February 10 is Dilla Day. We commemorate one of hip-hop’s most revered beat makers with a radio show featuring Pete Rock, Talib Kweli and J Dilla’s mother Ma Dukes...
James Dewitt Yancey, better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, emerged from the Detroit underground hip-hop scene in the mid-1990s. To the worldwide hip-hop community, Dilla was one of the music industry's most influential artists who helped to pave the way for the newest style of soulful, subdued and sometimes spaced-out hip-hop production.
Detroit singer/musician Amp Fiddler first taught Dilla how to work the MPC (a sampling/beat-making machine). “The first beat he played for me he looped the whole track from cassette player to cassette player,” says Amp Fiddler. “There were a few drops — but for the most part it was pretty damn precise. So I told him he needed to go home and separate all the samples to load into the MPC, and he came back with all the samples separated and mapped out exactly how he wanted it. As time went on, he got better and better. He used to come by the crib to get on the MPC and [he’d] work on it for three or four hours at a time. He used to have a big smile on his face, because he was so excited, after finishing a beat.”
He was known as the beatsmith for Slum Village, released two solo works (Welcome 2 Detroit and Donuts) and the critically acclaimed Champion Sound (co-produced by Madlib). Although J Dilla worked with big acts such as Erykah Badu, The Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, the Roots and Common, his low-key attitude and devotion to craftsmanship, rather than a desire for stardom, kept the unassuming artist below the mainstream radar.
Sadly, just as his music was becoming increasingly popular, Dilla died in 2006 of the blood disease TTP on February 10, 2006.
To celebrate the life and work of J Dilla in this Red Bull Music Academy Radio show, New York's finest come together to pay homage to the master... Pete Rock's got the raw soul, Kweli's got the real-life politics and they've both got love for Jay Dee. The two musical heavyweights sat down with Maureen Yancey, aka Ma Dukes (Dilla's mom), to reminisce about Jay Dee growing up, Electric Ladyland studios, being inspired by and inspiring the Soul Brother No.1 and the stories behind the beats.
And if you should be anywhere near Detroit, go see the tribute night at the Fillmore on Friday, February 10, 2012, featuring Busta Rhymes and Jay Electronica.
Playlist:
Jay Dee - Welcome To Detroit - BBE
Busta Rhymes - It Ain't Safe No More (instr.) - Elektra
Jaylib - Tha Ruckus
Jaylib feat. Talib Kweli - Raw Shit - Stones Throw
Jay Dee - Fuck The Police - Up Above
J-Dilla - Oblighetto - Blue Note
J-Dilla - Beat
J-Dilla - Beat
A Tribe Called Quest - That Shit - Unknown
Slum Village - The Hustle - Ne'Astra
J-Dilla - Love Jones - BBE
J-Dilla - Beat
J-Dilla - Beat
Slum Village - Once Upon A Time - GoodVibe
J-88 - The Look Of Love - Groove Attack
Phat Kat - Dedication To The Suckers - House Shoes
Four Tet - Serious As Your Life (Jay Dee remix) - Domino
Common feat. Slum Village - Thelonious - MCA
Jay Dee - The $ - Mummy / Groove Attack
Jay Dee - Up In The Club
Jay Dee - Big Booty Express - BBE
Slum Village - One (instr.) - Barak/Capitol Records
J Dilla - Beat
Guilty Simpson - I Must Love You - Stones Throw
J-Dilla - Take Notice - Stones Throw
J-Dilla - Beat
J-Dilla - Stop - Stones Throw
Jaylib - The Official - Stones Throw
J-Dilla – Beat
Want More?
- Fireside Chat with Pete Rock
- The 45 King live in Boston
- Fireside Chat with Flying Lotus
- Sugarhill's Sylvia Robinson remembered
- Fireside Chat with the Jungle Brothers
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