J Dilla Appreciation Thread
 

How is there not one already?

J Dilla was one of the most prominent hip hop producers ever. Dilla would MC time to time, but that's not what he's noted for. He's considered a pioneer of the neo soul sound, was quite notorious for his odd percussion use, and is rightly placed in the same context as producers including DJ Premier and Pete Rock.

Projects / groups he's been involved in:
Jaylib
Slum Village
the Soulquarians
the Pharcyde
A Tribe Called Quest

Dilla also had a lot of prolific solo work, and his final album before his death was Donuts, which he had finished in his hospital stays, and released on his birthday. He died 3 days later, and there are still Dilla projects being released.

Some of J Dilla's work:

J Dilla - Last Donut of the Night


Slum Village - Fall in Love

Verse 2 = Dilla

the Pharcyde - Runnin' (prod. by J Dilla)


Jaylib - The Official

(Dilla on the mic.)

Jaylib - The Red

(Madlib on the mic.)

If anyone wants any links, let me know.

he's got quite a fanbase on this site already. Donuts is a stellar album.

He's a badass any way you look at it. Truly one of the best.
This isn't romanticization of a dead artist - he was really that good.

As an Emcee Dilla isn't that good at all. As a producer he is one of the best and my personal favorite.

you all know how i feel.

Agreed on that - I don't even really think of him as an MC.

I don't

See: http://www.musicbanter.com/general-m...tml#post710269

It's a bit unfair to judge Dilla as an emcee, his production abilities more than make up for it.

Dilla is the first verse on this. Probably my favorite verse he ever did.

dilla's first on this, it's my favorite verse.

Huge producer, one of the best there was and ever will be. What he could do with samples to create beats was incredible. A perfectionist and you could tell, amazing producer. I've got endless ammounts of his material whether it's his work with Slum Village or unreleased beat tapes and snippets of his work.

I've got a playlist on my iPod of my favourite Dilla beats from the variety of artists he worked with. On shuffle it's a joy. If anyone wants to check out some of his best work (imo) then try some of the tracks, and I'm sure the die hards like myself can appreciate the list. It goes like this:

The Pharcyde - Runnin'
Q-Tip - Let's Ride
Slum Village - Untitled/Fantastic
Slum Village - Get Dis Money
The Roots - Dynamite
De La Soul - Stakes Is High
Common - Dooinit
J Dilla - Airworks
J Dilla - Won't Do
Slum Village - Fall In Love
Guru - Certified (feat. Bilal)
Busta Rhymes - So Hardcore
A Tribe Called Quest - 1nce Again
Q-Tip - Vivrant Thing
Erykah Badu - Didn't Cha Know
Erykah Badu - My Life
Jaylib - The Red
Common - So Far To Go
A Tribe Called Quest - Find A Way
Common - The Light
Bilal - Reminisce
Common - Love Is
Busta Rhymes - Woo-Hah!! Got You All In Check (The Jay Dee Bounce Remix)

What are everyone's favourite beats (so many to choose from)? Could do with adding a few more tracks for a bit of variation, it was only roughly made one morning when I wanted some Dilla.

Very nice. Way to make me think of Dilla as an MC.

Damn- now that's a song! Always been one of my favorites, and it's just one of many in his catalogue.

one of his best.

Too bad Guilty Simpson is an idiot.

Donuts is a stellar album

Totally agree.Donuts is sick!:afro:

My favourite Dilla album is Vintage. That was the **** then, and it's the **** now.

I agree with most of you that DONUTS is his single best work. It's got to be one of the top 10 albums of this decade.

Even as a huge Dilla fan I have to disagree with this:
Dilla's cult is huge, and he has had hits, but he was never quite "prominent". After a ton of hits for artists like Q-Tip, Badu and Common in the late 90s & early 00's he tried to make a solo name for himself in 2002, which ended in disaster as his record label MCA collapsed. After this, Dilla went intensely underground, starting with Ruff Draft, then his stuff with Stones Throw. His rep & work from this point til his death was great, but he was very much UNDERGROUND. "Prominent" hip-hop producers are Neptunes, Timbaland, etc ... Dilla was never in that league, and still isn't.


Also disagree with this. Don't be so short sighted Jester! Go listen to Man's World and Stress, two great tracks produced by Dilla which never came out officially because of the samples used. Both found on youtube.

Sure he was. His cult-like gathering was cultivating just before his death, it just grew a lot more after. Plus, he's considered to pioneer the neo-soul sound, and has influenced this generation's sound of hip hop.

And uh, if his lifetime isn't considered prominent - his posthumous success certainly is.


I'm not a fan of Guilty Simpson's flow, and he's incredibly one dimensional and boring.

Yup, Dilla ... RIP

Your favorite producer's favorite producer!!