From his work with the Soulquarians collective, to Donuts, his instrumental album which dropped three days before his death, Jay Dee aka James Yancey aka J Dilla created a sound that was often imitated, but never duplicated. His genius transcended production, and he will undoubtedly go down as one of Hip-Hop’s greatest musicians ever.
Dilla had a knack for creating entire beats around obscure samples that sounded golden when touched by the master’s hands. Not only were his bass lines always thumping, but his production always felt warm, if not slightly off-beat. Dilla manipulated sounds and samples in ways most other producers could only dream of. He really was a genius on those boards.
On what would have been his 38th birthday, P&B celebrates one of the greatest to ever do it, by picking out 5 of his best songs. Sit back, get your headphones in check, grab some Donuts, and pump some Dilla in ya soundsystem.
TeeFizz’s Top 5 Dilla Tracks:
12 years after its release, this Dilla-produced banger continues to pack dance-floors. Q-Tip had spent a large part of his career as one of the underground kings in A Tribe Called Quest, but he finally reached more mainstream appeal when he decided to venture out solo dolo. Dilla’s syncopated synths and heavy bass made for a club hit, and Q-Tip proved that he could fly on his own. With Breathe and Stop, J D showed that from pop to Hip-Hop, he really could do it all.
Raise it Up might sound real familiar to Daft Punk fans. When creating this track for Slum Village, Dilla originally found this sample and figured it was from some obscure artist who wouldn’t notice his song was being used. Turns out the sample was from Thomas Bangalter (one half of the greatest electro-duo ever, Daft Punk) who happened to be a huge Slum Village fan. Instead of demanding royalties, Bangalter requested that Slum Village do a remix of his track, Aerodynamic. Ahhh… the good old days.
3. Busta Rhymes – Show Me What You Got
Aside from his work with the Soulquarius collective (consisting of Mos Def, Common, Q-Tip, and Talib Kweli), and Slum Village, Dilla had a heavy hand in producing some of Busta Rhyme’s earlier tracks. One of my favorites is this hidden gem off of Anarchy. This slowed-down beat is a heavy head-nodder, with its subtle bassline and its snares and hi hats. Another one of them marvelous shits indeed.
A Bobby Caldwell sample, some more fuzzy boom-bap type production, and the smooth stylings of Lonnie Lynn aka Common. Dilla mixed all these elements and helped the Hip-Hop artist ascend into stardom. Add that to the signature snare, the piano, the funky synths, and Dilla and Comm craft the perfect Hip-Hop love song.
This track is pure Dilla. Flipping some guitar strums and choppy beats, Dilla creates a track that embodies the neo-soul feel. ?uestlove, a fan and friend of Dilla, invited him to work on The Roots’ fourth studio album, Things Fall Apart. In fact, The Roots’ album was being recorded at Electric Lady Studios at the same time Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun and D’Angelo’s Voodoo were being recorded – two projects that also had Dilla’s fingerprints all over them.
What are some of your favorite Dilla tracks? Sound off in the c-section below!
TeeFizz
