz but fluent in R&B, Hip‑Hop, Soul, and Pop.
How to get started listening to Urban Jazz
If you’re new to Urban Jazz or the DOPE FIEND BEATS sound, try listening in this order:
- Classic foundations
- Grover Washington Jr. – Winelight
- Herbie Hancock – Head Hunters
- Modern bridges
- Robert Glasper – Black Radio
- Kamasi Washington – The Epic
- Terrace Martin – Velvet Portraits
- Neo‑soul & Hip‑Hop crossovers
- D’Angelo – Voodoo
- Erykah Badu – Baduizm
- Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
- Then dive into DOPE FIEND BEATS’ Urban Jazz album
- Listen for how Steafon Perry weaves those influences into something that feels personal:
- the swing of jazz,
- the emotion of R&B and soul,
- the knock of Hip‑Hop drums,
- the color and atmosphere of modern production.
- Listen for how Steafon Perry weaves those influences into something that feels personal:
Put it on late at night, on a drive, while you create, or when you just need to breathe: that’s where Urban Jazz does its best work.
- "Concepts".
Resources & further listening
Here are some resources to deepen your understanding of the jazz and soul lineage behind Urban Jazz:
- What is jazz music? Characteristics, history, and instruments – Splice
- What is neo soul? History, artists, and legacy – Splice
- Music modes: What they are and how to use them – Splice
For discovering textures and sounds that can inspire Urban Jazz production:
Use these to hear the building blocks—then come back to DOPE FIEND BEATS to hear how Steafon Perry reshapes them into his own Urban Jazz language.
