Daily Dischord’s Monday Mixtape – 20/02/2012
This week’s mixtape is dedicated to a hip hop legend who passed away 6 years ago the Friday before last (10/02/2012). He may not be that well known to many on here, but it’s more than likely you’ve heard his distinctive sound many times over and you didn’t even know it. The man I’m talking about is James Yancey, most commonly known as Jay Dee or, during his later years, J Dilla. Whether it’s his solo albums, his work in Slum Village, his contributions as part of the Soulquarians, the many superb production credits he amassed through-out his career or maybe even his under-rated vocal performances that he lent to the beats of others, it’s more than likely that you’ll be familiar with a fair amount of his work. This mixtape will do the difficult job of finding just five tracks from his massive back catalogue and explains why they’ve been chosen. I don’t envy myself right now…
Q-Tip – Breathe & Stop
I’ll start off with a song that helped shape my musical outlook and the earliest example of how Dilla’s music has been with me ever since I started getting into hip hop properly about 12/13 years ago… and I didn’t even know it was a Dilla beat until about 2 months ago! Dropping in 1998 off Q-Tip’s first solo release since A Tribe Called Quest disbanded, ‘Breathe & Stop’ may not sound like a Dilla production at first, but the more you listen, the more his trademark drums and ear for a sample really start to show. A stone cold classic that was an instant record whenever it came on the radio during Tim Westwoods Radio 1 rap show back in the day… well, 1998, but that’s still 14 years ago!
Jaylib – The Red
I had to include a track off of the incredible collaboration album Dilla did with his L.A. dwelling, weed smoking contempary Madlib. ‘The Red’ had to be re-done for the 2007 re-issue of Champion Sound with another Dilla beat due to a cease-and-desist from the camp of feminist singer song writer Cris Williamson, but the version we’re including here is the oh so illegal original version that was released in 2002. With the vocal sample in the chorus and the unmistakable piano through-out that’s taken from the original track ‘Shine On, Straight Arrow’, it’s a shame that Dilla hadn’t gotten permission before hand, as I’m sure it wouldn’t have caused such a fuss if he had.
Raekwon – House of Flying Daggers (Feat. Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck and Method Man)
Released four years after his death and one of the last tracks he produced, this track shows that he can produce some of the rowdiest tracks possible when he wanted to, and does his best to outdo RZA with a production that sounds like it could have easily been taken from Wu Tangs classic debut Enter The Wu Tang (36 Chambers). The fact that the track happens to feature four of the best Wu Tang members on point lyrically only goes to show just how good Dilla’s production is and how highly respected he was and still is, 6 years after his passing.
Common – The Light
Another track I wasn’t aware was a Dilla track until 2/3 months back. Appearing on Common’s 2000 album Like Water For Chocolate, the track is Dilla through and through. Common’s vocals almost take a back seat to the beat at some points. The vocal sample; those drums; that piano through-out; sometimes, words can’t do a song justice and this is one of those songs. Click play on the player below and take it in.
J Dilla – Love (Feat. Pharoahe Monch)
I just had to include a track from his last official solo record that was released six month after he passed away. The Shining was actually unfinished at the time of his death, but was completed posthumously by Dilla’s good friend Kariem Riggins. This track stands out for me more than any of the rest of the tracks on the album due to Pharoahe Monch’s vocal contribution. His half sung/half rapped delivery is something I particularly love and works so well with the incredibly soulful beat.
And there you go. There are probably some on here you wont agree with. Hell, there may be 5 other tracks you’d put above these. And lets face it, with tracks by the like of The Pharcyde, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, MF DOOM, The Roots and god knows how many more that I’ve missed, it’s more than likely that these 5 wouldn’t be anywhere near your top 5. So it begs the question… what’s yours?
