I cracked my headphones in half listening to Donuts.  ("The New"? "Mash"?)

The joints he did with Double F in "Welcome to Cali" are pure fire!

 

It's beautiful that someone like Dilla existed during our lifetime.

My Dilla story....my first taste of Jay Dee was buying ATCQ'S "Beats Rhymes & Life", the first album i ever bought. I listened to that album everyday for nearly 2 years- i still do now!

I tought myself to produce in those 2 years by listening to those tracks on repeat for hours, trying to emulate what Dilla did. When "Welcome To Detroit" dropped i did the same again. In short, i pretty much owe everything to James Yancey...and i never got the chance to meet the man.

God bless

 

everytime i feel depressed, i listen to donuts from start to finish. it is the unlimate anti-depressant, it just gives me hope for a future of dope music.
 

I read your post last week. This morning is when it hit me...waking up to "last donut of the night" and I agree...the thing about Donuts was that he wrote it in a hospital bed. It was probably anti depressant (therapy) for him too. So of course it's theraputic nature would be felt by others. U know how powerful or how healing or motivational music can be...especially the sounds of Motown, helping the poor folks of the nation to keep pushing on. Gospel music in the church, Jazz or Blues, even rap....folks are either venting their frustrations on the "system" or talking bout some issue...even the club is a release...dance therapy/entertainment. So although my post is almost 2 years later it's still relevant. Thanks 2 Dilla for the greatest gift. I'm sure that everyone has a space in their heart for that dude. I teach music in the High Schools in Philly and I am constantly telling kids about Dilla. I think that's important for his music to live on. If it inspired you (and hundreds of thousands of others), I could only imagine the one kid who rips a whole mixtape to old dilla beats.

YEAH!!!!! Rock Rock on....
 

The first music I bought for myself was all hiphop -- L.L., P.E., Das EFX......the list goes on.  As a teen I started to play the guitar and conversely my tastes started to gravitate towards music that I could play along with.  I started to revisit the music my dad introduced me to as a child --rock, jazz, blues, reggae.  Throughout all of high school and the beginning of college, hiphop was noticably absent from my catalog.  But while in college studying jazz, I had this urge to check out some hiphop.  While in the record store, one particular album caught my eye.  Like Water for Chocolate.
I took that album home and it was ALL OVER.  I had never heard hiphop that sounded like it was played by a band. From that point on my ear started to gravitate to this particular live sounding hiphop.  I saw the video for "Drop" and went out to pick up Labcabincalifornia that same day.  Then I came across Mama's Gun and 1st Born Second.  Sprinkled throughout all these albums was this vibe that  resonated with me.  Then, I picked up Welcome to Detroit.  An album that had this sound from start to end!?!? (Didn't even know what was in store for me, yet to Fantastic Vol.2)  I couldn't believe it, but then it clicked.
I looked back at those other albums to discover that my favorite tracks were all produced by JayDee.  That feeling was indescribable.  The name JayDee never stuck with me, but the sound did -- I've always been bad with names though.  From that point on it just made sense.  All my favorite tracks had the Dilla touch.  "Genesis", "Dynamite", "Didn't Cha Know".........I liked the music before I even knew who it was.   There was something undeniable about that.  I even found out that my favorite album of all time, Voodoo, was largely inspired by the man.
Seeing as how music is my life, Dilla has definately had a huge impact on me.
What can I say, I unknowingly became a Dilla-hollic and I'm not ashamed to admit it. 
My name is Peter, and I'm a Dilla-hollic.

 

pretty much the same story with me. every song i had loved and listend to all my years were produced by dilla, without knowing it, crazy.
 

Man i promise man u and i both have the same situation wit dilla i already had his muzik, but i never checked the credits til' my boy marv told me he he was and it all started makin since to me. all of his work he did had that special touch, a special sound to it that jus sounded so real and pure!! rest in peace dilla!!! im a dilla holic aswell dude!!
 

I had no idea who Dilla was until I read this... and I too have been a Dillaholic without knowing it all these years! The man was blessed and his work had that lil' something that drew us all to it. Beautiful.

 

HAHA....I'm a Dilla Holic too!!!! Never recovering from it either!!! Peace fam!
 

i realized that only one can win and stopped fucking off & gave myself to the love of my life. that's dilla in my heartforever.
 

Dilla is one of the main reasons I make music.....His music gave me a  feeling when i 1st heard it.....I'd hear beat rhymes and life when it came out, but didn't really take it in....It wasn't until LWFC and vol2 in 2000 the man's talent really hit me...

I've been trying for years to put into words what that feeling is.....but i can't....The only time i feel something close to that feeling is when I'm in the middle of making a beat i really like.....

I make music for several reasons, but one of the main reasons is to recapture that 'feeling' Dilla gave me and hopefully make others feel it too...

 

Man I wished I knew him...personally!!! Always wanted to meet him......Dilla....first beat I ever heard from him....off the Pharcyde album...."Drop"...one of the sickest beats at that time!!! Almost spit up my soda...no lie!!! When I heard beat after beat that he made....I was a INSTANT fan....I was like yeah, yeah...the rhymes are cool...but do YOU HEAR THAT BEAT!?!?!? Then when he teamed up with Quest!!...Wow.....the beats were amazing...I loved the way, you couldn't pinpoint his sound...meaning pigeonhole it!! He made a variety of different beats, changing tempos, off beat drum patterns, samples that you never heard before, etc.  As time moved on...so did his sound!!! What he did for Common's LP's (Did you like Electric Circus...I did!!), Erkyah Badu, D'Angelo...the Roots, Busta Rhymes (the beats he did on Genesis still to me gets over looked..joints was sick)...the list goes on and on...Each sound different than the next!! It gave us hope that real music exists out there...especially at the time when producers/and wannabe track"stars" were not pushing the envelope (i.e. P. Diddy...yeah I said it..lol!!).  Always looking for Dilla produced music...I have amassed a good collection of his instrumentals..Picked up Slum Village Fantastic Vol. 2...soulful tracks on there.....then  I copped "Welcome 2 Detroit"..DILLA grew larger in my world.and dude is spittin too??!?!? I put some of my friends on to him....only to get "he's aiight"....I was pissed at them...but it's not their fault....when you get brainwashed by  commercial radio playing that b.s all day....your judgement on music is not quite all there...so on that note...I forgive them...for now.  Then I got tracks that I later found out was his unreleased EP..Ruff Draft....bananas!!!  Jaylib....that was it for me.....I was in heaven...2 of my favorite producers rhyming over each other's tracks....I thought that was it!!! NO...I was wrong........DONUTS!!!!....CLASSIC!!! I listen to that LP....I don't want to come off sounding like I'm a nut, or crazy or I have No life...but when I listen to that album especially the first time....It brought a whole host of emotions!! I couldn't believe that one man created all this music while he was in the state he was is in...You can feel that he put all his energy had into that album....I was happy and sad at the same time..no lie!!! Because the music had a positive vibe throughout the entire album but at the same time his passing brought about the sad feeling.  Well...I could write for days about Dilla and how much he influenced me with his music...but the best way to show that...IS TO GO TO THE LAB....AND DO MY THING!!! YOU'LL SEE AND HEAR IT!!! Dilla you are the best!!! Thank you!!!
 

*Brews a pot of hot chocolate, poors 2 cups, pulls out chair and sits*

Before I knew that making beats would be a passion of mine, my dome was already cracked open by Primo's work on "Step into the Arena". This got me checkin for production credits at an early age. The first time I read the name "Jay Dee" was on the back of Pharcyde single "Runnin" in a local record store in a local mall. You see the reason why I was at the mall in the record store reading the back of a single was because earlier that morning I heard Pharcyde's "Running on my friends TV and as Nas put it "My brain was blown to bits", No doubt Pharcyde had the ill flow's but it was that beat...that beat...who did that beat?...I had to immediatly go cop the single (album if it had been out at the time) and find out who did that beat?!?? To this day I'm still baffled at the simple/complexity of the drum line in the song "Runnin". The bassline ohhh the bassline...that sample..soo jazzy with a hint of samba..wrapped in hip hop.

Ever since then I've checked and been inspired by Jay Dee's work. I've watched him go from "Jay Dee, naw the one from Detroit not Atlanta" to "J Dilla" and I respectivly call him Jay Dilla.

As to many his death was a shock. With that came a new height in poparlarity for Dilla which makes me both happy and angry. Happy to see him get respect for his musical genius but a bit angry to see so many poser's and bandwagoner's that rate Dilla as the greatest and their favorite and they don't know much of his catalog beyond "Donuts"
Sorry to end on a bitter note..lol *Poors another cup of hot chocolate for reader*
 

GET A HOLD comes on as track 2 on Tribes 4th album that I just left work to run to the nearest store to get.

I yell out "WHAT - THE - FUCKING - FUCK!?!?!" IMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMIDEIATLEY check the liner notes to see the production (I guess I just knew that Ali didnt do some schitt like that) read James Yancey, and from there on out make it my life's mission to own everything this man has or will create.

Saw him live for the first time in SF @ a Madvillian Record Release party (LOST MY DAMN MIND!!!)

Saw him again @ Rock The Bells (Tribe Reunion) , was backstage all access & got to actually meet the doode and engage in a small conversation (BEST HIP HOP MEETING OF MY LIFE EVER-EVER!!!)


DILLA LIVES FOREVER AS THE GREATEST, period.


 

Dilla taught me how to.....TURN IT UP!!!!

 

 

Nuf sed

 

AmAr

 

HAD TO PUT MY BRAIN ON REBOOT WHEN I HEARD WELCOME TO DETROIT ....AND THE OLD DILLA STUFF ON THE SP ...O MY GOSH PURE MAGIC....

 

R.I.P DILLA

 

all this love for dilla is so damn neccesary.
i had been a fan but when that instrumental vol.1 dropped i just about freaked out.
my boy Porse and i both had that on repeat in our apartment for weeks. it was like the soundtrack to our lives for a while, just digesting it was a lengthy process in all it's beauty and simplicity. i haven't heard any instrumentals that FLYYYYYYYYY since.
peace
 

Posting this from my homies profile, mine is discontinued.
I was writing a poem for class about myself, and then it kinda turned into a dedication to dilla.
Dilla is the one musician I stay bumpin. He has touched me, and many other people musically.
Its rough, but thought i'd post it.
R.I.P


The man's mission began at birth.
A mission to obtain the tools needed,
In order to render a vision without the use of adjectives or nouns but,
With sounds.
The resulting compositions encompass a true love for music.
The universal language.

He arrives at the first destination, his favorite location,
A mom and pop's record shop.
Fingertips become dusty.
The visionary has embarked upon a journey to the past,
To an era before compact discs and the iPodâ.
A journey through the crates.

Discerning eyes observe album covers' artwork and credits,
While selective hands sift through legacies faded from memory banks and,
Remnants of starving artists that were never truly acknowledged.
Stumbling across diamonds in the rough, artifacts of a time passed are found,
In the sea of undervalued treasures in danger of extinction.
Old records.
Ammunition for the weaponry.

Loading the arsenal with LP’s, EP’s and numerous 45’s,
He returns from his excursion, only to set foot on the next..
The whole spectrum of old tunes are dissected then resurrected.
The puzzle is solved with pieces of sound.
Timeless and legendary musical collages are formed.
New life breathed into a lost soul, nearly forgotten.

Turning vintage vinyl into a new flame. Pure heat.
Drums pound like gorilla rage. Raw passion.
Mission accomplished.
The new masterpiece emanates from stereo speakers
The foundation, the life blood of rap is observed,
Beats, rhythms, and life are heard.

Armed with a sampling machine and wax fossils,
The possibilities are endless.
Innovation is the mode of operation.
Expression at its finest,
His favorite escape;
Digging in the crates and,
Banging out beats.

In tribute to J. Dilla 1974-2006. Rest in Beats.
 

Word up!  I converted late to his greatness, but his most slepped on production Common's "Electric Circus" is what hooked me.  It will be appreciated in 10 years when fools start sampling Stereolab and Tortoise to make beats, because that's what it is, only he had his crew make up the sounds.  The dial tone sounds before the snare on Star 69?!  Forget it!

Dilla is also influencing the way I listen to records.  You know those 100 records that have been sampled by 10,000 people.  Did you hear the bits in those records where the band slips for a split second and that classic Dilla feel is felt for about 4 seconds.  Oh shit kids, hip-hop's gonna go through some Reneissance when these get lifted.

Flying Lotus, 38 Cartoons is scary!  Your making me feel old and lazy.

 

Nice stories folks...As someone above wrote...it was highschool and Fantastic Vol. 2 hit my ears.  Goodnesss...That was amazing stuff...even today when I hear raise it up I go wild. It was after Champion Sound thumped through apartment walls 2 years later that I looked more into Dilla's work beyond SV (Welcome 2 Detroit, etc...). The crazy part was learning how deep his roots were in hiphop before all that!!..pharcyde, de la, tribe,  like water for chocolate...let the list roll.  The man will always live through the speakers.  The largest of thanks be to Dilla and Sir FlyLo for allowing us a time to reminisce with the like-minded.  Turn it up!...Yesssir!

 

man, i didn't realize that in 12 years of djing (on the radio, residencies and all) that there was never, ever a night I didn't play a track produced by jaydee until I was at his memorial and this entire discography was laid out in front of me to consider. not only was his skill amazing, he brought the best out of people and tracks that he collaborated on are like a fix for people like me who found our spirit on good, meaningful hiphop/soul music.

i appreciate your track posted up. it's a very moving interpolation. it's like eating a spoonful of pudding, sweet and comforting.

I'll tell you something private. The service was lacking but for one instance.. when james p. started playing the riff on the keyboard... if he had continued on.. for any longer than a brief instance.. the memorial would have turned into a floodwater site.

 

peace,

eko

 

i remeber the day i bought "welcome to detroit" in 2003. i played a lot of atcq & slum village at that time and was a fan of the beat generation. that all was during physical rehab. i spent most of that year in hospital, but where i also met people who inspired me. a friend and me did a house-remix of fall-n-love, because he was so moved by it (serious! funny coincidence). it wasn't very original, but we did it just for fun. anyway, it took me long time after that to realise what impact dillas music had/still has on me...
 

the illest ever on the beats.........Dilla means so much to me and my people, Dilla started a new sound.......cats haven't even really totally understood his impact yet....either way they gon hear/feel it just like when i first heard Labcabincalifornia....I was in awe and didn't even realize it was Dilla who had a lot to do w/that record, dont get me wrong Pharcyde holds it down on it but I def got a few wierd stares when I said I dug that album better than the first, and I stand by that....I said the same for Tribe's "Love Movement" and "Beats Rhymes and Life" and still didn't fully realize Dilla's impact, nonetheless I heard and felt it and it changed my life......I feel honored and blessed to have told Dilla myself that he CHANGED THE GAME and is THE ILLEST..........I feel blessed to have connected w/this amazing energy and am convinced I won't stop doin this ever....i can't stop doin it it's too much of what I believe in and am.....it feels too good and right, even though somedays i wonder how im gon eat tommorow....big up FL for doing this blog and being you.....big up J DILLA for changing the game and taking the time to work with the young cats....we got a lot of work to do yall....keep WORKIN ON IT!
 

Y'all Do Kno What U've Got Till It's Gone... Dilla Is And Will Always Be My HomeSOUNDboy!

L

 

 It was about a year ago when I really started getting into hip-hop more then just turntabilism. I heard Madvillain and went to stonesthrow.com right away. They were advertising Donuts and I was like "who the hell is J Dilla?" anyways. I did not know he died for 2 weeks after his death until I went to a local record shop to buy some hip-hop. The guy there was like "you need this album". He gave me "Welcome To Detroit (instrumentals)" I brought it home and my father (60 year old swing lover) came down and said "this is beautiful. What is it?" and I replied "hip-hop." and he said "no it is something else it is more then just hip-hop". My mom later came down and said the same thing. I listened to it various times this year and I can say that Dilla made more then hip-hop. I can say that I am very sad and I understand why everyone is and was so upset when he passed away. Dilla's music has touched almost everyone that has listened to it.
 

Dilla always had what I call that "slump" in his beats that I have been trying to emulate with my live drumming for years.... sometimes I listen to his beats where there are only a few sounds in a two bar pattern and it's still somehow magically dope...i'm not sure why, i'm not sure I care, I just wish he was here to make some more music.
R.I.P. J-Dilla

fav tracks:

nothing like this
the drop
raise it up....

actually fuck it...all of 'em!
 

My proudest moment took place at the Dilla gig at Jazz Cafe;as soon as dilla, frank and dank phatkat had finished my man Kombine who was DJayin played beats off my EP so whether or not he realised, my music went into Dilla's ears which properly fills me up and inspires me, as he is the most important and influential person in my life!!

I just want to thank Dilla for coming out  on his last tour despite his circumstances, i went to JazzCafe London to see him and I felt it was a real beautiful example of his appreciation for the love that his people had for him!It meant so much for me to be in the same buidling as him and he showed nothing but love!Even though the souless,brainless music industry tested him he knew who his people were and that they were most definately there!Perfectly summed up in "my people" on Donuts i think.

Thank You Jaydee.

 

man oh man...the very first time i heard the pharcyde's "runnin'" i never had chills run down my spine like that i flipped out and started jumpin around it was so mellow but so hype! then that horn came in and again at the end, that ish it me HARD! then i bought slum's "fantastic" and i really became attached, after that i looked for all types of songs he produced and still one of my all time favorites is that "fall in love" remix i had to cop as an import...i knew this dude was special and i think with all the top producers i took him for granted and expected dilla to always be, always go against the grain, always make classics, i never would've imagined he would've passed and see it impact so many...all i know is he's still touching lives on earth today and still making beats in the afterlife smiling...his beats already play in my heart and i know they play on...i would've been honored to meet the man but knowing his music is enough for my soul...  
 

"Nothing like this" ................c'mon,
Man's awake to something!
(maybe reminds us that our works are at heart burnt offerings and sweet savors.)

oh and then,

"As I open up my eyes
And finally see the world.
I discover victory.
Now the Sun is in my Face."

It's done! Game Over, Fait Accompli (lol)

(and these are just from the most recent inspirations...)

Peace FLYLO,
and thanks for a space to remember.
 

My boy Six and I went up to New York in February 2004 to see Madvillain.  It was sort of like a mini-Fear-and-Loathing-type-deal, we did an obscene amount of drugs and smoked a shitload of pot.  Anyway, long story short, the bill for the show says we're gonna see Egon, PB Wolf, J-Rocc + Madlib as Jaylib, and Madvillain/Doom.  We were already amped, that being a great lineup and all, especially because Madlib didn't come out to the east coast that often and Doom didn't play that many shows in general at the time.

Egon, Wolf, and J-Rocc each did their thing, and then J-Rocc and Madlib started their set.  They did a bit of solo/Quasimoto material before segueing into some of Lib's tracks off of Jaylib.  And then, as if everything was perfect already...

Dilla came out and started rapping.

That was one of the best nights of my life.  But I didn't think it would be so soon that I'd be saying "I'm just glad I got a chance to see him while he was still alive."

 

I remember hearing Common's "The Light" and it said produced by JD. I thought it was Jermaine Dupree and was like huh? No JD and doing it like that! Then after further investigation I realized it was J Dilla and then I dug deep and saw how many artist that i love had Dilla on the boards. Fastforward to "Donuts", I remember having a few drinks and downloading it from itunes... what happened next changed me... It was the total presense of hiphop personified in beat archetecture, freedom, unabound and wild. I felt when he made that CD he saw his death and he made this CD like it was an edict to the hiphop community. It was playfull yet masterful it was intentional yet sloppy. Just like 3 feet high and Rising or Pauls boutique. I made sure everyone I knew.. Knew and bought that CD as the Blueprint to beatmaking. I will forever keep Dilla in my heart cuz dude was the heart and soul of hiphop.

 

LongAxe

 

I agree with Posaac, Donuts is an anti-depressant. 
 

One fond memory that Dilla's music gave me was 2 years ago. My best friend Marques from school stopped by at the crib. I forgot to give him a copy of the Jaylib bootleg (jay dee and madlib are jaylib), so we listened to some of it in his car. When I put on the track 'Spelling B', he flipped out on that 'rotating' snyth chord line, that plays every 16 bars (i think).

He was like "WOOOOOoo!!!! What was that?!?!?!" from that reaction, he accidently stepped on the gas, but we were in park. The engine did a quick "GROWWLLL". Then he started to rewind the track.

I was like, "Yo, its gonna come by every 16 bars or so." After flipping out to that shit, we heard "Tomorrow Never Knows". As much as I love this beat, Marques' face was on contortion mode; headnoddin' away.

After that, we went upstairs to my bedroom, and I asked:

"Have you heard this track before?" I turned on ATCQ's 'Practice Session'.

WOOOOOOOOOOO, I'm feeling this shit!!!!!" Marques yelled. Then he quickly did the jack off motion to his bottle of iced tea, while noddin his head.

I'm like, "dude, chill, my mom might see that shit. Plus, I dont want to either..."

Thats how Dilla affected me. His shit was too amazing.
 

the "Orginal Drum Master" blew a breath of fresh air into hip hop.
after Puff choked the bitch for a few years, with...
Fantatstic Vol. 2- I didnt own Vol 1 until later and,
"Stakes is High"(De La) , "Runnin"(Pharcyde) ,and "Still Shinin"(Bus) were already some of my fav. joints
- just didnt know who did em'.
but after vol. 2 - NOBODY couldnt tell me nuttin bout no Dilla'

"got it locked like sympte out the MP, cocked and ready to pop like N'Sync "
give it up PT.1

you said it right Lo',
long live KING JAMES (DILLA that is) !!!

1ove
PMC
VJC
 

Dilla opened the eyes (and ears) of many people for the hip hop.R.I.P.
 

Like I posted in his space....it was 1995, the Pharcyde's maxi single CD for "Running".....The last track "Electric Butterfly" produced by the then 'Jaydee' also..... Ill flute sample...slowed down reversed bassline ....crisp 808 hats and double hitting snare......bliss.

I haven't been the same since that day.

 

My first JD experience happened much later when I purchased Slum Village's Fantastic Vol. 2. I hadn't heard a hip-hop record so bangin'....not EVERY track!!!!! Before that, in my opinion, the one's to drop something like that was ATCQ, and I didn't know that he'd done work on some of their music. Donuts, The Shining (and I want the instrumental album), and Welcome to Detroit were all great pieces of music never to be repeated. He's truly missed. As a matter of fact, Lotus....you put me in the mind of him. Hmmmm?......Peace and Love....JT ^_^
 

I had the pleasure of running into him a couple of times at local digging spots in the D (Solo records, Street corner)...I would just give the nod of respect and try to covertly peek over his shoulder to see what he had!!

Living in Chicago now, I'm surprised to meet so many musicians of other styles (especially jazz musicians) siting Dilla as one of their biggest influences....





 

I never crashed my car or destroyed my headphones listening to dilla's beats, but i can say, that there have been no other lps the last years, that inspired me that much like champion sound did. I think i can say this album changed my definition of hiphop. I mean really every single track on this lp is so fuckin amazin, its just the shit.

I remember myself returning home totally wasted many many times and just listening to the champion sound tunes over my headphones for hours. Today these tracks are still like drugs to me..  Of course also many other stuff he did.

I never got to know you personally Dilla, but thank you for making me feel great daily and for making planet earth a better place by producing that much great music.

Rest in Peace



 

Man mine started wit..... well llet me start from the beginning. i already had 'alot' of this mans work. it wasnt til i came across fan.2 that i noticed it was him behind all of that work. i was at best buy lookin 4 muzik and i wanted something like a tribe sound or like things fall apart. and i never heard of slum village. i accidently picked that joint up and i put it in the ride, and i was like yo, "every F***'n track is bangin!!!! my man marvin told me the name of this dude that did the beats and it all start makin sense to me cuz every cd i had jus about had that sound and i been hooked on dilla sense!! i noticed flying lotus has dillas later sound so i have to add a comment. R.I.P dilla and flying lotus, do ur thing dude, i came across ur site by accident but well pleased man!! God Bless everyone in Jesus name we pray.....
 

Yo what up ..

I crushed my headphones during my wintersport in austria listening to MASH .. aww man them beats are creative .. i thought i was floating on my board an at the same time listening dilla ! 

 

 

 

When I moved to Cali last year I got a job through a temp agency called !bladi bladi bla!{it's located in burbank,CA}(not the real name of course).  I got a job at a fitness company doing the usual data processing......and I ended up meeting a kid, that was into the same things as me{beats, music, life} and was doing the same thing as me at this job{entering data, and making beats for the company}.  One day he came up to me and asked if I had ever heard of J. Dee...or J. Dilla I said back.....he said ya, him....
Of course I said sure....who hasn't??  I mean, honestly, I simply don't realize how many people have not heard this man, forgiive me, but i'm sure u understand......
I pointed out that Donuts was about to drop cuz a roomate of mine was working at StonesThrow Records and had all the promo hookups allowed from that spot....
I'm grateful to god for that lovely hookup....
anywho, he said he had heard that, and that his aunt was J. Yancey's mother.....and I was flooored.......amazing I said....and had nothing else to say, cuz I was speechless.  What!?!?!?!?!?  His friggin cousin?!?!?  And I'm working wit him??  It's gonna be cool this year I thought.....little did I know.....
He said he was going to see him the weekend that he told me what's up.....the following monday, he told me it didn't happen....and the following tuesday, Donut's dropped.......and 3 more days later.....a legend passed away.....
my weekend was dark....it floored me when he told me at work....I did not expect him to say that to me as he walked up to my little cubby spot to type out meaningless jibber jabber......
the next week he invited me to the funeral but I did not go.....
He showed me the memorobilia from the service and I was floored by the discocgraphy.....I had no idea he had done so much work in so little time.........
Much respect to the man known as J. Dee aka J. Dilla........
r.i.p.


 

back in the day..id say like....96 or 97...i worked at a buddy's pizza on 6 mile and conant.and every now and then the SV crew would come up in there ( this is when T3 had locks..yall dont know about that..LOL)....and i ended up gettin a copy of slum songs on tape..haha! and on this tape, had the song which come to find out later would be 2u4u....i swear..i had to have played that song at least like....50 times in one day!!!!! lol i dunno, it was somethin about that snare and kick, back then, i aint neva hear a snare and kick be used like that..lol thats when i knew that Dilla and the whole Slum crew would make history.

R.I.P Dilla.


100
 

My introduction to Dilla was simple...Tip gave him the thumbs up. Being the huge Tribe fan I was, when I heard Tip gush over this new producer, I had to check him out. It happened once "Running" and Labcabincalifornia dropped. Everything with the name "Jay Dee" on it, I checked with the quickness. Remixes? Yep. Everything.

The second happening was when I heard "Get This Money". Dropped jaw. I think I played the clip on HipHopSite.com about 20 times before I knew that Slum Village was official. I was blessed to see him during the "last" Tribe tour in NY since EssVee was the opening act. It's funny as I felt I was the only person who were feeling them. Of course that was until they played "I Don't Know" since dudes were relating to that haha.

Third happening was "Stakes is High". Heard that and was like "what da?" It was so off it was on. When Fantasic Vol 2 was about to drop, people in Europe had this bananas jawn where it was like at least 3 different mixes of the songs we know and love now (mainly "Forth and Back")

I could continue but I'll just give a list of songs that made me go wow:
-CB4
-Raise It Up (you haven't lived until you've seen people in Joe's Pub get amp when that came/comes on)
-Pause
-Make Em NV
-Reckless Driving
-Wild*
-Take Notice*
-E=MCSquared
-Nag Champa
-She Said rmx
-Climax
-Player
-Get It Together
-Look of Love
-Get A Hold
-for the longest time I thought Tip and Ali did "Trashy" when they played it on Hot 97 with Bob and Strech ("This is bananas"---Bob) AND MONIE LOVIE WAS FLOWING. I wish I could find that tape.

Lyrics? Just listen to how he flows on "Survival Test" off of JayLib, Phat Kat's "The Door", or Dabye's ""Game Over"

One fond memory was when I got an IM saying "Prov, Jay Dee just made Michael Jackson throw up" complete with a download. Then "Look what he did to Janet Jackson"...stupid! (those who have the beat tapes know, just like Prince, were the true gems)

I love and miss James Yancey though I never got the chance to meet him. The first "celeb" that I actually wanted to cry for when I heard he went home. Not Luther, James, Barry, none of them except for him. Like others, he got me into making beats (still learning...it will be almost 9 months).

"First name Jay...last name Deezy...here to change the game, playa please believe me..." Keep it knocking...

 

Dilla is the greatest! manage to see him live back a while ago, ever since, theres no goin back. DILLA IS THE LORD OF DRUMS. RIP

 

I was picked up by a friends mother and 2 girls who listen to mainstream rap where in the car. I was trying to find something from the underground that they liked. Madlib, premier, murs, mf doom, black sheep, del, Atqc... almost everything. Then I put on Dilla's E=MC2 and they went wild. For some reason, people of all music backrounds can enjoy J Dillas music. I gather its because of the great love he put into it that people can feel the raw emotion that went into his music and can somewhat identify with it. Anyways, that is my 2nd dilla story.
 

i was in junior high school when i first heard "drop" by yhe pharcyde and stakes is high!same effect on me:i didn't sleep for almost 2 days!!!!!i was not influence by the "name" cause i didn't check the credit!that's how u can see how his music is powerfull!!

"repose en paix JAY DEE"

peace from paris 

 

i'm the type of music nerd who always read every single word of every liner notes of every tape (before cds) i ever got. that's how i learned about prince paul (stetsasonic's in full gear record, the first time i understood what a hip-hop producer really was), that's how i learned about ali shaheed muhammed and the ummah, that's how i learned about rza, and that's how i learned about jay dee.

i was a senior in high school when labcabincalifornia came out. i loved bizarreride (i'm from LA, they're the home team like the lakers), but i wasn't ready for labcabin. i remember fools sayin "man, labcabin doesn't stand up to bizarreride" and thinkin that was the most ignorant shit i ever heard. "Runnin'" instantly became the most important and meaningful song in my life. by that point, my folks nasty split up showed no signs of ever getting easier, we were losing the house i grew up in, and everyone was hangin on by a thread. i listened to labcabin on repeat like it was gospel. i got support from my homies, but "you can't depend on friends to help you in a squeeze, please, they got problems of they own." anyways, when i learned that the man behind the boards responsible for giving me those beats was a cat from detroit name jay dee, his name was instantly added to my list of the most important creative influences in the world.

but there was still a chance it was a fluke. a lot of dudes can make a few tight beats, not many can continue to do so every single goddam day. but then i graduated high school, and something special happened again that july. first stakes is high came out, and despite what some people were sayin, i was feelin it. and there was jay dee's name again.

but later on in july, jay dee really solidified himself, at least to me. i still remember the day beats, rhymes, and life came out. i was visiting friends in san diego and i borrowed a bike and cruised to the shop to pick it up. it had that hologram cover. and 1nce again, (pun intended), jay dee had produced a record that would not stop playing continously for months. stressed out was the perfect song to follow runnin, as far as being a comfort and a hope that i needed bad.

y'know, it's kinda funny that jay dee really broke out on three records that critics and people were sayin were the weakest records (at the time) of their respective artists. you know now that all those fools are like "nah man, i was always down with labcabin." or "stakes is high is a classic like is dead." i guess better late than never.

anyways, from that point on, it's history. i learned about slum village, and it started to not surprise me at all when i learned what beats jay dee had done. from busta to common, jay dee never stopped growing as a producer. a true musical freak of nature. like fuckin beethoven, f'real. couldn't touch a beat without it being dope.

it was only fitting he grew out of jay dee and turned into the MOTHERFUCKIN ALMIGHTY J DILLA! he just never stopped gettin fresher. he started goin deeper into that musical mind and pullin out some shit that made us all expand our imaginations. Long live Jay Dee. Long live Dilla. i know i ran on here, but this was kinda therapuetic to write. thanks for the spark FLYLO.

JAMES YANCEY CHANGED MY LIFE.
 

i first discovered dilla on pharcydes can't keep runnin away and been hooked ever since.  he's outstanding.  dilla story?  barely learned about welcome to detroit, bought a copy coming home from college i think.  it was my first all dilla album, i was so glad.
 

I lost my way for a while, forgot who i was and what i loved by loving someone who didnt deserve it.........
Dilla brought me back to the now. reminded me what my true love is....MUSIC. NOw he's making beats with the angels. THANKYOU DILLA. xxx