Robert Glasper Experiment, Bilal, and Robert Glasper

Glasper grew up in Houston, Texas, US and was raised in a musical family. His mother was a professional jazz and blues singer, and her music deeply impacted Glasper’s passion for music. Glasper first started to play the piano in church and it was in church where he would begin to develop his sound. Glasper would later attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City where he developed his techniques as a jazz performer. While attending the New School, Glasper met the neo-soul singer Bilal and began collaborating with him regularly. As Glasper’s music started to gain recognition in the community he soon ended up collaborating with recognizable artists like Q-Tip, Kanye West, J Dilla, Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, and Jay-Z.

In 2004 Glasper released his debut album “Mood”. The album featured some of Glasper’s original music as well as renditions of jazz standards such as Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage”. In 2005 Glasper released his major label debut “Canvas” through Blue Note Records. The album featured Bilal on vocals and all original music except for a cover of Herbie Hancock’s song “Riot”. The album was presented in a progressive jazz and post-bop format, which incorporated complex time signatures and chord progressions. The album also contains the smooth sounds of the Fender Rhodes piano, which has a bell like quality.

In 2006 Glasper released his third album “In My Element”, which was a commercial success reaching the No. 9 position on the Billboard’s US Top Jazz Albums. The album showed Glasper performing another cover of “Maiden Voyage”, but this time it segued into a cover of Radiohead’s “Everything in Its Right Place”. In 2009 Glasper released the album “Double-Booked”, which consisted of one half of the album being performed by an acoustic piano trio and the other half of the album being performed by a band that used electric instruments. The album contained a diverse range of songs that were presented in a traditional jazz format as well as songs that were presented with funk elements. The album contained a cover of Thelonious Monk’s song “Think of One” and also contained guest appearances by Mos Def and Bilal. The album also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the song “All Matter”.

In 2012 Glasper took a step back from traditional jazz music and released the album “Black Radio”, which combined jazz elements with hip-hop, soul, and R&B. The album contained guest appearances from many soul and hip-hop artists like Lalah Hathaway, Lupe Fiasco, and Mos Def. The album also contained mostly original music, but also a diverse selection of cover songs such as David Bowie’s “Letter to Hermione” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. The album reached the No. 1 position on Billboard’s US Top Jazz Albums chart and the No. 15 position on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album also won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album and received a Grammy nomination for the song “Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.)”.

In 2013 Glasper released the album “Black Radio 2”, which followed in the same musical format as “Black Radio”. The album also featured many guest appearances by artists like Antony Hamilton, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, and Common. “Black Radio 2” also did well on the charts reaching the No. 1 position on Billboard’s US Top Jazz Albums chart. Robert Glasper is well regarded for his live performances and has played in the bands The Robert Glasper Trio, which is an acoustic jazz trio, and The Robert Glasper Experiment, which is an electronic act. Glasper has performed many headlining shows and has also played notable jazz festivals as well as other large music festivals such as Bonnaroo.

New York City was the stomping ground for Bilal Sayeed Oliver as he started to blossom on the scene. It wasn’t long before Aaron Comess from the Spin Doctors, in an after-school jam session, discovered him. Bilal took the opportunity to record a demo CD with Aaron Comess, which was sent to an A&R at Interscope Records. The label offered him a contract and sent him straight into the studio to record what would later become “1st Born Second”, which was released on July 17th 2001. The album was very well received in the charts with it making it to number 31 on the Billboard 200. To date, it has sold upwards of 319,000 copies.

Bilal would feature on various recordings over the next decade, whilst working on his sophomore release, which would be titled “Love for Sale”. It was an album that was slightly experimental, exploring new genres and showing a natural progression. Unfortunately, Interscope rejected the original idea, saying that it wasn’t commercial enough. If that wasn’t enough, most of the album was leaked online. He considered quitting music, but the album was downloaded upwards of 500,000, so he consequently embarked on a tour of the album. With almost a decade having gone by, Bilal came back with the album “Airtight’s Revenge” released on his own Plug Research Label. It was released on September 6th 2010, and peaked at number 21 on Billboard’s R&B chart.

With his career back on the rise, he toured and re-entered the studio a couple of years later to work on “A Love Surreal”. It was released on February 26th 2013, making it to number 17 in the Independent Albums Chart.