James Dewitt Yancey, better known as J Dilla, was a Detroit producer who is widely regarded as one of the most gifted and influential figures in the history of hip-hop. His most celebrated work includes instrumentals for A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, The Pharcyde, The Roots, Common, De La Soul, along with his own Detroit based Slum Village. Dilla's style was characterized by his eclectic sampling taste that included classic soul vocals and elements of jazz, funk, and Latin music.
In 2006, Dilla lost his long battle with lupus and the blood disease thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Committed to carrying on his legacy, his mother, Maureen Yancey, established the J Dilla Foundation with the mission of funding inner-city music programs, and to provide scholarships to students attending schools that have progressive music curricula.
Tonight at 10, Duke's Bohemian Grove Bar will be hosting a benefit for the foundation featuring performances from the legendary Dilla discography. DJ Billy Drease Williams will be spinning tracks all night along with a special Dilla breaks set by DJ Cutler. Admission is $5 at the door with all proceeds going to the J Dilla Foundation.
The main point of this post is to point you to Complex magazine's list of the 50 best J Dilla songs, posted in commemoration of the late Detroit hip-hop producer's birthday and untimely death (Tuesday and Friday, respectively). It's a fantastic list and tribute to Dilla's indisputable genius. It awakened me to many tracks I'd never heard before and allowed me to reminisce on some of my all-time favorite hip-hop songs. Author Andrew Barber did a great job, and he clearly has listened to more of Dilla's output than I have, but I still have to join the debate. Here are six great tracks I think he should have included:
6. Slum Village - "Fat Cat Song"
From Slum Village's debut album, Fan-tas-tic Vol. 1, which put then-SV house producer Dilla on the map. The off-kilter bounce of the piano and the "oooh" and the "aaaahh" of the soul samples were early indicators of Dilla's trademark style.
5. Jaylib - "The Red" Champion Sound was a collaboration album between Dilla and my personal favorite underground producer - Madlib of Oxnard, Calif. - which featured the two rapping over each other's beats. "The Red" was the album's first single.
4. Common - "New Wave"
Common's experimental Electric Circus, which showcased lots of production from Dilla, was misunderstood by many. But there's no doubting "New Wave," featuring an aggressive piano riff played on the instrument's lower register and segueing into a thoughtful chorus sung by Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab.
3. Raekwon the Chef - "10 Bricks"
Released after Dilla's death, "10 Bricks" was one of two tracks he produced on Rae's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II (the other, "House of Flying Daggers," made the Complex list). As Dilla was primarily known for his feel-good Soulquarian bounce and his love-rap jams, these beats showed he could emulate the grimy Wu style as well as RZA himself.
2. DOOM - "Gazillion Ear"
Another posthumous Dilla beat, this time off of DOOM's Born Like This, "Gazillion Ear" is actually comprised of two Dilla compositions - "Dig It" and "Phantom of the Synths." DOOM does the late great producer justice, providing four-plus minutes of classic hip hop.
1. Slum Village - "The Look of Love"
My personal favorite Dilla track. I don't know how this didn't make the Complex list. Something about this song just gets me every time. Its mellowness, its quiet confidence, the seemingly freestyled verses of Dilla's SV brethren - just give it a listen:
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