That Doo Bop Sound: Remembering Miles Davis

Miles Davis really was one of the best musicians we've ever seen in our popular culture. Right before he passed away, when he surely was not in the best physical state, Miles produced this song "The Doo-Bop Song" - a song that miraculously took the best of his talent and made it flow in to the new, growing genre of hip-hop. Remember what came before.

Miles Davis knew what hip-hop is at its core - it is an outgrowth of jazz. Even if it's gone in weird directions, that is what it is at its center. Great rappers like Mos Def (now Yasiin Bey) have played on this - the sound of trumpets and horns actually flows in hip-hop as if they're designed to:

 

 I think alot of rappers and hip-hop artists know this on a deep level. Hip-hop as it was at its epoch is over - and maybe that is for the best. Rapping will never go away and will be a part of a more well rounded world of R&B. Nas seemed to get this with his album Life Is Good - Miles' horn would have been a worthy ingredient to his song "You Wouldn't Understand:"