The bridges that link New Orleans’ rap and hip-hop community to the more traditional pillars of the city’s musical legacy go well beyond some rappers’ fondness for sampling the Meters and the Nevilles.

Rap and hip-hop are linked up to the jazz, and blues, and rock, and R&B, on a more basic, philosophical level. They share a common critical assessment often levied by those from outside (and sometimes inside) the state: the genre’s most visible practitioners are too “New Orleans,” too region...