Robert Glasper

Robert Glasper's 2012 album Black Radio brought his jazz-rooted approach into a wider R&B and hip-hop conversation, reaching No. 15 on the Billboard 200 and winning Best R&B Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Released the following year, Black Radio 2 extended that run. Glasper, born Robert Andre Glasper in Houston on April 5, 1978, works as a pianist, record producer, songwriter and arranger, drawing his music primarily around jazz while moving between soul, R&B, hip-hop and fusion.

His work has frequently placed keyboards and improvisation inside major rap and R&B projects. In 2015, he played keyboards on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly and appeared on the soundtrack to the Miles Davis drama Miles Ahead. Beyond his own recordings, Glasper has co-written or produced work for artists including Mac Miller, Anderson .Paak, the Kid Laroi, Banks, Herbie Hancock, Big K.R.I.T., Brittany Howard, Bilal, Denzel Curry, Q-Tip and Talib Kweli.

Glasper's screen work includes composing the score for the documentary The Apollo and the original score for Issa Rae's The Photograph. He shared the 2017 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics with Common and Karriem Riggins for “A Letter to the Free,” featured in Ava DuVernay's documentary 13th. Across his career, he has received five Grammy Awards from 11 nominations. He has also served as an artist in residence at the London Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, the Kennedy Center, Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and the Blue Note Jazz Club.