DeLaWho? DeLaWhat? DeLaWhere?

Image courtesy of Okayplayer.com

On Friday morning at 8 o'clock, Detroit super producer James Yancey, aka Jay Dee, passed away at the age of 32 in a Los Angeles hospital, as a result of complications associated with liver and kidney failure. Jay Dee was a founding member of Slum Village and worked with the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, Common, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, Madlib, Busta Rhymes and the Pharcyde. Jay Dee had just released a solo album last week, Donuts, a collection of hip-hop instrumentals that he composed during his recovery from last years' illness.

Yancey had been hospitalized last year for the liver failure related to malnutrition. He continued to produce throughout his hospitalization last year. He told the magazine URB, that "what happened was that the doctor told me that I'd ruptured my kidney from being too busy and being stressed out and not eating right," he said. "He told me that if I'd waited another day, I might not have made it."


I learned of this news during my daily visit to Okayplayer.com. I was shocked at the news as it had appeared that he was on the road to recovery. I started listening to hip-hop in high school when my tats (who has opened the world of music to me) turned me on to the Roots. It was the "Things Fall Apart" album which was released in 1999. "Things Fall Apart" was my summer soundtrack. It was the dominant album in rotation and I recall listening to the album over and over again as I drove to work as a shoe salesman for the sports authority. One of my favorite songs on "Things" was the dilla produced "Dynamite". With a growing interest in hip-hop but with limited knowledge about the music, I picked up Q-tip's "Amplified" album, which Dilla produced 11 tracks. I became interested in Q-tip's album after hearing his single "Vivrant Thing" (prod. by Jay Dee). While I would like to think that it was solely music (especially those pulsating hihats Jay Dee so masterfully used on Vivrant Thing) that attracted me to the song, I have to admit that in hormonal youth, I also liked watching the way that the rhythm was interpreted through the dance and body movement of the women in the video. But, I was soon knee deep into the album and I was drawn to the instrumentals that Jay Dee had provided. I loved the album and the production was hypnotic at points. But, my knowledge of and exposure to hip-hop was still very limited. I then graduated on up to Q-tip's former group, A Tribe Called Quest or ATCQ, when I purchased their "Beats Rhymes and Life" album, which remains one of my favorite albums of all-times (while it was not praised by critics as much as ATCQ's previous albums). I would zone out to "Beats, Rhymes and Life" during those early mornings I spent in the hallway before my friends came to school.

During the remainder of high school and throughout college, my love for hip-hop has grown and continues to grow as I do the same. I have dabbled in producing instrumentals, not for profit, but for the joy of production and creation. With this, I appreciate Jay-Dee's genius, innovation, and technical skill the more and more I listen to his material. I have always considered Dilla to be one of my favorite producers, but upon his passing and the subsequent reflection on his life and his career did I realize his influence and place in both hip-hop history and my own life and the music that I love. My heart goes out to his loved ones. He will be missed.

A Selection of some of my favorite Dilla Tracks:
Slum Village feat D'Angelo "Tell Me"
from Fantastic Vol.2
Slum Village "Untitled/Fantastic" from Fantastic Vol. 2
Jay Dee "Track 17" from Dilla Beats 3
Jay Dee "Track 21" from Dilla Beats 3
Q-Tip "Let's Ride" from Amplified
Common "The Light" from Like Water for Chocolate
Common "Dooinit" from Like Water for Chocolate
ATCQ "Find A Way" from The Love Movement
ATCQ "1nce Again" from Beats Rhymes and Life
J Dilla "Don't Cry" from Donuts
Glenn Lewis "Back for More (Dilla Remix)"


Dilla Discography

BBE Biography

another Rememberance of Jay Dee:

?uestlove "J Dilla Lives" on myspace.com
1. the kicks on pharcyde's "Bullshit"
2. the piano loop on pharcyde's "Runnin"
3. the chopping of herbie hancock's chords on "fantastic pt 1"
4. the whole idea of "i don't know"
5. those chords on "fat cat song" mixed with "turn off the lights" "oohs ahhs and say!"
6. the synchopated stutter kicks he programmed t3's "when you grip the mic biy you wack as hell..."
7. the background pattern on "the look of love"
8. the bill evans rhodes on "hoc and pocky"
9. the drum pattern sloppppppily displayed mastery on "beej n dem"

(continues on ?uestlove
)