Remembering the great and late Dilla in 10 tracks

More then a decade ago, the hiphopworld lost a legend. As a nerdy teenager I became a big fan of his oeuvre (pretty much everyone at the time was enchanted by him) and his death meant that much of his unreleased music surfaced the internet, many old albums were rereleased and many stories were unraveled. Even his EP Ruff Draft appeared in a rerelease in the form of a cassette! I therefore want to share you the songs I had discovered 10 years ago around his death and the stories that accompany with them, as far as I can remember...

What's so special about J Dilla?

• To me, he is a true artist. He has pushed the artistic boundaries many times. Often he has pushed them so far that only sometime after his death his artistry was truly appreciated
• I feel that he created for himself instead trying to please a marketable targeting group
• He single handedly influenced an entire new beatmaker generation with one album
• He colored late 90's rap production with this distinctive off beat soul clap

Let's get started!

1. Janet Jackson - Got 'till it's gone

Yes, the story goes that he goes uncredited for the co-production of this song. Appearantly it was a rule rather then an expection that people confused Tip over Dilla's production ("Why are we on the same label, but we don't get the same exposure?" he says in a 2003 interview with Y'zkid). Confusing is one thing, discrediting an entire co-production is simply outrageous. Smells music industry politics and money bullshit to me.

2. The Pharcyde - Runnin

This is probably my favorite song, like EVER, of all times, in like the history of music. I am being dramatic, but I mean it. Dilla takes his sample from Brazilian Bossa Nova artist Stan Getz here. I remember around the time of his death a documentary called Brasilintime (which brought together Brazilian and American percussionists and DJ's) came out and the artists featured did a little Dilla Runnin rendition/tribute which has stuck with me to this day, check it out: Obrigada Dilla.

3. Jaylib - The Red

How can you possibly hate this track? It is so GANGSTER and NERDY at the same time. Jaylib is such a winning combo and appearantly it started out by just sending CDs to eachother from Detroit (Dilla) to LA (Madlib) and rapping over eachothers beats for fun. Both producers have been rapping for a while then (Madlib as Quasimoto and Dilla in Slum Village) and especially Dilla had been discouraged to rap by the industry ("Producers can't rap", the Kanye rethoric) so I see this is a symbolic f*ck you finger to the haters. I remember when the record was rereleased (Champion Sound) and the production of this song was replaced because the sample couldn't be cleared, but it seems OK now.

4. Common - The light

Ultimate lovers soundtrack, candlelight everything!
Common and Dilla used to be in a collective called Soulquarians along with Talib, Questlove from the Roots, Erykah Badu and D'Angelo amongst others. Sounds like a winning team right? The song did nominated for a Grammy award. Here Dilla sampled Bobby Caldwell's Open Your Eyes amongst others.

5. 1st Down - Day with the Homies

It does sound like a track I'd like to cruise 'down the block' with, except I can't drive a car and I'm not that cool. Appaerantly 1st down is Phat Kat and Dilla back in the day, but I was always under the impression D12's Proof was part of this collective, but as I am researching for this song, it's not true (it was 5 Ela) and my dream just shattered. Phat Kat's an interesting rapper though, he's featured on Dilla's solo debut album 'Welcome to Detroit' a few times, including my favorite song off the album: Untitled

6. A Tribe Called Quest - Find a way

This song is screams so much R&B, I love it so much.

It's off Tribe's second album Beats, Rhymes and Life from '96, largerly produced by Dilla, Tip and Ali Shaheed Mohammed who had formed The Ummah (Arabic for community/brotherhood) for a few Tribe projects. Despite the Jay Dee shoutout in the beginning, people still confused production credit with Tip as Dilla was still kept under the radar.

Also RIP Phife.

7. Steve Spacek - Dollar

Man, this song is just so freaking good and exhibits Dilla's experimental nature guised in a moderate club hit. It samples Billy Paul's "Let the dollar circulate" and is one of many songs by Dilla about the moolah. Check out other classics like Slum Village's Get dis money and Dilla's The $. The moneystruggle is real.

8. Slum Village - Fall in Love

Fall in Love. Instantly bloody classic. Watch the rendition by the Suite for Ma Dukes (Miguel Atwood Ferguston) orchestra above (Ma Dukes = Dilla's mum). Listen to early FlyLo's rendition here. It's hard to hate on Dilla if you've heard Fall in Love. Listen to the OG here.

9. Jay Dee - Fuck the Police

What do I say? Classic, classic, SLEPT ONNNNN, classic, damn. Dilla samples the Belgian violinist Rene Costy's - Scrabble so BRILLIANTLY. The obscure European sample testifies of Dilla's thorough research and knowledge of music beyond all genres. Listen to the Ruff Draft EP to hear some of his rock sample influences. The video above is captured by Appelsap in Amsterdam, perhaps his last show in Holland and picturing Dilla strong as ever despite being in a wheelchair due to his illnesses. Man...

10. J Dilla - Last Donut of the Night

DONUTS
What do I say about Donuts? It's a life changer. This album was released on his 32nd birthday and three days before he died. Donuts changed my life. It changed how everyone looked at music and how music could function. It was groundbreaking and influenced the entire new electronic beat generation (largerly led by Flying Lotus who I see as Dilla's disciple, such a relentless experimental spirit who no one can possibly stop). He made it when he was hospitalised - he was making music while suffering from a fatal disease and STILL MADE MUSIC. What a legend..

Honorouble mentions

Best Kept Secret is still best kept secret. Do it. J-88
Dilla's remixes of the nineties. MJ. De La. Macy. Lucy Pearl.
The shining, his posthumous release. Such a mature sound.

If you can't get enough, Stones Throw's J Rocc released a few mixes called "Thank You Jay Dee" shortly after he passed away. Best mixes by Dilla that exists on this planet. Period. Check out my favorite, number 3.

THANK YOU JAY DEE, thank you, thank you thank you.

Thanks for reading!

If you also loved Dilla's productions, what are your favorite songs and why?