Good thing for Twitter and FB because I don’t remember ANYONE’s birthdays, including my own. Anyway, Dilla would have been 38 today. RIP to one of the GOATs.
Damn Dilla was so good!
Happy Birthday J Dilla
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Tag Archives: J Dilla
Dilla Day
I know everyone has their own special relationship with Dilla’s music and everyone shows their appreciation and love in various ways so, in honor of the fifth year anniversary of his passing, I wanted to post a few of my personal favorite Dilla joints which feature Dilla the emcee. Dilla is still one of my favorite emcees to this day. He was definitely the man when it came to production but he was also my favorite out of Slum Village and is still one of my favorite cats to listen to rock the mike. I loved Fantastic Volume 2 for the production of course but I really liked hearing Jay Dee behind the mike so, here are some of my favorite joints from Dilla. Enjoy and RIP Jay Dee aka J Dilla.
Raise It Up is still one of my favorite songs period. The beat is insane and Jay Dee does his thing on the verse.
CB4 is another one of my favorite joints on Fantastic Volume 2. I love the vibe of this record.
Thelonious is one of my favorite tracks on Like Water For Chocolate and as a bonus on Fantasic Volume 2. This is one of the first records that really introduced me to SV and Dilla as an emcee. I know I was a little behind but it was after listening to Thelonious that I had to get Fantastic Volume 2 which is one of my favorite hip hop albums of all time.
I know Dilla doesn’t rap on Think Twice but this is my favorite track from Welcome 2 Detroit. The Donald Byrd original and Erykah Badu’s version is sick too.
From his unreleased MCA album, Pay Jay, the intro track produced by Nottz, Diamonds is sick. I love this record and Nottz of course did his thing on the beat. Sorry but I am having trouble finding the Youtube link.
J Dilla “Diamonds” produced by Nottz
Of course his single, Fuck The Police is a classic. I love this beat a lot. The Ruff Draft EP is sick.
Slum Village’s EP under the name J-88, Best Kept Secret had some classic cuts as well and Look of Love was one of my favorites too.
We Be Dem, which features the same track with two different beats is an awesome joint from Fantastic Volume 1, which all of you should have by now as well.
Last but not least, Reunion, which was from Slum Villages album, Detroit Deli, showed a glimmer of hope for SV fans, that Dilla would be working closely with the group again. Definitely an awesome record and great to hear Dilla rocking the mike with SV again.
There are countless joints so no one take offense because it would take a long time to go through Dilla’s greatest moments. RIP Dilla.
J Dilla “Still Shining” Documentary
Two important dates in hip hop happen this week, both related to the legendary producer, J Dilla. Monday was the day which would have been his 37th birthday and tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of his death. A lot of support is being shown for Dilla and his legacy this week and one recent show of support is a documentary called Still Shining. It’s a 40 minute long documentary by Brian “B. Kyle” Atkins. It’s a nice look into Dilla’s life and legacy. Check it out below and make sure you listen to a little Dilla this week. I’ll post some of my favorite Dilla joints tomorrow. RIP Dilla
The Pharcyde “Drop” Video
How about a little nostalgia on a cold ass Thursday morning in Chicago? During my high school years, the period where my musical palate was shaped, groups like The Roots, Black Star, Slum Village and The Pharcyde were constantly heard coming from my 1988 egg-shell white Corolla’s detachable face tape deck. All those tunes can still be heard coming from my 99 Civic today. Along with great music, many of these artists put out classic videos to match. One of my favorite videos to date is The Pharcyde’s Drop. Not only is the song crazy but the video is so cool. The video appears to be shot backwards then reversed so it looks normal. I think everyone could use a little Pharcyde in their lives today. Enjoy Drop and shout out to Dilla on the beat!!!!!
Like Water For Chocolate
After a couple drunken nights this past weekend of talking shit, watching music video and listening to tunes, me and my ace, Todd, decided that this week we would only listen to classic albums. I guess we have had enough of the bullshit and needed to erase memories of MTV Jams with some refreshers of beautiful music. I decided to start last night and today off on the best foot with one of my favorite albums of all time, Common’s Like Water For Chocolate. This is one of the albums that stands out in my mind as shaping my taste and my own feelings towards music. This is the album that really introduced me to Slum Village and Jay Dee(Dilla). Like Water For Chocolate made me look deeper and find Fantastic Volume 2, which is another one of my favorite albums of all time. I feel like Common really hit his stride with this album and production wise, The Soulquarians, Dilla, ?uestlove and others created a perfect record. It is impossible to choose favorites on an album like this so, I wanted to just post the videos that Common shot for this album. I encourage everyone to turn off the radio and only listen to classics this whole week, on repeat.
You Need This Music
I was reading a little article with Nottz on HipHopDx this morning and it got me pretty excited for his album, You Need This Music, which is supposed to drop sometime this year. Nottz is one of my favorite producers out. He is one of the only cats who seems to have the ability to work with cats like Kanye, R. Kelly, Snoop, Rah Digga and Little Brother. His beats are always fresh and different. I wasn’t aware that he was a rapper and was putting out an album until I saw his video for Shine So Brite. The joint is really dope. He followed it up with a video and a song called Cars which is equally as fresh. I’m exactly sure when they album is going to drop but I WILL be bumping it for sure. Another exciting and interesting piece of information is that Nottz was supposed to do an album with the late, great J Dilla. He produced a track called Diamonds for Dilla from his album, Pay Jay, which never dropped but hit the net last year. Diamonds is one of my favorite Dilla joints ever and to hear Nottz did the track was really cool. For everyone NOT familiar with Nottz, check his credentials. Dude is amazing. Here are the videos for Shine So Brite and Cars, as well as a few other Nottz produced joints that I love. Happy Monday
Villa Manifesto
I’m officially back in routine mode after a vacation that was too short. Hopefully everyone has purchased my new project, Stanley Ipkiss: Year of the Nice Guy on iTunes. I promise it’s worth the money. You can imagine how hard it is to find the right music to listen to on the first day back at work in almost two weeks but today was made a little bit easier from the legendary, Slum Village. Their new album, Villa Manifesto has been in rotation since before I left so I figured I would continue bumping it for the rest of the day. If your not familiar with the drama that has been surrounding Slum Village in recent weeks let me inform you that this album, is supposed to be the last album, at least with Elzhi as a part of the group. Apparently there are some issues with the head of Barak Records and Elzhi and his management. I’m not going to feed into all that but it is a shame that another great group splits up. Slum Village gave us some incredible music, regardless of who was in the group. The new album is pretty solid but a few tracks I don’t really like. It’s hard for me to listen to Slum though because Fantastic Volume 2 is one of my favorite albums of all time and I thought Trinity was sick too. The other releases definitely have gems but nothing touches those two, in my opinion. Their self-titled was pretty solid too. This album is cool because you get to hear Dilla and Baatin on tracks with T3 and Elzhi. Dilla brother, Illa J even makes a few guess appearances. Although I wish there were all Dilla beats on the album, it is always real cool to hear Dilla and Baatin. Baatin comes back on the album really well. He sounds sharper than ever and really fits back into the group pretty seemlessly. It sucks that this is some of the last music we will ever hear him on. I’m not a huge fan of the single, Faster though. It sounds a little forced at least production and hookwise. I’m not sure if it was a mainstream radio attempt or what but I’m not really a fan of that joint. Um Um sounds kind of strange to me too. The girl on the song throws me off. Regardless, I think there are some solid records on there but Slum will always be remembered for Dilla, Baatin and Fanstatic Volume 2 rather than any of their more recent stuff. T3 and Elzhi have done a good job trying to keep it going but it was just never the same. With all that said, definitely check the album because all 5 cats on the album sound good and Little Brother has a feature on there as well. Check out a couple videos from Villa Manifesto, Faster and Reunion Part 2. RIP Dilla and Baatin. Slum Village we will always love you.
Slum Village “Reunion Part 2″ Video
Before I get to my full post today, I wanted to share a new video from one of my favorite groups, Slum Village. They are getting ready to drop their last album as a group, Village Manifesto and recently released a video for their track, Reunion Part 2 featuring Illa J. I’m not sure if Slum Village is officially breaking up but apparently there was some issues with Elzhi and word on Twitter is that Village Manifesto will be their last album. It’s kind of painful that both Little Brother and Slum Village announced their last albums in the same year. I know all parties will keep making music though so, it’s not totally devastating. Stay tuned for more updates about Village Manifesto. I also wanted to include Reunion Part I which was featured on Slum Village’s Detroi Deli album. J Dilla blesses the track with a verse over the Black Milk produced banger. RIP J Dilla and Baatin.
W.ants W.orld W.omen
I wanted to give everyone a taste of something a little different today. The J Dilla and SV affiliate, Dwele, dropped his new album, W.ants W.orld W.omen, on Tuesday and I have listened a couple times. I was first introduced to Dwele back in high school when he opened for Slum Village at The Granada in Lawrence, Kansas. It was kind of crazy because no one really knew who he was. I had this song called “Too Fly” that I still love to this day. Anyway, his new album sounds pretty good. I’m not a huge Dwele fan but I like some of his stuff for sure. I really like a lot of the production on his new album. Slum Village makes a nice features as done David Banner and DJ Quik. It’s a nice change of pace from the onslaught of hip hop that I have been listening too. I definitely think it’s worth a few listens. Dwele is also featured on Kanye’s new single, Power. Dwele is looking like Kanye’s go to guy for singles. Flashing Lights and now Power. Very cool.
StreetSoul
Happy Friday to all. TGIF. It’s been both a week of sadness and celebration. One of hip hop’s pioneers and legendary emcees, Guru, passed away this week. The whole hip hop community along with family and friends will mourn his passing for a long time but we also should be celebrating his life. He gave a whole community countless albums and records that will stand the test of time. RIP Guru. Today, I am listening to his third installment of the Jazzmatazz series, Streetsoul. This album features some of the most recognizable names from singers, rappers and producers including the late J Dilla, Erykah Badu, DJ Scratch, DJ Premier, Herbie Hancock and The Neptunes. I remember when I first picked this album up after falling in love with Gang Starr’s Moment of Truth. Although, I always preferred Guru of Premo beats, Streetsoul has some really nice tracks on it. I encourgage everyone to revisit Guru’s music in light of his passing. RIP Guru.
