All Hip-Hop heads know February as J Dilla Month, the acclaimed beatmaker who took production techniques to new heights in his prolific but often, while alive, under appreciated career. Quickly scooped up by iconic trailblazers A Tribe Called Quest’s founding member Q-Tip once he heard the demo tape of Jay Dee’s then group Slum Village the wonder-kid now known as J Dilla was added to the production team The Ummah. Doing beats for The Pharcyde, De La Soul and many others Jay Dee’s unique groundbreaking style quickly became a well of secret inspiration for anyone thirsty for the next phase in Hip-Hop sonics.
Dilla would go on to return back to the independent scene and link up with Madlib and the whole Stones Throw collective and continue his prolific output and innovation. His idiosyncratic style of production, loose and free, also matched his rhyme style -which was pioneered with founding group Slum Village- free forming and improvised. J Dilla not only elevated the ‘Jazz Rap’ sound of A Tribe Called Quest he embodied Jazz itself, improvisation and bending of rules were as inherent to his core as it was to the genre itself.
Below we have our exclusive J DILLA ONLY Spotify Playlist (all instrumentals):
Happy Birthday to the #GOAT!