The late great James Dewitt Yancey, aka Jay Dilla, would have turned 35 this month. Three years after his untimely death, the iconic producer’s legacy looms gigantic in the minds of producers and rappers alike. Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes were both early champions of the Detroit-born rapper/ producer’s psychedelic funk, while Pharrell Williams once described Dilla as his“favorite producer.” But Dilla was somewhat aloof, steering clear of cocky producer shoutout routines. He sometimes changed his name in the credits, depending on his collab-orators—and let his haunting music speak for itself.
Dilla was also a core member of the production collective The Ummah alongside Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Raphael Saadiq, and D’Angelo. It’s widely believed that Dilla produced Janet’s 1997 hit “Got ’Til It’s Gone” (Virgin), but Tip clears up the story: “We didn’t have a lot to do with it. [Janet, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis] were listening to a Brand New Heavies joint that we did. That inspired them to do “Got ’Til It’s Gone.” The track was quite similar to Dilla’s sound—and he later released a “Revenge Remix” of Janet’s song—but the fact that old-school luminaries like Jam and Lewis were influenced by Dilla testifies to his legacy as a “producer’s producer.” As his “beat tapes” passed hand to hand among progressive hip hop’s elite, his reputation grew. Dilla chopped and screwed classic soul and vintage funk with a keen jazzman’s ear. The soul singer Bilal aptly called Dilla “the hip hop Duke Ellington,” but his reputation still has lots of room to grow. By way of introduction (reminiscence), here’s a look at 15 highlights from Dilla’s catalogue.
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