
Gospejazzical Pioneer to Moderate Panel with Hip-Hop Icons Dr. John Paul McGee, Berklee's assistant chair of piano, will guide a discussion with a group that includes Cheryl Salt James of Salt-N-Pepa about the influence of jazz and R&B on early hip-hop.
By
Daniel Pesquera
August 16, 2023
John Paul McGee, assistant chair of Berklees Piano Department
Image courtesy of John Paul McGee
Dr. John Paul McGee, assistant chair of Berklees Piano Department, is a notable authority on the relationship between music and spirituality. A native of Baltimore, where he grew up playing piano for his local church, he would later pursue doctoral work that pioneered a new genre dubbed gospejazzical, a distinctive sonic blend of gospel, jazz, and classical music. Hes shared stages with the likes of Patti LaBelle, Najee, Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, and VaShawn Mitchell, and was also invited to perform at Stevie Wonders annual House of Toys benefit concert in Los Angeles.
McGee will moderate a panel on hip-hops origins at the Guild of Music Supervisors State of Music in Media conference on August 19 at the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood. The panel-which includes Cheryl Salt James of Salt-N-Pepa, producer Amani Burt Blackarach Smith, professor and composer Jae Deal, and rapper King Tee-will explore how jazz and R&B shaped hip-hops electric sound in the '70s. While not a hip-hop history expert, McGee sees connections between Afro-centric music like gospel and R&B and the community strength in hip-hop. His distinct perspective will explore these intersections in early hip-hop, adding an intriguing layer to the genres 50th-anniversary celebration. In the following interview, edited for clarity and length, we talk to McGee about his role in the panel.
The upcoming panel will explore the origins of hip hop and its connection to other forms of music like jazz and R&B. How do you think hip-hop relates to those other genres and how does it fit into the larger story of music history and Afro-centric culture? Unlike other forms of Afro-centric music, hip-hop is one of the only forms of Black music that was not birthed out of a religious tradition. But that said, hip-hop does not stand on its own from all the other forms of Black music that exist. Hip-hop, by and large, was birthed as a social consciousness music, an art form that would address societal ills, particularly in the African American community. At its core, hip-hop is really about communicating the heart, the condition, the nature of times-and that's not really new. When you look at the negro spirituals for example, they were coded texts . . . messages hidden within songs used to communicate ideas about freedom and the soul and the brutal reality of slavery. There was a time when R&B music addressed the conditions of the time as well. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On? comes to mind-he was asking, Why are we killing each other? Why are so many people dying?
I see hip-hop in a very similar way in terms of speaking to the current context and a vision of the future. In fact, when we look at some of the more popular early hip-hop artists, such as Salt from Salt-N-Pepa and MC Hammer, they have a very deep religious undergirding. You have people who come from the church and came to this social consciousness music. This is part of the reason I'm advocating for people to see the innate sacred spirituality of hip-hop as an ancestral retention that connects those who engage with it to uniquely African modes of communication and expression.
How did you get involved with the Guild of Music Supervisors conference? I have a song called Manifest that I wrote with another international gospel artist Jonathan Nelson about 20 years ago. It's essentially an affirmation of purpose and destiny, with a message of God made you exactly as you were meant to be. This song has had such a tremendous shelf life. Several people have recorded it through the years. Jonathan Nelson called me a few months ago and said I'd be contacted by music supervisor Dr. LaMarcus Miller because the song had been licensed for an upcoming Disney series called Choir. Dr. Miller and I became friends, and eventually he asked me if I would like to participate in this panel on the origins of hip-hop. He was very interested in my perspective as an active performer and a scholar of various forms of Black music and what I could bring to the discussion. I would have never imagined in three million years that I'd be on a panel with King Tee and Salt from Salt-N-Pepa and in the presence of all these hip-hop icons, but I'm excited to be able to guide the conversation!
As someone that doesn't have an extensive background in hip-hop, what is your approach to moderating a discussion with big names on a public stage? One of my goals is to direct the conversation into an understanding of the sacred and spiritual nature of hip-hop, even though it was not born out of the church, and how that relates to the spiritual elements of jazz, R&B, and other Afro-centric forms of music. I want to help bridge gaps, strengthen communities and connections within these Black contexts, and to lift up the spiritual nature and musical connections of hip-hop to other Black art forms so that it is not necessarily seen as something that is an outlier.
In doing research for the event, what has stood out to you as you review five decades of hip-hop music? I'm drinking from the fire hose right now! I'm listening [to everyone] from Grandmaster Flash to Salt-N-Pepa to Heavy D to Biggie to Tupac to Jay-Z and Kanye to Nas to Queen Latifah to Lil' Kim to Cardi B. . . . I'm listening to some of everybody, and I'm also listening to some of the gospel artists that have been influenced by hip-hop, like Kirk Franklin and others. Because it's 50 years of material,
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
15/04/2026
NBCU-Versant notches 13.1% of TV viewing in February, its best since August 2024...
15/04/2026
New data reveals older Kiwis are financially resilient, loyal to local products,...
15/04/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, announces the market launch of the ACCE...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Evergent introduces its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform, transforming how subscription businesses across direct-to-consumer streaming, pay-TV, telecommun...
15/04/2026
Harmonic's XOS Media Processor Delivers Exceptional Video Quality to More than Half of U.S. Public Media Viewership
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announce...
15/04/2026
LONGMONT, COLORADO, APRIL 15, 2026 DPA Microphones N Series Digital Wireless System users in North America can now take full advantage of the system's exc...
15/04/2026
Cobalt Iron, a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced the launch of Compass Tape Gateway (CTG), a transformative enhancemen...
15/04/2026
Disguise to Showcase Cutting-Edge Experience Tech for Sports, Broadcast and More...
15/04/2026
Arooj Aftab Makes the Music She Wants to Hear The singular artist explores the juxtaposition of grief and joy, dark and light, in her distinctive sound.
Apri...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Interra Systems, a provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions for the digital media industry, is proud to announce its central role in the digital trans...
15/04/2026
VO Integrates Client-Side and Server-Side Ad Technologies with its Secure Video Player and Segmentation Tools, Leveraging Broadpeak's SSAI and BPK SmartLib ...
15/04/2026
TMT Insights, a leader in professional services and software development for the media and entertainment (M&E) industry, today announced the launch of TMT AI at...
15/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media, a global leader in managed broadcast and cloud-based media services, today announced an expanded partnership with Oracle Cloud Infrastr...
15/04/2026
Middleman Software, a leading provider of signaling and synchronization solutions for broadcast and streaming workflows, today announced it will unveil PhaseLoc...
15/04/2026
Deity Microphones today announced the PR-4, a compact six-track field recorder featuring four inputs, 32-bit float recording, advanced routing, and a workflow-f...
15/04/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Fairlight Live
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Powerful software-based live audio mixer with support for SMPTE-2110...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Strategic Alignment With the Riedel Group for Innovation and Growth
Thomas Riedel, founder and owner of Riedel Communications and the Riedel Group, has acqui...
15/04/2026
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that the company's Rally platform has been deployed by Iyuno Media...
15/04/2026
Frequency, the engine behind many of the worlds leading streaming television channels, has become the platform of choice for leading U.S. broadcasters bringing ...
15/04/2026
New Service Simplifies Integration of AI Applications with Exceptional Reliability and Security
SAN JOSE, Calif. April 14, 2026 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) t...
15/04/2026
During the 2025 off-season, VIDI completed a major upgrade of the broadcast infrastructure across all 36 stadiums in Germany's 1st and 2nd Bundesliga. The p...
15/04/2026
Clear-Com announced significant updates to its award-winning Arcadia Central Station as well as enhancements to the Eclipse HX Digital Matrix System now runn...
15/04/2026
Shotoku Introduces the World to Aura P2 PTZ Prompter Panner at NAB SHOW 2026
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
New system removes PTZ pan restric...
15/04/2026
LiveU Announces Expanded Collaboration with Sony at NAB Show, Adding Direct File...
15/04/2026
This 24-Hour Performance Art Piece Needs Your Participation Keefer Glenshaws latest project is about collaborating with the Berklee community and beyond.
Apr...
15/04/2026
Traditional data centers only stored, retrieved and processed data. In the generative and agentic AI era, these facilities have evolved into AI token factories....
15/04/2026
Two Cities Television and Keeper Pictures to produce six-part series in association with Screen Ireland for RT and ITV Studios
RT has commissioned Two Citie...
15/04/2026
RT 100
RT unveils The Signal' a specially commissioned 60-second film
...
15/04/2026
The NAB Show 2026 trade show, running April 18-22 in Las Vegas, is set to showcase a wave of new features and optimizations for top video editing applications. ...
14/04/2026
ToolsOnAir and Omnistream Bring Mobile SRT Contribution into Professional 24/7 P...
14/04/2026
Haivision has announced the Falkon X4, a 5G mobile video transmitter for live broadcast and remote production. The device will be showcased at NAB Show 2026.
...
14/04/2026
Founded by veterans of the production-truck world, Stripe TV was born out of a d...
14/04/2026
Grass Valley has expanded its partnership with Studio Berlin, supplying 12 LDX 135 UHD/HDR camera systems and 12 LDX 180 Super 35mm cinematic cameras, including...
14/04/2026
LTN has announced two senior appointments ahead of NAB Show 2026: Mark Romano as Vice President, Multichannel Platforms, and Edward Cox as Vice President, Sales...