Robert Glasper is a pianist, composer and record producer whose work includes acoustic jazz, R&B and hip-hop. He records with a piano trio as well as electric ensembles, including the Robert Glasper Experiment. His Black Radio series brings instrumental playing together with guest vocalists and rappers. Other projects include film music and collaborations with Common, Karriem Riggins, Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington.
Glasper grew up in Houston, where his mother sang gospel and played piano. He attended the city's performing arts high school before studying at the New School in New York. His early professional work included performances with Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett and Roy Hargrove. He released Mood before his Blue Note albums Canvas in 2005 and In My Element in 2007.
Double Booked, released in 2009, included both an acoustic trio and the electric Experiment. The latter group featured Casey Benjamin, Derrick Hodge and Chris Dave alongside Glasper. Black Radio followed in 2012 and won the Grammy for Best R&B Album at the 2013 ceremony. Black Radio 2 continued the series. Glasper also returned to the acoustic trio with bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Damion Reid for Covered, recorded live at Capitol Studios and released in 2015.
His studio and screen work developed alongside those albums. He played keyboards on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly and contributed original music to the soundtrack of Don Cheadle's 2016 film Miles Ahead. That soundtrack earned a Grammy shared with Cheadle and Steve Berkowitz in 2017. The same year, Glasper shared the Emmy for original music and lyrics with Common and Karriem Riggins for "Letter to the Free," featured in Ava DuVernay's documentary 13th. He later composed music for The Apollo and The Photograph.
Glasper's later collaborations include August Greene with Common and Riggins, R+R=NOW and Dinner Party with Martin, Washington and 9th Wonder. Black Radio III won Best R&B Album in 2023. The Recording Academy's 2026 record lists five Grammy wins and sixteen nominations, including a nomination for Keys to the City Volume One. His New York performances have also included extended Blue Note residencies, bringing guests into changing combinations onstage; R+R=NOW performances during his 2018 Blue Note residency were recorded for a subsequent live album.
