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James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974?February 10, 2006), better known as J Dilla or Jay Dee, was an American hip hop producer and emcee, who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. He began his career as “Jay Dee” but used the name “J Dilla” from 2001 on. Many critics believe J Dilla’s work to have had a major influence on his peers, and he perhaps embodied the neo soul sound, playing a defining yet understated role during the sub-genre’s rise (roughly from the mid-90s to the early 2000s).
J Dilla was known as a “producer’s producer”, and was highly regarded by better known producers such as Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Pharrell Williams (who named him as his favourite producer). Many considered him as a musical genius. A large catalogue of his work, mostly unused beats, remains unreleased, and in some cases have been freely passed around through the internet, impressing enthusiasts and adding to his cult-status.
Gaining inspiration from listening to Whodini?s ?Big Mouth? back in the day, Jay began to try his hand at making beats by using the ?pause? and record buttons on his tape deck. After learning to work an MPC-60 back in 92? from Amp Fiddler, Jay Dilla was on his way to becoming one of hip-hop?s illest beat makers.
After hooking up with two high school friends, T3 and Baatin, they formed the crew called, Slum Village (circa 1988), and Jay started to polish his rhyming skills to match his dope production. As Slum Village began to show themselves in Detroit and around the east coast Jay was also busy getting his production noticed by other artists in the music industry. |
