On the 50th birthday of the greatest beat creator who ever lived, I present the Dilla Mix CD. It’s difficult to speak or write about James Yancey a.k.a. Jay Dee a.k.a. J Dilla a.k.a. Dilla without hyperbole. Attempting to capture Dilla’s importance is difficult considering the fact that most people I speak to – even people who consider themselves music aficionados – have never heard of the man. How is that possible? To many he’s a North Star. To others he’s unknown. I’ll attempt to explain.
Dilla’s importance was best described in the phenomenal book Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm by Dan Charnas. I never knew how to verbalize what I was hearing from Dilla until he explained it. However, he had hundreds of pages and I have a little blog, so I’ll try to sum it up. Before Dilla music generally fit quite neatly into one of two categories – straight time and swing time. The way I learned music was 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. Or if you’re getting into 16th notes, 1 e and a 2 e and a 3 e and a 4 e and a. A standard 4/4 measure gave you four, eight, 16, or in extremes, 32 rigidly placed spaces to make a sound. Dilla scrapped all of that and that and made it acceptable to place a sound anywhere. The kick drum and snare might not both strike at exactly the same time on the one, and if they do, the bass might not. I’ve heard it described as drunk sounding. Sloppy. Lazy.
To complicate matters further, Dilla used a drum machine…or a sampler. MIDI production center? I’ve never been 100% clear on the terminology. Samplers have a feature called “quantize” which will take any little mistakes you make with your drum pattern and “fix” them, or put them exactly on the beat where they belong. When you hear a band play live they might rush or drag. When you hear a song played by a drum machine it never strays from that perfection. Dilla intentionally turned off the quantize feature and left his little imperfections in the music. Not because he was sloppy or lazy, but because he wanted to give a human feel to music made by a machine.
The other thing that set Dilla apart from his contemporaries was his ear. He heard hip hop in places others would’ve never considered. Long before we had software to make the job easy, Dilla was chopping up beats and creating masterpieces that many dismissed as impossible. The combination of those two things gave Dilla’s hip hop a soulful feel that didn’t exist before. Soon live musicians like The Roots, D’Angelo, and Erykah Badu caught on and his music extended beyond hip hop. You could hear his influence in jazz performed by the likes of Robert Glasper, Roy Hargrove, and José James. As I’ve heard Questlove describe it, they were all in the studio with real instruments trying to recreate beats Dilla made on a machine after years of machines trying to imitate the sounds made by live instruments.
Of course, Dilla’s work is most felt in hip hop, but hip hop is everywhere now. Today is his 50th birthday, but Saturday will also mark 18 years since he passed only a few days after he turned 32. You can now hear his influence across all genres. Unfortunately, the majority of that influence and the love for Dilla wasn’t felt until after he passed. If TTP and lupus hadn’t taken his life 18 years ago I can only imagine how cool it would be for Dilla to witness the impact he’s had on music.
So, to honor the master on the date of his birth I give you my Dilla Mix CD. I’ll admit, I rushed this a bit as I wanted to post it in his honor on Dilla Day. I’m probably missing a lot and I hope you’ll message me with your favorite Dilla beats that I missed. Regardless, this mix slaps hard. 21 tracks in 120 minutes. For Dilla:
“E=mc2” by J Dilla (feat. Common) from The Shining by J Dilla (2006)
You’ll hear Common throughout this mix. In fact, when Dilla (Detroit native) was sick with TTP and needed treatment he could only get in Los Angeles, Common let Dilla live with him and helped take care of him. A great rapper, man, and friend.
“Runnin'” by The Pharcyde from Labcabincalifornia (1995)
Considered by many to be Dilla’s best beat. My intro do Dilla even though I had no idea who he was at the time and wouldn’t for a few years. If you want to understand Dilla time and what he was doing with his Akai MPC3000, just follow the kick drum on this track.
“Let’s Ride” by Q-Tip from Amplified (1999)
People were hating on A Tribe Called Quest’s two late-90s albums (Beats, Rhymes & Life and The Love Movement) as well as Q-Tip’s first solo album Amplified when they were released. I never understood it. Tip’s album was especially a departure from what we were accustomed to hearing from him, but the shit was still dope. Years later when people began to recognize Dilla’s brilliance and went back to rediscover those album I felt vindicated. I win.
“Dynamite!” by The Roots from Things Fall Apart (1999)
The Roots are and always have been a live band, but even they allowed Dilla to get his hands on a track. Dilla drops a guitar sample from a Zoot Sims track on top of Questlove’s live drumming and makes magic.
“Two Can Win” by J Dilla from Donuts (2006)
Donuts was mostly recorded in a hospital bed in 2005 while Dilla battled lupus and TTP. It was released 18 years ago today on his 32nd birthday just three days before he died. While aware of his health situation, the people involved certainly weren’t aware that he’d pass just days after the album’s release. A sad coincidence. As time has passed Donuts has become Dilla’s magnum opus and the fact that it was released so close to his death makes it a bittersweet listen.
“Find a Way” by A Tribe Called Quest from The Love Movement (1999)
Again, I can’t believe people weren’t feeling this in 1999. One of my favorite Tribe tracks. Bass thumping on the low end while soaring keyboard and vibes give the track and ethereal feel.
“Got ‘Til It’s Gone (Ummah Jay Dee’s Revenge)” by Janet Jackson feat. Q-Tip & Joni Mitchell from The Velvet Rope (1997)
Here’s my understanding: Janet Jackson wanted to make a track that had a neo-soul vibe, but she employed Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. She recruited Dilla’s mentor and production partner Q-Tip to help on the song. The result of that collaboration was Jam and Lewis’s best attempt at a Dilla song. Don’t get me wrong, Jam and Lewis are amazing and “Got ‘Til It’s Gone” is one of my favorite Janet Jackson tracks. Apparently Dilla was furious. To this day there’s confusion over whether Dilla was involved, but sources I trust and choose to believe swear he wasn’t. Regardless, Dilla got his hands on the track and came up with the Jay Dee’s Revenge Remix. In my opinion it’s one of Dilla’s finest tracks and far superior to the original. If they wanted Dilla’s sound they should’ve gone directly to the master.
“Feel Like Makin’ Love” by D’Angelo from Voodoo (2000)
This is kind of a cheat. Dilla isn’t credited anywhere on Voodoo, yet everyone involved in the project including D’Angelo himself acknowledge that his fingerprints are all over it. I’ve seen this song specifically mentioned by people who know far more than I as the track most influenced by Dilla, so I’m adding it. The Soulquarians are a major part of the Dilla story and leaving D’Angelo off of this list would leave a hole.
“Drop” by The Pharcyde from Labcabincalifornia (1995)
A song that is remembered more for the video than the song itself. However, the video had to have been inspired by Dilla’s crazy production. No Dilla, no memorable video.
“Fantastic 3 (Alternate Mix)” by Slum Village from Fan-Tas-Tic, Vol. 1 (1997)
A couple things here. Fan-Tas-Tic, Vol. 1 was recorded in 1997/1998. Different versions of it leaked at that time and apparently blew up underground, but then it was shelved and wasn’t officially released until 2006. For the purposes of this post I’m gonna call it 1997. Anyway, I include this track only because I’ve seen The Roots several times and they’ve played this at a few of the shows I’ve seen. The first time they did it I remember thinking, “Wait, are they playing some relatively obscure old Dilla shit?” Of course they were. What blew my mind even further was the entire crowd of thousands singing along with it. Questlove was the person who introduced me to Dilla. I didn’t realize how many others were paying attention. It was thrilling to sing along with thousands of like minded music fans.
“Dooinit” by Common from Like Water for Chocolate (2000)
Man, when I die and get to do whatever I want one of the first activities on the list will be taking a time Machine back to the Soulquarian recording sessions at Electric Lady Studios.
“Tell Me” by Slum Village feat. D’Angelo from Fan-Tas-Tic, Vol. 2 (2000)
I was late to the Slum Village party. I’m sad to say I wasn’t aware of them until I was searching online for D’Angelo songs in the early-2000s and found this gem. I put Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 2 up there with my favorite 90s hip hop albums like The Low End Theory, Black on Both Sides, and Blowout Comb despite the fact that it wasn’t released until 2000. Dilla’s sound on this album captures everything I loved about what I consider to be the greatest era in hip hop.
“Body Movin'” by J Dilla feat. J Rocc and Karriem Riggins from The Shining (2006)
No words. The shit is wild. Just press play.
“Jealousy” by Slum Village from Fan-Tas-Tic, Vol. 2 (2000)
There’s a handful of Dilla tracks that feature rappers who obviously had to craft their flow around his unique beats. This is one of the best examples. T3 and Baatin murder this track.
“Word Play” by A Tribe Called Quest from Beats, Rhymes & Life (1996)
The most obvious example of Dilla’s non-quantized work I can find. He must’ve been drunk when he programmed this beat. It’s all over the place, yet perfect at the same time. A wildly underrated track buried at the end of a Tribe album that people didn’t get the love it deserved.
“Stop” by J Dilla from Donuts (2006)
Part of the brilliance of Donuts is the absence of any official vocalists. Dilla lets the samples do the talking. You don’t even realize you’re listening to an “instrumental” album. So soulful without really saying anything.
“So Far to Go” J Dilla feat. Common & D’Angelo from The Shining (2006)
Common and D’Angelo add lyrics to a remixed version of Dilla’s track “Bye.” from Donuts. There’s a slightly different version of this track on Common’s 2007 album Finding Forever, but I prefer the mix on this version from Dilla’s album. I could attempt to explain to you how Dilla injected soul into a rap genre that is often too focused on shiny production, money, and artists more concerned with creating a brand than art, or you could just listen to this gorgeous track and understand.
“Get Dis Money” by Slum Village from Fan-Tas-Tic, Vol. 2 (2000)
The rare track that’s mellow but bangs at the same time. When this track comes on I go into a trance similar to Elaine’s “Desperado” boyfriend on Seinfeld. Hip hop doesn’t get cooler than this. Bonus points for the lyrics “My man, now what you know about the Great Lakes?” and “When I was a young boy chillin’ in my daddy’s nuts all I could hear was a rhyme and dope cuts.” I would like this song played at my funeral.
“The Light” by Common from Like Water For Chocolate (2000)
If people try to tell you the hip hop genre doesn’t make beautiful music just play this song for them. If they don’t hear it, they’re either ignorant or not giving it a chance. Common and Dilla made magic.
“Stakes is High” by De La Soul from Stakes is High (1996)
When De La Soul split with longtime producer Prince Paul they needed someone new to convey their message. In this case, the very heavy message of the grim state and direction of hip hop at the time. Enter a young J Dilla and his supernatural ear. He delivered the perfect track.
“Time: The Donut of the Heart” by J Dilla from Donuts (2006)
The perfect song to encapsulate my feelings about Dilla. It’s creative, melancholy, soulful and beautiful. A stunning work of art and fitting farewell from a legend.
That’s all the room I have on this mixtape. Hardcore Dilla heads will certainly point out tracks that I missed or claim that I focused too much on Common, Tribe, or D’Angelo. That’s what I listen to. When I think Dilla, these are the tracks that come to mind. He’s influenced my music listening so heavily that now if I hear a song that isn’t in Dilla time it sounds boring. I’m constantly trying to find the bass line that’s laying behind the beat or the kick drum that’s slightly off. That’s why I gravitate toward producers like 9th Wonder and Knxwledge and musicians like Hiatus Kaiyote, José James, and DOMi and JD Beck. Maybe the next Mix CD should be my favorite Dilla-influenced tracks. We’ll save that for another time.
If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, here’s a link to the playlist for you. Again, happy 50th, James Yancey, wherever your spirit may be. People will be enjoying your music and influence for decades to come whether they know it or not. We wish you were here but you’re still with us every day.
mookiefantana 