Jay Dee aka J. Dilla is one of my favorite producers of all time. Matter of fact, he's a lot of producer's favorite producer. Dilla was a real talented and soulful kat with a musical ear like no other. He died in 2006 and was seemingly more popular after he died. When I first heard Slum Village's "Climax", I was hooked. I went on a research mission to find everything Jay Dee ever produced. If u like neo soul music or anything similar this is the man that helped usher in that sound, in my opinion. Nobody was using claps in R&B like he was except maybe Roger & Zapp. Just take a listen to early Slum Village, Pharcyde, and the music from the production team The Ummah. For example, Janet Jackson's "Got Til' It's Gone" sounded like nothing else when it dropped in 1997. That's early neo soul. Dilla did the music but was not credited for that song. Soon many artists such as Erykah Badu, Musiq and Jill Scott were following suit. He later produced songs on Erykah's "Mama's Gun" cd.He produced the majority of Common's "Like Water For Chocolate" cd, which is still my favorite Common cd. U can't even front on "The Light" from that cd. Also, remember how Q-Tip's "Vivrant Thing" used to bang in the clubs when it dropped. That was J. Dilla. He was a very versatile producer. Most producer's that are into Jay Dee's music know how intricate many of his productions were. They may sound simple, but they weren't simple to make. He made sampling an art. Jay Dee changed alot of kats whole approach to beatmaking. It's just ashame he didn't get his just due while he was still alive. Check out Dilla's discography here and 2 of my favorite Jay Dee productions below.
Slum Village - Climax
J Dilla - Won't Do
(Released after his death - That's his brother playing him in the video)
Peep how he sampled and chopped up The Isley Brother's "Footsteps in The Dark"
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