J Dilla‘s mother, Mrs. Maureen Yancey, announces The Rebirth Of Detroit,
a new project featuring never before heard production by J Dilla and
collaborations by Detroit artists that were close to the legendary
producer. The Rebirth.. is due by the Fall and promises to
be amazing, so stay tuned for more updates to come.
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Culture King presents For The Love | Download
CULTURE KING presents FOR THE LOVE,
A TRIBUTE TO THE WORKS OF J DILLA.
FEATURING:
MOKA ONLY • DJ POCKET • WILLIE GREEN • ANACRON • LEX BOOGIE
AVAILABLE NOW! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
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Posted in CK Download, CK LAzers
Tagged Anacron, blog, Count Bass D, Culture King, DJ Daze, DJ Pocket, Free Download, J Dilla, James Yancey, Jay Dee, Lex Boogie, Moka Only, tribute, Willie Green
CULTURE KING presents FOR THE LOVE,
A TRIBUTE TO THE WORKS OF J DILLA.
FEATURING:
MOKA ONLY • DJ POCKET • WILLIE GREEN • ANACRON • LEX BOOGIE
AVAILABLE HERE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28.
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Tagged Akai MPC, Anacron, beats, blog, Count Bass D, Culture King, Dilla, DJ, DJ Daze, DJ Pocket, Free Download, hip-hop, J Dilla, James Yancey, Jay Dee, Lex Boogie, Logic Pro, Moka Only, production, tribute, Willie Green
Ma Dukes and The J Dilla Foundation announce the winner of The International J Dilla Tribute Art Contest entitled So Far To Go,
and that winner is Joe Buckingham aka Joe Buck. The image
above is available as a T-Shirt via ArtForDilla.com, which
invites artists to participate in an upcoming J Dilla Art
Exhibit. Joe Buck‘s output is extensive, and
among his most popular artwork is:
Congrats to Joe Buck and the 2nd & 3rd place winners,
Carlos Carrera and Danyo Tes, respectively.
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Posted in CK LAzers
Tagged J Dilla, J Dilla Foundation, James Yancey, Jay Dee, Joe Buck, Joseph Buckingham
ATL DJ/producer Applejac pays respect to J Dilla with “Real Dilla Quotes
(Nothin Like This)”, reinterpreting “Nothin Like This” from Dilla‘s 2003
release Ruff Draft. The track is intertwined with quotes from his
mother, collaborators, and Dilla himself. Rest In Power to
James Yancey aka Jay Dee aka J Dilla.
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Posted in CK Download, CK LAzers
Tagged Applejac, Common, J Dilla, James Yancey, Jay Dee, Ma Dukes, Maureen Yancey, Questlove
TheJDillaProject.com presents Still Shining, a hearfelt documentary
that was crafted in the loving memory of influencial & impeccable
music producer James Yancey aka Jay Dee aka J Dilla. Today
is J Dilla‘s birthday, so grab your favorite music from his vast
discography and turn it up! Producers and musicians, dive
into your craft and exhale creativity, especially today.
REST IN POWER, JAMES YANCEY • THANK YOU JAY DEE!
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Slum Village – Live in Toronto 1998 via The Real Frequency –
Download (Right Click, Save As)
The good people at The Real Frequency offer this gift: Slum Village
performing in Toronto in 1998. J Dilla, Baatin and T3 providing 53
minutes of uncut energy! Here are some details about the
recording from Arcee of The Real Frequency Crew:
Their first show in Toronto. And believe me, legendary isn’t overstating it. This is one of those shows you make your friends feel shitty about not going to. Former Real Frequency member Samantha captured 53 minutes of Baatin, T3 and Jay Dee (aka J-Dahmer!) on a handheld recorder standing by the stage. So in the tradition of the Real Freqs, it’s raw. But that’s definitely part of its charm. And the quality ain’t actually bad. But how did Slum Village end up in Toronto over a year prior to their first official release, Fantastic Volume 2? How did the Comfort Zone end up packed full of people singing the words to songs that weren’t even out? Who the hell were these guys?
Their first effort, a cassette entitled “Fantastic Vol. 1″ crossed the border into Toronto with Moss (yes, the producer behind Ghostface’s “Kilos”) almost 2 years before. I can’t remember if he was returning from school or if he and Mr. Attic (Da Grassroots) had just gone down to Detroit to shop for records. We were already fans of Jay Dee through the work he’d done for Tribe and Pharcyde. We were already anticipating music from the guy. So pretty much it was a no-brainer for Moss and Pee to pick that up when they saw it in the store. They ran that shit all the way back to Toronto and that was that. Moss and Attic are notorious for holding back heat. But once that tape got into my hands it was over.
Of course I brought it to the show. And I gave that shit to everyone. And they gave it to everyone. At the time I was still going to York and I can even remember a younger DJ P-Plus asking for a dub. Of course, there was no Serato. Most people had third generation dubs, better known as a “dub of a dub”. Dudes would have layers of hiss on their copies. Of course they had hiss. Moss got the original. I got my dub from him. Dudes would actually come to me cause they knew I had the first generation dub. They had no hope of dubbing the original because Moss isn’t really into hanging with human beings. The fucking tape era baby!!
Anyhow, thanks to that tape and a couple of others (Jake One, whaddup!!!), Slum formed a following in T.O. before a lot of other places. Even though people were using the internet, it wasn’t as widespread. And that’s part of what makes this show so special. There are moments in the show where Slum themselves are in disbelief at the crowd’s familiarity with their catalogue. It’s definitely in my top 5 concerts of all time. Da Grassroots opened up and I even got to be a part of the show, which is something I’ll never forget. And for everyone else there, this was the first night they heard actually heard Slum Village.
Without tape hiss.
Special thanks to Musiklee Inzane for not being at the show. Without you, there wouldn’t have been anyone to record it for.
-Arcee
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Tagged Baatin, J Dilla, James Yancey, Jay Dee, Slum Village, T3, The Real Frequency
Here Are Some Weekend Events Dedicated To The Life And Music Of J Dilla!
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Happy Birthday James Dewitt Yancey | Jay Dee | J Dilla | THANK YOU!
The greatest honor during my time writing for RIME Magazine was
interviewing the late, great J Dilla. It was a great experience, needless
to say. What I remember the most was how honest his answers were. He
couldn’t think of an answer to one of my questions immediately and told
me he’d have to think about it. Most artists would have spit out a b.s.
answer, but he really took my questions in consideration. That imme-
diately struck me as a testament to his character, integrity and humility.
So I present to you, my proudest moment as a journalist:
The J Dilla Interview.
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Jay Dee‘s musical beginnings were a bit more formal than his partner’s (Madlib). “Since elementary (school), I’ve always been taking some type of music class,” he explains. “And also in church, taking piano and drum lessons. ” Then the hip-hop bug bit. “When I heard (Run DMC‘s) ‘Sucker MCs’ and (Whodini‘s) ‘Big Mouth’, it made me curious to how the beats were made. Those song were the first time I heard the beats that weren’t melodic – just drums. Being someone who was taking drum lessons at the time, that made me real curious. That led me into deejaying, which slowly led to me doing parties and that led me into production.” It’s a little known fact that Dilla plays quite a few instruments. “My specialties are more drums and keyboards. I play the cello, violin, the trombone… a lot of little weird instruments.” (Listeners got a small taste of Jay’s live side on Welcome To Detroit’s Donald Byrd cover “Think Twice”.)
Jay Dee paid dues doing production for cats like Pharcyde (“Runnin'”, “Drop”, “Somethin That Means Somethin”), Skillz (“It’s Goin Down”, “The Jam”) and countless joints for A Tribe Called Quest (a personal favorite being the monstrous “Wordplay”), but came to prominence as one third of Slum Village, who arrived with the volumes 1 and 2 of the Fantastic series. “Volume 1 came about when I was first working with Tip,” he says. “I used to go out of town a whole lot, so when I came back to the D for a while, cats were talking about ‘let’s put something out, let’s do something’. So, in not even more than two days, they (T3 and Baatin) came over and laid all the vocals to no beats, just a metronome click. After that, I made some joints for two or three days. Everybody was tired, about to pass out. On the fifth day, we went to Kinkos’. It was supposed to be cassette only, something to get some type of buzz.”
It may have been a demo then, but it’s since become quite the collector’s item, bootlegged many times over. It also eventually got them signed, leading to the release of Volume 2. “We made that when everything else coming out was real harsh and hardcore. We always tried to do what everybody wasn’t doing, so that abum was directed towards the females, really. We had a couple of songs on there for the DJ’s and production heads, but the majority of the album was real soft. Then when we came out, finally, that’s when everybody else was doing soft sh*t.” Slum had quite the guest list for that album, including the almighty Pete Rock. “That was like one of my idols. After all those years of buying his stuff and wondering how he chopped this and that, to see him at work was crazy. He’s really, really into his sh*t. He inspires me every day, because I know when I’m sleeping, he’s not. He makes beats all damn day.”
Slum Village’s material was bootlegged crazily while they dealt with label issues, and Dilla’s still wrestling with the bootleg monster as an unauthorized version of Frank N Dank‘s 48 Hours has popped up on the net. 48 Hours came during Jay Dee’s involvement with MCA, and there were actually tow different versions. “They wanted a version however we felt, then they wanted a version with no samples at all. The version the bootleggers got a hold of is the one I didnt like.”
Well, Jay’s not dealing with MCA anymore, and has a slew of projects dropping on Groove Attack, the first of which was this year’s Ruff Draft EP. “That was a quickie. I did it in four or five days, turned it in and had wax in ten days. If Im not doing beats for somebody, I make stuff for me to drive around and listen to, and that was one of those projects. I was just doing me. That’ s why it was called the Ruff Draft EP”. Dilla’s next EP, The Verdict, is on the way.
So what’s on the horizon? For one, Dilla’s doing the majority of Common‘s next album. “We’re going straight dirt!” he exclaims. “We’re going straight back to Resurrection with this one, the ‘Take It EZ’ Common. He’s experimented with a lot of sh*t, so we’re taking it back to the rawness.” He’s also working on Busta‘s next one, which will also include a Madlib beat originally intended for Champion Sound. Other artists include Erykah Badu, Vivian Green and Bilal. “This time around, instead of the token one or two tracks I’m more into doing half or the majority of albums.”
The future holds a lot for the Jaylib team. Stay plugged in and you’ll never run out of ear candy. For now go get a copy of Champion Sound and have at it. Just keep a neck-brace handy – and don’t say you weren’t warned.
Influences
Q-Tip | “That kinda changed my whole way of thinking on production. A friend of mine from the D put me up o the whole Native Tongue movement. It was definitely left field.
Pete Rock | “That was just dirty. I bought an SP-12 back then, so I used to vibe on all his stuff. I’m still a fan of Pete Rock. Definitely the gritty sh*t.”
Rick Rubin | “That’ s the old school; the PE joints, the Ice Cube joints. He used to have a thousand elements in one beat.”
King Of Chill | “That’s just… man! The I Don’t Care Audio Two joints, the MC Lyte ‘Stop, Look & Listen’… those were beats that really, really inspired me. They had their own little chapter.”
Prince | “When I found out he played the drums, guitar and everything on his songs back in the day, it really inspired me ’cause I was along the same lines, messing around with a lot of instruments.”
This interview was published in RIME Magazine Issue #8 in 2003.
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Posted in CK Feature, CK LAzers
Tagged A Tribe Called Quest, Bilal, Busta Rhymes, Common, Erykah Badu, Frank N Dank, Guilty Simpson, J Dilla, James Yancey, Jay Dee, King Of Chill, Pete Rock, Prince, Q-Tip, Slum Village, Vivian Green
J Dilla Jay Stay Paid Out Today. The Album Is Relentless. Cop Two Of ‘Em.
Posted in CK LAzers
Tagged J Dilla, James Yancey, Jay Dee, Ma Dukes, Miss Yancey, Nature Sounds, Pete Rock
Culture King 