That Time 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and Coltrane Landed on the Same Album

When does Afro Blue and Smells Like Teen Spirit belong on the same record? When it's a Robert Glasper album! In 2012, Glasper's Black Radio brought together artists like Erykah Badu to bring a jazz standard, Afro Blue, back into the popular music canon. Black Radio hit #1 on the jazz charts, while simultaneously reaching #4 on the hip-hop R&B charts and #15 on the Top 200. The Blue Note pianist has been bending genres since the 90s, bringing together the best of traditional jazz and weaving it seamlessly with R&B, hip-hop, soul and rock & roll. And it all fits, because Glasper is equally at home in all of these categories. He grew up listening to all kinds of music, like Nirvana, Billy Joel, Busta Rhymes -- everything. Black Radio, he says, was a way to put his "life on wax". Rob Harvilla from 60 Songs to Explain the 90s: The 2000s joins Adam and Peter to dive into what makes this album great, and how it refutes from any attempt to categorize it. From the J. Dilla Influence, to Casey Benjamin's album-defining flute, to the Erykah Badu of it all, you'll never hear this album the same way again. And this album inspired what is possibly our best YHI outro yet. Let us know if you agree! 🟠 Get the YHI newsletter for bonus stories that didn't make the pod: https://youllhearit.com/newsletter 🔵 Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs: https://osjazz.link/yhi 2:10 - Welcome to Our Special Guest! 3:30 - Why We're Talking About Robert Glasper's Afro Blue 5:40 - The Herbie Hancock Detour 6:55 - The Unexpected Origin of Headhunters 10:15 - 1978: The Year Herbie's and Robert's Paths Collide 12:00 - Robert Glasper's Herbie Hancock-Radiohead Mashup 13:30 - How Herbie Hancock and Robert Glasper Upset Traditionalists 15:00 - How the Young Lions Paved the Way for Glasper 16:40 - When Peter First Met Robert Glasper 18:10 - How Glasper Earned Respect from an Early Age 22:30 - Let's Talk About Glasper's Black Radio 23:45 - Robert Glasper's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" 26:30 - The Many Interpretations of "Afro Blue" 29:30 - Robert Glasper's "Afro Blue" 33:00 - The Erykah Badu of it All 36:30 - Why Everyone Said Erykah Badu was the Next Billie Holiday 38:00 - What is Black Radio Without Casey Benjamin 40:00 - The J. Dilla Influence 42:05 - The Busta Rhymes Influence 44:00 - Chris Dave's Influence on Drummers 47:40 - Our Favorites From Black Radio and Beyond 50:00 - What You Should Be Listening to Next 52:35 - The Best YHI Outro of All Time?