Photo credit: Last.fm
A couple of days before Christmas, one of the
great musical and spiritual giants made his
transition, Dr. Yusef Lateef was 93 years old,
and in that time he left an indelible mark on
jazz music and is arguably one of the pioneers
of the genre now referred to as ‘world music’.
But his impact was felt in other areas as well.
And I feel it’s only right to examine the scope
of his reach in a place some wouldn’t have
considered: hip-hop music.
Before I get into that in depth, I think a little
backstory on my introduction to Yusef Lateef
might be in order. I had gotten a taste for jazz
from early on in my teenage years. That interest
coincided with my father and a couple of my
uncles pulling my coat to some choice records.
One day I was up at an aunt’s in Harlem and
she had put on a record that was, in a word,
dreamy. As she and my parents talked, I found
myself caught up in the music so much that
I sneaked a look at the vinyl jacket. The song
was ‘Love Theme From ‘The Robe’, off of Dr.
Lateef’s Eastern Sounds album. From that point,
I always kept an eye out for any of his albums.
Not an easy task when you take into account
that Yusef Lateef has recorded and been featured
as sideman on as many as EIGHTY ALBUMS.
Dr. Yusef Lateef, as I learned more about him,
was as symbolic a figure for Black American history
as you can find. The important thing was, like
many trailblazers, he did it without immediate
fanfare. Part of that lies within the calm and
focused determination he possessed. How so?
The man decided he was going to be a musician
at the age of 12 and not only got his first saxophone
six years later, he even wound up touring with
jazz greats like Cannonball Adderley and Dizzy
Gillespie. Having to stop touring due to his wife’s
illness, Dr. Lateef wound up coming home to
Detroit, Michigan and worked in the Chrysler
factory all while gaining a formal education at
Wayne State University and a spiritual education
thanks to his becoming a follower of Islam.(Side
note: he was one of the first musicians on record
to convert to Islam. The particular community he
joined, the Ahmadiyya, is a preeminent reformist
sect within Islam itself stressing humanity first.
This was a contrast to the rise of the Nation Of
Islam during the time.) This path stimulated such
growth in Dr.Lateef that he would wind up being
a professor and research fellow at the Manhattan
School of Music in addition to earning a doctorate
at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where
he taught until his passing. He also spent four
years as a senior research fellow at the University
of Ahmadubelo in Nigeria.
Fast forward to 2000. This was a time where the
split between underground hip-hop and commercial
rap was beginning to solidify. I found myself down
in the Village, hitting up different spots for new
music. One track that caught my ears was a joint
from MF Doom’s first album, Operation Doomsday.
‘Who You Think I Am’ had a sick beat, the drumline
having a funky stutter, and it was all tied together
with a mystical flute. It added extra richness to the
gritty track that also featured Rodan, King Ghidra,
and Megalon. There was also a timeless effect with
the track, despite the Iomega zip drive reference
(remember those?) A while later, one dude I knew
who was a crate digger and I got to talking about
the track. He then hits me off with a copy of Dr.
Lateef’s classic album, Yusef Lateef’s Detroit Latitude
42° 30’ Longitude 83°. As soon as I play ‘Eastern
Market’, I FLIP OUT. There was the same flute from
the MF Doom track! 
Doom wouldn’t be the only one to find some
inspiration in Dr. Lateef’s music. The Beastie Boys,
Scientifik, Aesop Rock, and others have sampled Dr.
Lateef’s albums, and have made some dope songs in
turn. One of my favorite Nujabes tracks, ‘Feather’
with Cise Starr & Akin of CYNE off of Modal Soul
gets its cue from that same track I heard years
ago in my aunt’s place. It proves without a doubt
that Dr. Lateef’s music lent itself to the culture of
hip-hop because of its dynamic reach and fluidity.
He was one of the first to utilize Eastern instruments
like the shenai, arghul and algaita in conjunction
with the oboe and tenor saxophone. Eastern Sounds
and Detroit Latitude 42° 30’ Longitude 83° still get
heavy play in my house. Another link to be appreciated
is Dr. Lateef’s refusal to be fit in a box with his music,
exemplified by his shunning of the term ‘jazz’ for
his own creation, ‘autophysiopsychic music’. Add
to that the fact that the man won a Grammy and
was still performing until last summer. He once said
“My music is, like my religion, supposed to take you
from this life into the next.” And as he is in his next
life, I do hope many others can grasp and appreciate
just how much spiritual experience Dr. Yusef Lateef
brought to jazz, hip-hop and the world.