By far, one of the coolest things about hip-hop is the passion. The passion of the artists is reciprocated by the fans tenfold. For example, have you ever made the mistake of getting into an argument about rap with a diehard Pac fan? You’ll be lucky if the debate ends before the sun comes up.
It’s easy for one to get swept up in the rhymes, swagger and lifestyle of their favorite emcee. The charisma (or lack thereof as the case may dictate) of the rapper can be seen for miles away— the DJ, or producer, however is usually the exact opposite. This is why “The Fresh Prince” can become Will Smith, while DJ Jazzy Jeff remains DJ Jazzy Jeff. This is why Macklemore gets the shine and Ryan Lewis keeps his mouth shut and gets to yank Queen Latifah out the way so she doesn’t mess up Madonna’s cameo. In rap music, for the producer to play the background is standard operating procedure, however the soulful production orchestrated by the late James Yancey has given a very vocal pocket of hip-hop fans their champion behind the boards.
Detroit producer J Dilla would have celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday. Unfortunately, complications from a rare blood disease and lupus took him from the world in the physical form eight years ago this Monday. Still, in just 32 years of life Jay Dee left enough of a mark on the game that his hometown has created “Dilla Day“, an annual concert in his honor that includes performances by former group-mates Slum Village, and hip-hop legends Phife Dawg, Pete Rock and DJ Premier.
In addition to producing tracks for some of the more respected R&B and soul singers of this era such as Erykah Badu, Dilla is primarily known for his work with rap acts such as Common, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and Slum Village. As a member of Slum Village, Dilla almost single-handedly produced the group’s early albums, including “Raise It Up” from their 2000 LP, Fantastic, Vol. 2.
Dilla also produced many tracks for Brooklynite Busta Rhymes. One memorable song came from Busta Bust’s 2000 album, Anarchy.
Dilla again made magic with A Tribe Called Quest on their hit single “Find A Way”. Dilla Dawg would collab with Tribe members Q-Tip and Ali to form a producer group called The Ummah, which was responsible for nearly all of Tribe’s 1998 album The Love Movement.
To this day, J Dilla is still posthumously releasing new music. In fact, Slum Village just released a new record, “Yes Yes”, produced by Jay Dee in honor of Dilla Day.
J Dilla’s less-is-more approach to producing has left an indelible imprint on hip-hop. His unique sound has given his legions of fans more than reason to keep reppin him for many more years. When it comes to demonstrating the most loyalty to a gifted artist who has left us far too soon, Pac fans may actually have their work cut out for them.