10 Times Hip-Hop and R&B Artists Paid Tribute to Miles Davis Through Music

From Kendrick Lamar and Erykah Badu to Thundercat and André 3000, Miles Davis’ influence continues to live through contemporary Black music.

As music fans celebrate what would’ve been Miles Davis’ 100th birthday, his influence continues to live beyond jazz. His impact can be heard, seen and felt throughout hip-hop and R&B, through artists who embrace reinvention, genre fluidity and sonic risk-taking in their art.

From tribute albums and reinterpretations to jazz-infused records and genre-bending sounds, Davis’ presence is often memorialized and revered throughout contemporary Black music.

Here are 10 times hip-hop and R&B artists paid tribute to Miles Davis through music.

1. Kendrick Lamar – “For Free? (Interlude)”

Few rap albums carry Miles Davis’ spirit quite like Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. Kendrick’s jazz-heavy masterpiece embraced live instrumentation, improvisation and layered Black musical traditions in ways that mirrored Davis’ more experimental eras.

“For Free? (Interlude)” in particular feels limitless and free-flowing, tapping into the same kind of musical freedom Miles spent much of his career embracing.

2. A Tribe Called Quest – “Excursions”

A Tribe Called Quest helped introduce jazz textures to an entire generation of rap listeners. While “Excursions” famously samples Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, the group’s production style and approach to rhythm deliver the same cool, exploratory energy Miles Davis brought to jazz decades earlier.

Q-Tip has often spoken about jazz’s influence on his production style, helping to connect jazz musicianship to hip-hop’s golden era.

3. Robert Glasper – “Ghetto Walkin’”

In 2016, Robert Glasper led Everything’s Beautiful, a Miles Davis tribute album that reimagined the legendary musician’s recordings through a contemporary lens. The project features artists like Erykah Badu, Bilal and Stevie Wonder, building entirely new sounds from Miles Davis’ original studio recordings.

“Ghetto Walkin’” featuring Bilal captured the project’s larger goal: honoring Davis through exploration instead of imitation.

4. Erykah Badu – “Maiysha (So Long)”

In 2016, Erykah Badu released her interpretation of Miles Davis’ 1974 track “Maiysha” as part of Everything’s Beautiful. Badu transformed it into something soulful and distinctly her own while still preserving the essence of the original record.

The reinterpretation reflected the same sense of musical freedom that made Miles Davis such a transformative figure in Black music.

5. Bilal – “Reminisce”

Bilal’s elastic vocal style and jazz-rooted approach to R&B made him one of the most sonically explorative voices in the genre. His appearance on Everything’s Beautiful was a seamless fit, given how much his artistry mirrors the boundary-pushing fearlessness Miles Davis championed throughout his career.

For Bilal, music feels less about rigidity and more about intention and emotion.

6. Madlib – “Slim’s Return”

Madlib’s Shades of Blue project for Blue Note Records remains one of hip-hop’s most celebrated jazz reinterpretation projects. Built around samples and reworkings of classic jazz recordings, the album helped introduce younger listeners to jazz’s longstanding roots while reimagining the music through hip-hop.

“Slim’s Return” became one of the project’s standout moments, blending Madlib’s signature production style with classic jazz records.

7. D’Angelo – “Spanish Joint”

D’Angelo’s Voodoo sits at the same intersection of warmth, chemistry and spiritual energy that defined Miles Davis’ music. “Spanish Joint” is one of the clearest examples of that energy on the album.

8. Flying Lotus – “Never Catch Me”

Flying Lotus has consistently pushed beyond traditional genre boundaries throughout his career, blending jazz, electronic music and hip-hop into expansive sonic landscapes. “Never Catch Me” featuring Kendrick Lamar captures that spirit perfectly.

The record encompasses the same kind of sonic unpredictability heard in Miles Davis’ work.

9. André 3000 – “New Blue Sun”

André 3000’s flute-driven New Blue Sun era sparked plenty of conversation, but the project feels closely connected to Miles Davis’ willingness to challenge audience expectations throughout his career.

André leaned fully into exploration, something Miles Davis became known for across multiple eras of his career.

10. Thundercat – “Them Changes”

Thundercat feels uniquely connected to Miles Davis’ electric era. His music blends funk, jazz, soul and psychedelic influences in ways that still feel completely his own.

“Them Changes” captures that balance well, balancing emotional vulnerability with Thundercat’s nuanced approach to music.