James Dewitt Yancey (February 7 1974–February 10 2006), better known as
J Dilla, or
Jay Dee, was an American hip hop producer and MC, who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. He began his career as "Jay Dee" but used the name "J Dilla" from 2001 on. Many critics believe J Dilla's work to have had a major influence on his peers,
[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5205096] and that he embodied the neo soul sound, playing a defining yet understated role during the sub-genre's rise (roughly from the mid-90s to the early 2000s). J Dilla was often dubbed "your favorite producer's favorite producer", and was highly regarded by mainstream artists and producers such as Common, Kanye West, A Tribe Called Quest, Just Blaze, Busta Rhymes, Pharrell Williams,and ?uestlove.
[http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3fdjvwpta9ik~T1].
Biography
Early life
The second eldest of four children including an older brother (Earl), a younger brother (Johnny, otherwise known as Illa J), and a younger sister. The family lived in a house situated near McDougall and East Nevada, off E. 7 Mile in Detroit.
[http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=9544] He developed a vast musical knowledge from his parents (his mother, Maureen, is a former opera singer, his father was a jazz bassist). At a young age, he began acquiring a large collection of records which inspired him to learn multiple instruments. He had developed a passion for MCing, and formed a rap group called Slum Village with schoolmates T3 (R.L. Altman), and Baatin (Titus Glover) at Pershing High School. He had also taken up beatmaking, using a simple tapedeck as the center of his studio.
[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jvd7yl58xp9b~T1]
Early career
In 1992, he met experienced Detroit musician Amp Fiddler, who was impressed by what Jay Dee was able to accomplish with such limited tools. Amp Fiddler let Jay Dee use his MPC, which he learned quite quickly. In 1995, Jay Dee and MC Phat Kat formed 1st Down, and would be the first Detroit hip hop group to sign with a major label (Payday Records) - a deal that was ended after one single when the label folded. That same year he recorded
The Album That Time Forgot with 5 Elementz (a group consisting of the late Proof, Thyme and Mudd).
By the mid 1990s Jay Dee was known as a major hip-hop prospect, with a string of singles and remix projects, for Janet Jackson, Pharcyde, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip's solo album and others. Some other Jay Dee productions were released without his name recognition, being credited to The Ummah, A Tribe Called Quest's production team, of which he was a member. In 1995, Jay Dee handled the majority of the production on The Pharcyde's album
Labcabincalifornia.
Performing career
2000 marked the major label debut of Slum Village with
Fantastic, Vol. 2, creating a new following for Jay Dee as a producer and an MC. He was also a founding member of the production collective known as The Soulquarians (along with Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, D'Angelo and James Poyser amongst others) which earned him more recognition and buzz. He subsequently worked with Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, and Common - contributing heavily to the latter's critically acclaimed breakthrough album,
Like Water for Chocolate.
His debut as a solo artist came in 2001 with the single "Fuck the Police", followed by the album
Welcome 2 Detroit, which kicked off U.K. Independent record label BBE's "Beat Generation" series. In 2001, Jay Dee, began using the name "J Dilla" (an attempt to differentiate himself from Jermaine Dupri who also goes by "J.D."), and left Slum Village to pursue a major label solo career with MCA.
2002 saw Dilla producing the entirety of Frank-N-Dank's
48 Hours, as well as a solo album, but neither record was ever released, although the former did eventually surface through bootlegging.
[http://www.grooveattack.de/distribution/artist_add.php3?artistid=85&interpret=Jay+Dee&title=Jay+Dee+Interview&label=]When Dilla finished working with Frank-N-Dank on the
48 Hours album, MCA Records requested a record with a larger commercial appeal, and the artists re-recorded the majority of the tracks, this time using little to no samples. Despite this, neither versions of the album saw the light of day, and Dilla expressed he was disappointed that the music never got out to the fans. and medication caused dramatic weight loss in 2003 onwards, forcing him to publicly confirm speculation about his health in 2004. He continued to perform and record until his death in 2006.]]Dilla was signed to a solo deal with MCA Records in 2002 and completed an album in 2003.
[http://www.grooveattack.de/distribution/artist_add.php3?artistid=85&interpret=Jay+Dee&title=Jay+Dee+Interview&label=][Liner notes by Ronnie Reese, "Ruff Draft" (2007)] Although Dilla was known as a producer rather than an MC, he chose to rap on the album and have the music produced by some of his favorite producers
[J Dilla "Ruff Draft" (2007), liner notes] such as Madlib, Pete Rock, Hi-Tek, Supa Dave West, Kanye West, Nottz, Waajeed and others. The album was shelved due to internal changes at the label and MCA folding into Geffen Records.
[Liner notes by Ronnie Reese, "Ruff Draft" (2007)] In a 2007 video interview, Dilla's friend DJ House Shoes alluded to the possibility of the MCA album finally seeing an official release through Stones Throw Records in the future.
While the record with MCA stalled, Dilla recorded the uncompromising
Ruff Draft, released exclusively to vinyl by German label Groove Attack.
[Liner notes by Ronnie Reese, "Ruff Draft" (2007)] Although the album was little known, it signaled a change in sound and attitude, and his work from this point on was increasingly released through independent record labels. In a 2003 interview with Groove Attack, Dilla talked about this change of direction:
Later years
LA-based Producer and MC, Madlib, began collaborating with J Dilla, and the pair formed the group Jaylib in 2002, releasing an album called
Champion Sound in 2003. J Dilla relocated from Detroit to LA in 2004 and appeared on tour with Jaylib in Spring 2004.
Despite a slower output of major releases and production credits in 2004 and 2005, his cult status remained strong within his core audience, as evident by unauthorized circulation of his underground "beat tapes" (instrumental, and raw working materials), mostly through internet file sharing.
Articles in publications
Urb (March 2004) and
XXL (June 2005) confirmed rumors of ill health and hospitalization during this period, but these were downplayed by Jay himself. The seriousness of his condition became public in November 2005 when J Dilla toured Europe performing from a wheelchair. It was later revealed that he suffered from TTP, a rare blood disease, and possibly Lupus.
[Detroit Free Press February 23, 2006]J Dilla died on February 10, 2006, at his home in Los Angeles, California. According to his mother, Maureen Yancey, the cause was cardiac arrest.
[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/arts/music/14dilla.html?_r=1&oref=slogin] His last album,
Donuts was released 3 days earlier, on February 7, 2006.
Posthumous Releases and Legacy
Aside from
Donuts, Dilla completed or nearly completed two more full length releases, during his illness. The first,
The Shining, was released on August 8, 2006 by BBE Records. Final production of the album was handled posthumously by Karriem Riggins, whom Dilla had asked to help with the album. According to Riggins,
The Shining was "75% completed when Dilla died."
[Detroit Free Press, June 29, 2006]The second,
Jay Love Japan, was announced during Dilla's lifetime as an instrumental EP. It was announced an imminent release in at different times in 2005, 2006 and 2007 with a track list containing several songs with vocals added after his death. This release remains unresolved the unofficial at this time.
In May 2006, J Dilla's mother announced the creation of
The J Dilla Foundation.
In February 2007, a year after his death, J Dilla posthumously received the Plug Award's Artist of the Year as well as the award for Record Producer of the Year.
[http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003544577]In March 2007,
Ruff Draft was re-released as a double CD, double LP set. The reissue contains previously unreleased material from the
Ruff Draft sessions and instrumentals.
J Dilla's and Madlib's collaboration album
Champion Sound was re-released in June 2007 by Stones Throw Records as a 2CD Deluxe Edition with instrumentals and b-sides. He also has three tracks on the 2K Sports NBA 2K8 Soundtrack.
In 2007 "Modern Day Gangstaz", a song featuring The Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes and Labba, which originally turned up on a mixtape in the late 90s, eventually surfaced in full form.
[http://icedotcom.blogspot.com/search?q=dilla]On November 27, 2007, Busta Rhymes and Mick Boogie released
Dillagence, a mixtape of older, and newer previously unreleased tracks featuring the MC over J Dilla productions. The compilation was made free for download from the web.
Discography
- 1997 Slum Village - Fan-Tas-Tic (Donut Boy Recordings) (2006 re-release: Counterflow)
- 2000 Slum Village - Fantastic, Vol. 2 (Goodvibe)
- 2000 Slum Village - Best Kept Secret EP (Groove Attack)
- 2001 Jay Dee - Welcome 2 Detroit (Barely Breaking Even)
- 2003 Jaylib - Champion Sound (Stones Throw)
- 2003 J Dilla - Ruff Draft EP (Mummy/Groove Attack) (2007 2CD/2LP - Stones Throw)
- 2006 J Dilla - Donuts (Stones Throw)
- 2006 J Dilla - The Shining (Barely Breaking Even)
- 2007 Jay Dee - The Delicious Vinyl Years (Delicious Vinyl Records)
External links
Official sites
Articles
Interviews
References
1974 births2006 deathsJ DillaDelicious Vinyl artistsAmerican hip hop record producersPeople from DetroitDetroit rappersAfrican American rappers
J DillaJ DillaJ DillaJ DillaJ DillaJames YanceyJ DillaJ DillaJ DillaJay Dee
