A new series for Saturday nights: Jazz Hop

Jazz FM is taking a look at the rich history of the jazz music behind hip hop in a new series that begins transmission on Saturday 15th June. Broadcaster and voice actor Dan Blake joins the station to host ‘Jazz Hop’ in which he will play the jazz music that’s influenced hip hop, alongside the hip hop tunes themselves. Dan’s voice will already be known to millions of TV viewers as one of the regular continuity announcers on BBC1 and BBC3.

In the series, Dan will show us how rapper Nas was influenced by blues pioneer Muddy Waters, how Guru relied on Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra to help him create one of his biggest songs along with so many more examples.

Of the series, host Dan Blake says “It's an honour to join the Jazz FM family to combine and play the rich history of these two powerful collaborators. The music is iconic and has such a great vibe for me to showcase. Jazz is the cornerstone of hip hop so it's only right that we pay homage to the blend that comes together in the most remarkable way. Expect Nina Simone, Kendrick Lemar, Isley Brothers, Ice Cube, Nas, Muddy Waters and more.”

It follows in the footsteps of the Jazz FM series ‘Scat’s The Way It Is’ from 2021, which saw Sugar Hill Gang frontman Master Gee exploring the vocal links between hip hop and jazz.