If you've been checking most of the other hip hop blogs this past week, you're no doubt aware that the one year anniversary of producer J Dilla's passing is coming up tomorrow. Hard to believe that a year has passed already.
I had been a fan of Dilla's work from the beginning, when I first heard the beats he produced for Pharcyde's Labcabincalifornia and A Tribe Called Quest's Beats, Rhymes and Life, though I was unaware at the time that they were "Dilla" beats. In fact, it wasn't until several years later that I even heard the name Jay Dee, and I was surprised to hear such complex beats being produced by the man behind pop-rap acts Kris Kross and Da Brat. It took me a minute to realize that J.D. and Jay Dee were two different people. My bad.
I must confess, though, that Dilla never "changed my life." Some of his work I don't particularly care for, most notably the production he did with The Ummah on A Tribe Called Quest's The Love Movement. Its not that the beats weren't good on that album, its just that they were not what I wanted from a Tribe album.
That's what I thought the first time I listened to The Love Movement, anyway. What I eventually came to realize was that many of Dilla's beats, at least for my ear, require a few listens before they can be fully appreciated. Its rare that Dilla ever put out a beat that was ready for radio play, but all of his work will outlast anything that can be heard on Hot 97 these days.
For links to several articles about J Dilla, as well as some more audio links, hit up Stones Throw Records.
And finally, here's a great interview with Dilla where he discusses a lot of the artists he's worked with and the inspiration for some of his beats. Its long (10 minutes), but if you're into Dilla at all its definitely worth your time.
That jayz/dilla remix is dope. i like it better than the original. The tempo changes are a little distracting but i guess that was part of dilla's original beat anyway.
@nova: I just found the beats less interesting on The Love Movement. The production on Beats Rhymes and Life seemed more in line with previous Tribe albums to me - I didn't like it as much as the three albums that came before it, but it wasn't as abrupt a change in sound as TLM was. A lot of my friends like TLM better, though, so you're not the only one.
@Dallas: I don't buy into the concept of a mature aural palate. You either feel a beat when you hear it or you don't. Someone more "mature" might appreciate a specific beat more because it uses a sample they recognize, but I don't believe that it affects your actual enjoyment (or lack thereof) of it. Maybe when I'm 10 years older I'll like The Love Movement, but I'd imagine it would be more out of a sense of nostalgia than any hypothetical development of my musical senses.
And if this hip hop thing is like a wine, you can call me a sommelier.
2/12/2007 12:31:48 PM posted by fresh
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