J DILLA: Last donut of the night by Aaron Miller

J DILLA: The Last Donut of the Night

Copyright ÂŠ 2016 by Aaron Miller All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Published at You Know Who Entertainment Printed in the United States of America First Printing, 2016 ISBN 0--356660-0-7 Minneapolis College of Art and Design 2501 Stevens Ave Minneapolis, MN 55404 Tumblr: http://arnmlr93.tumblr.com Instagram: arnmlr66

J DILLA: The Last Donut of the Night Edited by Aaron Miller Articles written by Tamara Roper, Alvin Blanco, and Giovanni Russonello 2

James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer and rapper who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. According to his obituary at NPR.org, he “was one of the music industry’s most influential hip-hop artists”, working with big-name acts including A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu, The Roots, The Pharcyde and Common. Yancey died in 2006 of the blood disease thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

“As far as our definition of hip-hop production is concerned—as far as making beats— [Dilla] is absolutely without peer. Many will come after him and surpass him and do even crazier tricks, but for what my eyes have seen in those short nine years that I’ve known him, that’s going to be a very tall order to live up to. It’s [been]…God, six years since he passed [and] I still use his beats as the energy power pellets to my Pacmanology, if you will.” –?uestlove

THE EVOLUTION OF DILLA: YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS NOISEY PRESENTS

Written by Tamara Roper

No retrospective of Dillaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success would ever be able to fully encompass his prolific catalogue, but here You Need To Hear This looks at a few especially notable parts of his career, exploring his collaborations, production work, and solo albums.

Last Donut of the Night

It’s been seven years since the death of James Dewett Yancey, one of the most revered music producers of the last twenty years. The importance of the man known to his fans and peers as J Dilla has remained steadfast since his passing in 2006; his music and its impact on the work of others untouchable. Dilla’s work with artists such as Madlib, Erykah Badu and The Pharcyde led to his becoming one of the most sought after and well-respected hip-hop producers of all time.

Introduction to Joseph “Amp” Fiddler

Fiddler’s ‘no books’ learning method meant that Dilla’s technique was almost entirely self taught, as he explained in his final interview with Scratch Magazine:

Born in Detroit in 1974, Yancey famously “What Amp did, he’d play some stuff out expressed an interest in music from an the MP but he was like, “I’m not going to early age. As a toddler he would sit in show you how to work it. You gotta learn the park with a Fisher Price record player on your own.” He was like, “Don’t use a and play the records his mother, Maubook.” Ever since this day I never read reen ‘Ma Dukes’ Yancey would buy him– the books to samplers and all of that, I his first 45” being “The Wiz” by Michael just try to learn them... A lot of people Jackson. say, “Oh, Amp taught you how to work the MP.” No, not really.” Hip-hop became a major part of Yancey’s later school years. He met rappers T3 and Baatin, and formed a rap crew called H20. The trio would stay friends and later became known as Slum Village. Inspired to start making beats by the 1984 track “Big Mouth” by Brooklyn trio Whodini, Yancey began to associate with Detroit based musicians and producers Yancey became involved in numerous who would quickly come to help shape musical projects during his formative his career. years as a young producer in Detroit, meeting friends and peers through Amp His most important early friendship was Fiddler and also at rap battles in Dewith Joseph “Amp” Fiddler, who mentroit’s Rhythm Kitchen. An early collabtored the young Dilla in what it meant oration saw Jay Dee (as Yancey came to to be a music producer. It was through be know) join up with rapper MC Proof his sessions at “Camp Amp” (the name to form the Funky Cowboys, where he given to Fiddler’s studio) that Yancey showcased his growing talent on drum mastered the art of digital programming, machines and samplers like the Akai and encountered the drum machines MPC60 and E-mu SP-12. “The Fizzo”, an that would make up part of his multi-lay- unreleased track by Dilla and Proof was ered, chopped up production sound. made in 1994 and features Slum Village

Early projects and success with Slum Village

NOISEY

The Evolution of Dilla: You Need to Hear This

Chapter title: J Dilla hanging with his crew in the infamous “basement.” Left: Cover for the reissue of J Dilla’s Donuts.

rapper T3. Jay Dee’s first label signing came as part of 1st Down, with Detroit native Phat Kat MCing and Yancey on production. The group were signed by Pay Day records, but their break was short lived due to possible label complications. Their one 12” single, “A Day With The Homiez”, was released in 1995.

Collaborations and the influence of Q-Tip

Slum Village’s first album coincided with Yancey’s induction into a music production group called The Ummah, made up of Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammed After the demise of 1st Down, Yancey from A Tribe Called Quest, with the occaput his efforts back into Slum Village, the sional inclusion of artists D’Angelo and group he had formed in his school years. Raphael Saadiq. It was Jay Dee’s meetOriginally named Ssenepod, the group ing with Q-Tip that arguably pushed his became well known in Detroit’s hip-hop career into further new realms of sucscene, and recorded their acclaimed cess: first album Fantastic, Vol. 1 in 1996. From the line notes of the release, Ahmir “I met Tip in ‘94...I had a group that “Questlove” Thompson from The Roots [former Detroit Piston] John Salley was describes the impact the album had on managing - so I gave Tip a tape, and the him: same day he called back. He was like “who did these beats?” After that, shit just “I mean this ‘tape’. The ‘tape of all tapes’ took off.” NEVER left my side. I loves this tape so much I copped a high end walkman for Jay Dee came to produce tracks for it...I loved this tape so much I did my first Labcabincalifornia, a career defining ‘stage walkoff faking a piss break’ during album by Los Angeles hip-hop group Hub’s bass solo just to sneak a peak at a The Pharcyde. The album included the song or two. I loved this tape so much I track “Runnin”, relased in 1995. It’s a swear I was gonna break the Roots up perfect example of Yancey’s midas touch, when I discovered Black Thought took cutting and sampling different genres my tape without my permission.” to create a unique sound. Here he mixes 60s jazz cuts with “Rock Box” by Run D.M.C. to perfection.

“He was like, ‘Don’t use a book.’ Ever since this day I never read the books to samplers and all of that, I just try to learn them...”

Work as a producer After the success of Labcabincalifornia, remix requests and further production work on big name artists came regularly, and the mid to late 90s were dominated by his growing work as a producer. Jay Dee’s sound was praised for being constantly ahead of the curve, his reluctance to re-do sounds he had already mastered becoming a defining factor in his success. By 1997, there was a growing number of ‘Dilla heads’, a core fanbase for the producer who was changing the sound of hip-hop. 8

Last Donut of the Night

Many notable remixes appeared during with the production and writing of the the late 90s with Jay Dee and The Umother’s work. It was Yancey’s involvement mah’s recognisable flair on them. An in Erykah Badu’s “Didn’t Cha Know” that issue of much contention surfaced earned a Grammy Nomination for R&B when Janet Jackson released “Got ‘til song of the year in 2001. It’s Gone”, a track which sampled Joni This greater level of success contributed Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”. Though the towards Yancey’s distancing from Slum song officially credited Jimmy Jam and Village. In 2000, the group released their Terry Lewis as producers, Yancey claimed second album, Fantastic, Vol. 2, and their in an interview that it was actually him critical standing further improved. UK DJ behind the track. Toddla T remembers his first encounter with Dilla through Slum Village’s second “This is what happened, this is coming record: from me. Me, Tip and Ali all collaborated on the track [working together as The “When I lived in Sheffield and I’d got to Ummah]. I’m not going to say any names, the record shop when I was 13 or 14, the but we all collaborated on this track, first thing that I ever bought that I knew made it happen... When it came out, it was consciously J Dilla was Fantastic Vol. said produced by someone else. Check 2. I’d no idea who they were or what it those credits, you won’t see a Jay Dee, or was. I remember putting it on the turntaa Q-Tip or anyone else.” ble in the shop and thinking that it was absolutely amazing. I bought it straight Despite the controversy over “Got ‘til It’s away. It wasn’t until a couple of years latGone”, The Ummah provided Jay Dee er that I realised that loads of my favouwith an invaluable platform for further rite hip hop records with other people’s work, and during his time in the group, cuts were Dilla related.” he played a hand in work for De La Soul, The Roots and Busta Rhymes. His remix However, shortly afterwards Yancey anof Macy Gray’s “I Try” is a beautiful, down nounced his departure from the group, tempo edit that pairs the raspy quality of though he continued to produce their Gray’s vocals with a smooth, jazz beat. next two albums. His status as a highly sought out producer was evident in his decision to leave. A second Grammy nomination came as a result of his work on Common’s gold selling album Like Water For Chocolate. Ten of the 21 tracks had his touch on them, and Complex later listed “The Light” as number one on its list of “The 50 Best Dilla Aside from his membership of The UmSongs”. mah, Jay Dee was a founding member of hip-hop supergroup Soulquarians. At the turn of the century, Dilla had Alongside him were Questlove and mastered his warm and fuzzy boom-bap James Poyser from The Roots, Common, style of production, and by the time the Erykah Badu and Talib Kweli. Although “The Light” hit he’d reached his peak. no formal releases came from the group The next phase of Jay Dee’s production as a whole, each member was involved style was more digital, but this was a

Soulquarians and distancing from Slum Village

NOISEY

The Evolution of Dilla: You Need to Hear This

J Dilla and fellow producer Madlib, another respected beat making prodigy, met up in 2003 after a remix of one of Dilla’s tracks by Madlib surfaced. The two hit it off quickly and proceeded to create one of hip-hops most legendary collaborations.

welcome goodbye to that era, which also gave Common the biggest hit of his career.

Solo work and the birth of J Dilla

Taking inspiration from his own stomping ground, Welcome 2 Detroit was Yancey’s first solo album, released under monikers Jay Dee and J Dilla. The album saw Dilla take up the mic to both rap and sing; “Think Twice” shows Yancey’s vocals to be soft and subtle, quite unlike the twangy assertions on tracks like “Give It Up”. The album was followed by a separate track “Fuck the Police”, considered to be one of his best cuts. Inspired by the racially motivated interference Dilla himself suffered, the song became his most loved work as a solo rapper. It seemed only a matter of time before the creative genius of Yancey was paired with someone of equal stature and respect. Otis Jackson Jr., better known as DJ and rapper Madlib, was given access to some of Dilla’s unreleased instrumental tracks, and went on to rap over Dilla’s beats. Stones Throw records, longtime supporters of Madlib and Dilla, then included one of said tracks as the B Side to Madlib’s “JFK to LAX”. Peanut Butter Wolf, founder of Stones Throw, remembers the moment Dilla found out about this inclusion: “Dilla called me up afterwards, and was like, “Yo, what’s up with that bootleg man!” I wasn’t sure if he was like what’s up, I’m pissed off at you, or what’s up... He was like, “yo man, let’s do some shit official!””

Under this instruction, the pair went on to work together on Champion Sound, released on Stones Throw in 2003. Split 50/50 with Dilla on production and Madlib rapping, and vice versa, the album met with great critical acclaim. The talent of the pair fused together to make something DJ Rhettmattic has since described as “almost like Yin and Yang”. Taken from Champion Sound, “Starz” uses samples from the Isley Brothers and Starcastle, showcasing the diversity of the pair in their work together; the first half of the track lyrically light but driven by a thumping bassline and vocal sampling not dissimilar from those used by Kanye West on College Dropout. Despite Dilla’s now apparent health complications, he was still as keen as ever to perform with Madlib on a string of live shows which took Jaylib around the States. The pair created a magnetism on stage to be expected by the two stalwarts of hip-hop.

Donuts and the Legacy of Dilla

By the early 2000s, the complications Yancey had developed from his battle with lupus began to take hold, and his condition worsened. Though his output became progressively more limited, Dilla continued to listen religiously to music throughout his hospitalisation. During this time, his mother and friends would bring him records; a habit Ma Dukes makes light of during the Crate Diggers documentary on his extensive record collection:

Last Donut of the Night

“When I took the crate up, and he looked through it, I think out of a whole milk crate full of 45”s, I think he might have taken a dozen out of there and set them aside. He said “you can take that back to the house”. He said “none of that’s good”.”

In the seven years since his death, so many unreleased Dilla cuts have surfaced, but fans are united in the knowledge that the full extent of his catalogue will never be revealed. Inspired by her son’s motto that the best talent has always yet to be found, Maureen Yancey is reknown as a tireless campaigner for keeping her son’s legacy alive, starting The J Dilla Foundation in his memory to “help fund inner-city music programs, and provide scholarships to students attending schools that have progressive music curricula”.

Despite his debilitating condition, J Dilla produced his most successful solo album and arguably most influential, Donuts, for release on February 7th 2006, three days before his death. The majority of the record had been put together during Dilla’s stay in hospital, during which time he remained incredIn an interview in 2008, Busta Rhymes ibly private regarding who could listen describes the nature of the man who to his work in progress; he was known to played a part in every one of his solo become enraged by those who would albums: attempt to listen to previews in their incomplete form. “For the most part, when I did get the opportunity to meet J Dilla, his demeanDonuts, named simply for Yancey’s love our was so calm, like reserved. He wasn’t of the snack, was quickly lauded as one really into the long talk, or the conversaof the best hip-hop albums of all time. tion...He wasn’t into being in all the clubs, With a tracklist of 31 songs all under all of the hotspots. He just wasn’t that three minutes, the album, released on dude...For the most part he was into the Stones Throw, was lauded by some close grind, just trying to contribute greatness friends as “a goodbye letter”. Tracks like to the game through the music. “Stop!” serve a poignant reminder of The man known as Jay Dee may have Dilla’s self awareness. Sampling “You’re passed, but his legacy lives on, never alGonna Need Me” by Dionne Warwick, lowed to be forgotten by his peers, family, his scratching over the Jadakiss vocal and many imitators.” creates the line “is death real?” Made of chopped up samples, “Donuts” is a purely instrumental record, morphing the old, new and ‘future’ beats that had earned Yancey the respect that now comes every time his name is mentioned. So many tracks from the album have been cited as favourites by a diverse range of artists internationally: “Workinonit” chosen by The Horrors, and “Lightworks” by Ma Dukes herself.

NOISEY

The Evolution of Dilla: You Need to Hear This

“J Dilla produced his most successful solo album and arguably most influential, Donuts, for release on February 7th 2006, three days before his death.”

Still Lives Through Scratch Magazine Presents

Interview by Alvin “Aqua Boogie” Blanco

Much like Dilla’s life, this interview was ended way too soon. Three years later I read this and think “damn, he really was saying some real spit.” You can hear just a little bit of the frustration that J-Dilla felt as a producer despite the accolades he’s been showered with since his death. He read the reviews of his work just like you all do, and while some might not want to admit it now, those reviews weren’t always positive. Even though he’d racked up an impressive discography, he still had to cater to the artists he made beats for. And while Momma Yancey is clearly his biggest supporter, even she had some misgivings about his career choice in the beginning. So when you read this don’t just think of J-Dilla the gifted musician, remember James Dewitt Yancey the man.

Aqua: What made you choose L.A. over Miami or NYC? J-Dilla: I thought about New York but in New York the studio would get crowded with a lot of people. In LA, you look outside it’s like palm trees, sunshine and you know a totally different feel working. You mentioned not having a bunch of people in the studio, do you like to keep it just you and the artist in the studio? Yeah, I like to keep it to a minimum. What part of L.A. is it? West Hollywood. Do you still keep a crib in Detroit? Yeah, I still got the crib and then actually all my equipment is out there. I’m looking for a crib now so I can ship my equipment out here. I’m assuming you got some equipment out in L.A. right?

I got just the basics. AN MPC a couple of turntables and that’s really it. What equipment did you start with? I started with the SP-12 then moved to the SP-1200 and then shortly after that the MPC-60, then the MPC-62, then the MPC3000 and I’ve been on the MPC 3000 ever since then. I’ve tried other samplers but the 3000 is best for me for what I like to do. What about it specifically? It’s just easier for me to program and I like the node offs and mono pads. I can just do more with it. I guess cause I know it better. As far as your records are you a big digger? Yeah man. I’m a record shopping fanatic. I already got a nice stash here and I got a warehouse full of records in Detroit, it’s

ridiculous. I lost a lot of records too. Having them in that storage paper, records was getting damp and to go back periodically and check on them is kind of hard. What would you estimate as far as how many you have? I’d have to ask somebody, I don’t even know. How old were you when you started making beats? I started making beats when “Big Mouth” came out, whatever year that was. The Whodini joint? Yeah, cause I was DJ’ing before that but umm, that song actually made me want to get into production side and started messing around. Then people would go to Metroplex Studios, that was in Detroit. We were like the first hip-hop cats to come in there. It was a little different for them.

Last Donut of the Night

“I went through that whole thing a lot cats either go through or went to.”

When you say we do you mean Slum Village? Nah, this was actually me and a partner of mine that went to school with me named Chuck. He was actually the MC and I provided the beats. How far were you into the DJing, were you in the crib or rocking parties? I was doing parties and the typical, making beats on the pause and record thing like a lot of cats were doing. Besides the DJing, did you know what kind of equipment you had to get to start producing? Nah, I ain’t know nothing man. Fortunately I ran into this cat just walking in the street, literally. This guy named Amp Fiddler. He actually came out in the street and seen me, YG and couple of other cats, we were just walking. Yeah, this guy name Larry and a couple of other cats that just went to high school with us. He just called us out and from that first day he actually showed all of us how a studio works and

things like that. He had a little pre-production studio in his crib. He was like whenever you want to, come by the crib. We had cassettes so we could play him some stuff-he was just like “Whenever you want to come by and I got you, if you want to record something or work on the drum machine.” I started going over there messing with beats. He lived in your neighborhood? Yeah, a few blocks away from me literally. I know him as an R&B dude. Was he into hip-hop back then? Right, right. Nah, he actually sounded like Domino, remember that cat Domino that was singing and rapping a little bit? He was doing that before I even heard Domino. Before a lot of cats. He was signed to Elektra Records and he would show me the records that never came out. He was kind of like teaching us about how the industry is a little bit. You gotta kinda watch what you do and look at all the paperwork when you signing. We actually

Chapter Title: Dilla agreed to pound out a quick beat for us after the interview. Soon after he started he had finished and played a smooth beat back to us. Left: Dilla is generally a quite and personable man. But by the end of the interview we had Dilla laughing and telling storys.

Scratch Magazine

got caught up in a lot of crazy deals. Slum… Did you have somebody holding your hand like, “This is how you freak the SP…”? Actually, what Amp did, he played some stuff out the MP but he was like, “I’m not going to show you to work it. You gotta learn on your own.” He was like “don’t use a book.” Ever since this day I never read the books to samplers and all of that, I just try to learn them. Except this last drum machine, this Korg drum machine I brought. It was like too complicated. I had to read that shit. A lot of people say Oh, Amp taught you how to work the MP, no not really.

Still Lives Through

Labcabincalifornia Champion Sound Detroit Deli Fantastic, vol. 2

You’ve always been ill at chopping samples, was it because of the equipment you were using? You know what? It had a lot to do with the time I had in the sampler. You could only sample this much and that’s how it started. I used to listen to records and actually, I wouldn’t say look for mistakes but when I hear mistakes in records it was exciting for me. Like, “Damn, the drummer missed the beat in that shit. The guitar went off key for a second.” I try to do that in my music a little bit, try to have that live feel a little bit to it. You mean when your listening to… An old like Jack McDuff record. Something that’s done live? Mmm hmm. How does a Jay Dee track come together? I can say lately, I usually don’t say this, but lately it starts with samples because I’ve been really getting into records. I been

Last Donut of the Night

buying a lot of 45s. Try to get a groove off of 45’s cause it’s like they only press singles. Trying to get a break off that you gotta really be hunting for that shit. What I’ll do is I’ll look for a groove or something to start if off with but then I try to build around it. Try to make something out of it. I’m at a disadvantage because I haven’t heard Donuts yet but how long had that been in the works? Actually, I’d say in the last maybe year to the last couple of months. It’s just a compilation of the stuff I thought was a little too much for the MCs. That’s basically what it is, ya know me flipping records that people really don’t know how to rap on but they want to rap on. There’s bunch of that. Since you mentioned that, let’s say Like Water for Chocolate, your stamp was all over that and it was well received. Then you have Electric Circus, the beats were different but the media, and Common himself, said it was too different. Did that ever bother you? Ya know it doesn’t bother me because what people don’t understand is like when I…me myself, when I go in the studio, I just try to give the artist what they want. Like Water for Chocolate, we were both looking toward the direction of where he started or what would have been rugged hiphop at that time. The Electric Circus, he wanted to do something totally different. I would bring him a batch of beats, and he’d just be sitting there, then as soon as I make something crazy as hell, fast uptempo, he’d like, ‘Yeah, let’s use that one.’ I

don’t want people to think this is all I’m giving him, I gotta give him what he want. It’s kind of hard to read those reviews knowing that, “Damn, they don’t understand that shit.” Did you use the same approach with a Badu or D’Angelo? I try to give them…it’s a little different in that case. Like Badu, she’s very like very demanding type of ya know R&B diva type shit. She actually wanted to come in, help pick the sample, feel a brother out. “Maybe you should freak this, freak this.” It’s a little different with her than a D’Angelo or a Busta Rhymes who would take it as is. They just take it right off the beat tape. It’s a big difference. Is that tougher in the case of Badu? Yeah, it just kind of puts you on the spot like, “Damn, I’m vreally working right now.” It shouldn’t be this hard. We sitting in the studio for a day and half and can’t come up with one solid joint. Where as a Busta or D’Angelo they already got their joints picked. What do your parents think about your music? At first it was straight devil music (laughing). Pops wanted to throw my equipment out in the streets. I went through that whole thing a lot cats either go through or went through. They eased up over the years but once it started to pay off, not just financially but how I felt about things, they really eased up. There’s cussing and things like that I don’t real don’t want me to hear but they appreciate it. (November 2005)

“What I’ll do is I’ll look for a groove or something to start if off with but then I try to build around it. Try to make something out of it.” 19

Scratch Magazine

Still Lives Through

Why J Dilla May Be Jazzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Latest Great Innovator Written for NPR

Interview by Giovanni Russonello

Visionary hip-hop producer J Dilla never found mainstream success during his brief lifetime. But in the seven years since his death, Dilla has come to represent a major inflection point on hip-hopâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s evolutionary tree. At his peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he suggested syntheses that hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seemed possible. He played fresh games with texture and tone. He recast the sample as a malleable component, rather than the monochromatic backbone it had seemed to be. And he injected a softened, swaggering humanity into the rigid slap of classic hip-hop drumbeats.

Last Donut of the Night

His magnum opus, Donuts, was reissued on vinyl last month, and the posthumous Music From the Lost Scrolls Vol. 1 came out on Tuesday — the first in a series of previously unreleased recordings. In Detroit on Saturday, the rapper Talib Kweli, violinist and arranger Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, and a handful of other artists will perform at the second annual Dilla Day, a concert celebrating Dilla’s career. Dilla’s reach stretches way beyond hiphop: For one, he’s recently cast a long shadow over contemporary jazz. He never belonged to jazz’s inner circle, but since his death in 2006 from a rare blood disease, his legacy has helped pull the genre back into kissing contact with modern popular music. “He’s so important,” says jazz drummer Karriem Riggins, who collaborated extensively with Dilla and is himself a hip-hop producer. “Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams and Miles [Davis]: He’s in the same category to me.”

who tours with the R&B singer Maxwell. “If you go into that same setting saying you don’t like Dilla, it’s not okay for you to be there anymore.” He’s kidding, but only by half.

A Human Encyclopedia

So what set Dilla apart? Why has his brand of virtuosity proved so captivating to the jazz crowd? For one, Dilla was a sort of human musical encyclopedia. In his studio, he sorted thousands of vinyl records, many of them jazz, into specific sections and kept them alphabetized so The jazz world today finds itself that he could dig up the right sample swamped with young talent eager for as soon as inspiration arrived. He didn’t reinvestment in the discourse of contem- just rely on his collection, either. He was porary culture. The shift has roots that always ready to pick up a guitar or a run in a lot of directions. It’s a reaction bass, or saddle up behind the drum kit, to the neo-traditional revivalism that or hammer out chords on the keyboard. capped the last century, and to jazz’s Dilla would happily wrangle split-second withered commercial infrastructure in clips from albums just for the timbre of a the wake of the 1990s CD bubble. Add single note, or the texture of vinyl, or the to that the simple fact that millennial clack of a snare drum hit. “Every track he jazz musicians grew up listening mostly did, he had different drum sounds,” says to hip-hop, R&B and rock. The crush of Damion Reid, a jazz drummer who grew these influences on jazz was a matter up listening to hip-hop in the 1990s. of when, not if. But no movement takes hold without a hero, and J Dilla has filled “Most producers around that time — like that role. “Pretty much anybody else in DJ Premier and Diamond D and guys like hip-hop — from Jay-Z to Kanye [West] that — they kind of had a sound. When — you can tell a musician you don’t like you heard a beat, you knew it was them them and it’ll be like, ‘Okay, cool,’” says because of the drums. [In Dilla’s music], I Kenneth Whalum III, a jazz saxophonist would hear that every sample, every 25

NPR

Why J Dilla May Be Jazz’s Latest Great Inovator

drum, every nuance, every atmospheric sound was strategically placed. Jay Dee embodied, to me, the culmination of all those things.” Then there was Dilla’s approach to crafting the rhythms of those drumbeats. Many beatmakers use a method known as quantizing, which lets you perfectly subdivide electric drum-machine sounds into positions within a measure. From there, the pattern can repeat indefinitely as a loop. Dilla preferred to play beats on a drum machine by hand in real time. That allowed him to color his creations with a signature rhythmic sway: languorous, leaned back, landing just behind the beat. In some ways, it was a new paradigm for the swing rhythm that had been born in West Africa and grew up with jazz.

Far Left: A shot from Dilla’s hometown eastern Detroit. Left: Arguably Dilla’s highest success came from producing R&B rapper Common’s Like Water for Chocolate album.

“He was one of the first cats that kind of broke down the rigidity and the rules and the boundaries of hip-hop,” says DJ HouseShoes, a Detroit producer who worked with Dilla starting in the 1990s. “Hip-hop had a stiff, structured code to it, and that definitely got loosened up after his reign.”

In 2000, Slum Village released its breakthrough album, Fantastic, Vol. 2. But the year was more notable for the release of two other CDs, both by singers, that Dilla had helped produce: Mama’s Gun by Erykah Badu and Voodoo by D’Angelo. Marked by the unhurried, swirling fantasias that were becoming Dilla’s stock in trade, these records helped Dilla’s sample choices and drum textures confirm the arrival of a new subgenre. It might’ve been so protean as to be hard was vamp-driven, insouciantly seductive, to identify, but his proudly laggard strut happily lodged between the live sock of shines atop his tracks like a personal seal. classic Motown and the tinkering studio savvy of hip-hop. The music was called neo-soul.

The Rise of A Giant

Later in the decade, Dilla would release James Dewitt Yancey was born Feb. 7, a string of solo albums that stretched his 1974, and grew up as the oldest of four hazy canvases to their fullest breadth — children in a household on the east side soul vocals and jazz harmony and ratof Detroit. Both his parents were musitling funk beats sprawled out together cians, and he showed natural prowess in a warm bath. These records, including early. In high school, he started making the classics Welcome 2 Detroit (2001) hip-hop beats and rapping alongside and Donuts(2006), didn’t grab the spottwo classmates, with whom he would go light, but they laid themselves out for on to form the trio Slum Village. By the posterity, and upped the ante for all mid-1990s, word was traveling about his vigilant producers. production chops, and he was collaborating with artists in New York and Los “His music had that soulful jazz thing, but Angeles: The Pharcyde, A Tribe Called it also had a bounce to it,” says the rapQuest, Busta Rhymes. per Common, a collaborator and close

Last Donut of the Night

“Dilla will be like one of those Coltrane figures, where people will be talking about him in a legendary or phantom-like status forever. He was that experimental.”

friend. “Somebody could dance to it. I think those records had a huge impact on the way producers thought about music.”

Gateway To ‘A Spiritual Space’ Just as he helped solidify neo-soul more than a decade ago, Dilla seems to be freeing jazz-trained musicians today to reconsider how their music might sound, and what defines it. Listening to the generation that’s come under his influence, you realize that some of jazz’s supposed fundamentals interest them deeply. Others, not so much. The combustion of group interplay, and improvisation that can seem to tug on the boundaries of a band or a song: These things remain exciting. But long, exhaustion-seeking solos pointed at some final emotional summit? Swing rhythm that clangs contentedly on the ride cymbal? Not necessarily.

cause it feels so good, and that’s all that matters to me. I think that’s harder [than playing chord changes]. It takes discipline. He’s the producer that makes you change the way you play. ... When you just play the beat for what it is, the repetition definitely gets you into a spiritual space. I’d rather repeat something for 30 minutes than solo for 30 minutes,” Glasper adds. “A lot of jazz musicians don’t have that mentality, [but] my band loves to just make beats.”

In Glasper’s work with his electric band, the Experiment, you can hear this concerted drilling-down, especially on the 2009 album Double Booked. Chris “Daddy” Dave’s drums land after the beat with an almost metallic clatter; most of the time, he ignores the ride cymbal. As accompanist, Glasper might hammer a single note on repeat for an entire minute — as if he himself were quantized — or hunker down to work subtle adjustments on a compact chord progression. He has a way of playing chords in swiftly splashing arpeggios so that most of the “At home, I have my Rhodes and drum set notes hit barely behind the beat, and the harmonies emerge in a wash of prettiness. set up,” jazz pianist Robert Glasper says. It’s not unlike the effect Dilla’s splices When his bandmates come over, “we’ll could have on an Isley Brothers sample. play a Dilla beat for literally an hour, be-

NPR

Why J Dilla May Be Jazz’s Latest Great Inovator

“Jazz was born of a hybrid of folk musics,” Osby says. “And for a long time, jazz has gotten away from that. It became so leftbrain and strident, its purposefulness has been obscured. Hip-hop, with its loops You can also feel Dilla’s impact in the and its emphasis on the low end, gives work of ERIMAJ, a band led by druma healthy nod to the black mystique and mer and producer Jamire Williams. The the black struggle in the United States. influence reaches betyond the laid-back, A lot of intelligent jazz musicians have clunking physique of Williams’ drum recognized that as something that they attack. It’s also in his ideal of a pastiche: need to reinstate and reintegrate into the strings and Rhodes and acoustic bass, output, because it’s been lost.” and an electric guitar that might have been chopped from a Radiohead track. In J Dilla — the musical archivist, the sonThe band’s first album, Conflict of a Man, ic poet, the bass knocker — Osby sees even includes a cover of Dilla’s “Nothing someone who has helped young jazz Like This.” musicians square their belief in instrumental expressionism with their love for Saxophonist Greg Osby was on the front the modern blues music that is hip-hop. lines of attempting to fuse jazz with hiphop in the early 1990s, when the idea “Dilla, he recognized this,” Osby says. was still green enough for incredulity “He’s kind of like a folk musician, almost and ridicule. Today, jazz musicians don’t like a pied piper, and he’s drawing in a seek a conscientious merger of genres lot of people with his assessment of a so much as they use jazz concepts to wider variety of material. Dilla will be reassemble the parts that have made like one of those Coltrane figures, where hip-hop, R&B and neo-soul so contapeople will be talking about him in a gious. Jazz training is starting to look like legendary or phantom-like status forever. a competitive advantage more than a He was that experimental.” career roadmap.

The Legacy Of A Phantom

About the Authors Giovanni Russonello is the editor of CapitalBop and the host of “On the Margin,” a weekly books show on WPFW-FM in Washington, D.C. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR Music, JazzTimes, The FADER, The Atlantic online and others. He graduated from Tufts University with a bachelor’s degree in history, with a focus on African-American history. Tamara Roper lives in London and currently is working for online publishing company NOISEY which is the musical backbone of news channel VICE. She writes articles concerning music festivals and the histories of major artists such as M.I.A, Flying Lotus, and J Dilla. Alvin Blanco grew up in The Bronx, nurtured by a steady diet of Hip-Hop culture and music. While attending the University of Virginia, he DJ’d enough parties to keep the lights on until graduating in 1999 with a B.A. in African American Studies and Psychology. After realizing that working behind the scenes at a record label was driving him mad, he decided to forgo job security and become a freelance writer. Subsequently, his words have appeared in XXL, The Source, Vibe, Giant, The Village Voice, and other notable publications.

About the Editor Aaron Miller is 23 years old and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is attending the Minneapolis School of Art and Design and is studying to be a graphic designer. His hobbys include music, video games, eating, drawing, biking and a boat load of lolligagging (when appropriate).

Bibliography Russonello, Giovanni. “Why J Dilla May Be Jazz’s Latest Great Inovator.” A Blog Supreme: From NPR Jazz. 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2016. http://www.npr.org/sections/ablogsupreme/2013/02/07/ 171349007/why-j-dilla-may-be-jazzs-latest-great-innovator Roper, Tamara. “The Evolution of J Dilla: You Need To Hear This.” NOISEY: Music By VICE. 13 Sep. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2016. http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/read/youneedtohearthis-dilla Blanco, Alvin. Forward by JL Barrow. “Still Lives Through: J-Dilla’s Last Interview.” (Original Article Published in Scratch Magazine, Feb. 2006.) Nodfactor: The Other Side of Tracks. 7 Feb. 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2016. http://www.nodfactor.com/2010/02/07/still-lives-through-j-dillas-last-interview/

Colophon Fonts used: -Avenir Next: regular, demi bold, italic, and demi bold italic, 8 pt. and 12 pt. -Consolas: bold and italic, 10 pt. -Futura Std: heavy oblique, 24 pt. and 48 pt.