In the modern era there is no hip-hop producer more iconic than J Dilla. Tragically taken from us in 2006 at the age of just 32, in his lifetime the one born James Yancey fundamentally altered the course of hip-hop music and many other genres besides. Not since the coming of The RZA had a beatmaker appeared on the scene who balanced the hefty whomp of boom-bap with such a painterly approach to sampling.
Born and raised in Detroit, Dilla came up as one third of Slum Village - a group Q-Tip once earmarked as the successors to A Tribe Called Quest’s jazz-rap throne. While he proved himself an adept MC, it soon became apparent that Yancey’s real talent was for production, and by the mid-90s he was turning in instrumentals for the likes of The Pharcyde, Busta Rhymes and De La Soul. The new millennium saw J Dilla leave Slum Village and fly solo, releasing a string of EPs and LPs in the following years. Notable releases from this period include, the ‘Ruff Draft’ EP, ‘Champion Sound’ (made in tandem with spiritual cousin Madlib) and ‘Welcome 2 Detroit’.
The fact that J Dilla’s legend has only grown in the aftermath of his death is partly to do with some of his finest records have been released posthumously. ‘Donuts’, an album released just three days before his passing, is a masterclass in the arts of sampling and programming that recalls everything from ‘Paul’s Boutique’ to DJ Premier. ‘The Shining’, which came a few months after his death, elongated the ‘Donuts’ vignettes into masterful tracks and featured contributions from D’Angelo, Common and Pharaohe Monch. Numerous further collections of material, both previously-available and unreleased, have been made public in the subsequent years.
Tracklist:
Donuts (Outro) |
Workinonit |
Waves |
Light My Fire |
The New |
Stop |
People |
The Diff'rence |
Mash |
Time: The Donut Of The Heart |
Glazed |
Airworks |
Lightworks |
Stepson Of The Clapper |
The Twister (Huh, What) |
One Eleven |
Two Can Win |
Don't Cry |
Anti-American Graffiti |
Geek Down |
Thunder |
Gobstopper |
One For Ghost |
Dilla Says Go |
Walkinonit |
The Factory |
U-Love |
Hi. |
Bye. |
Last Donut Of The Night |
Donuts (Intro) |
Label: Stones Throw
Cataloegue Number: STH2126LP