J Dilla: 50 For 50 – His Greatest Tracks

Every February fans of James “J Dilla” Yancey celebrate his life and work. The late beatmaker, rapper and musician left behind a legacy that has continued to inspire many to create in his lineage. This month, and specifically this week, is of particular significance to fans because his dates of birth and death land within a few days of one another – February 7th being his birthday, and February 10th being the day he would die of a combination of TTP and lupus at the age of 32 in 2006. 

Despite his relatively short career the Detroit native managed to imprint a broad range of sounds, particularly through his experimentation with quantisation which gave a sense of humanity to his drum programming. Many fans discovered Dilla’s work after his life had ended, and there are enough gaps, rarities and unfinished work in his story and discography that he has developed a folkloric status. His work is studied in an academic fashion; perhaps to understand what it was that J Dilla knew about music that the rest of us did not; perhaps to figure out where his experimentation might have progressed to next. While this exploration is important, we should never forget that Dilla’s music is primarily there to make us feel, and to be enjoyed.

—

—

This year would have been Dilla’s 50th birthday, and to celebrate we have gone back through his catalogue to compile a playlist of 50 career-spanning tracks ranging from bonafide hip-hop classics to soulful fan favourites, gems from the Detroit underground to Dilla’s own indie rap experiments.

—

—

You will find music that was created in partnership with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammed as part of production trio The Ummah, witness his influence on late-90’s hip-hop and follow a creative partnership with Busta Rhymes that led to some of his most interesting beat selections (see ‘Make It Hurt’). 

There are compilation cuts like Black Star’s ‘Little Brother’ from ‘The Hurricane ‘ soundtrack, Royce Da 5’9”s ‘Let’s Grow’ from Rawkus Records’ ‘Lyricist Lounge Volume 2’, and ‘That Shit’ a link-up with A Tribe Called Quest from Funkmaster Flex’s ‘The Mix Tape Volume III – 60 Minutes of Funk’. 

—

—

For fans of soul and alternative sounds there are beats for Erykah Badu and for his mentor the late Amp Fiddler, as well as remixes for Janet Jackson, The Brand New Heavies and Four Tet – and of course there are records from his own releases; ‘The Red’ from ‘Champion Sound’ his acclaimed collaborative album with Madlib, a trio of ‘Donuts’ from his magnum opus and some of his own raps on ‘Make Em NV’, ‘Nothing Like This’, ’The $’ and ‘Y’all Ain’t Ready’.

—

—

Hit play and join us in celebrating what would have been Dilla’s 50th, with this selection of 50 tracks.

Words: Grant Brydon