Jahari Massamba Unit

Jahari Massamba Unit operates as an informal, occasional studio venture that merges hip-hop and future jazz, uniting producer and multi-instrumentalist Madlib with drummer and producer Karriem Riggins. The same pair has recorded under the Supreme Team name, where Riggins also supplies vocals.

They first connected in the mid-2000s during sessions for Detroit producer and rapper J Dilla. Supreme Team later released a split 12" with J Dilla containing "See (Suite)" and "Mash's Revenge." Their initial Jahari Massamba Unit appearance occurred on the track "Umoja" from Madlib's 2007 album Yesterdays Universe, issued as a fabricated sampler. In 2010 they contributed the pieces "Pretty Eyes" and "Wonderin'/Nightime" under the JMU banner to Madlib's High Jazz collection; the same release carried two further selections credited to Yesterdays New Quintet ("Don't You Worry Bout a Thing" and "Conquistador") and another cut under the Poyser, Riggins & Jackson heading that paired James Poyser with Madlib's Otis Jackson, Jr. alias.

The duo reassembled in 2020 to issue their first proper album, Pardon My French, on the Madlib Invazion imprint. Riggins subsequently delivered To the Jungle on Madlib Invazion in February 2024, prompting Jahari Massamba Unit to reconvene the next month for the follow-up Yhwh Is Love, which appeared on Riggins' Detroit-based Law of Rhythm label.