August Greene

Common, Robert Glasper, and Karriem Riggins synthesize hip-hop with contemporary jazz and soul as August Greene. The musicians were familiar with one another long before they made their 2018 debut as a trio. Drummer and beatmaker Riggins factored heavily in Common's 1997-2007 output and in 2016, produced the rapper's Black America Again, an album featuring Glasper's keyboards and co-production. Glasper had previously enlisted Common for his Black Radio 2. The trio wrote and recorded the Emmy-winning "Letter to the Free" for Ava DuVernay's 13th and subsequently recorded a self-titled, reflective, resolutely pro-Black album, which arrived in 2018. ~ Andy Kellman