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American Masters

How Max Roach fused jazz and hip hop

Max Roach was excited by the premise and promise of rap when it first hit the music scene. Roach was introduced to the genre by his godson and hip hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddy, and would later collaborate with him. "The fact that he saw that vision before it became cool in the early nineties, for you to mix your hip hop and your jazz together, shows how ahead of the curve he was," said Questlove."

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