For those of us with short attention spans…

James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006)

Dilla is one my personal favorite hip hop producer… His influence on the music world is obvious. His raw style and distinct drum programing has made him one of the most loved, respected and mimicked producers of our time.
Dilla has had such a strong impact on me and the way I make music that his name itself has become an adjective in my vocabulary.
“..Dilla that up” will be heard in my lab when the drums don’t have the swagger I want or the raw edge isn’t there.
Coming to the end of 2009 Dilla’s legacy is set in stone with countless “Dillaciples” keeping his memory alive as they take his enormous influence and it let inspire a whole new era of music. Long Live J Dilla…..
“J Dilla was one of the music industry’s most influential hip-hop artists”
-NPR

Interview

HHHTreats,

I’m sorry, but this past week has just been too good for me to not keep posting.

SANDWICHES

Sandwiches.  Mirriam-Webster defines a Sandwich as: 1 a : two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between b : one slice of bread covered with food.

However, RapRadar defines a sandwich as: When The Roots enter and leave a commercial break on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, they perform small sets called “sandwiches”. And since joining the show in March, the crew have composed 1,000 of ‘em. This past weekend, drummer ?uestlove compiled 22 of them into a free EP. Can’t beat that.

Similar to a live band take on Dilla’s Donuts, I give you, Sandwiches.

THE ROOTS – SANDWICHES (Direct Link)

And as an added bonus, another track that’s surfaced from Black Thought’s unreleased Masterpiece Theatre album, I give you:

BLACK THOUGHT – MONA LISA – Shout out to Slick Rick!

NEIL ARMSTRONG

No not the astronaut, the DJ.  Founding member of the legendary turntablist crew the 5th Platoon (which also includes highly decorated vets likes Vinroc, Roli Rho, I. Emerg and others)  has been tearin shows and pumpin out mixtapes for years now.  And although well known amongst DJ’s and Turntablists, Armstrong’s maintained a relatively low profile (whether intentionally or unintentionally, I’m not sure) outside the walls of his genre.  Well, this past year, he was given the opportunity to be Mr. Shawn Carter’s touring DJ for the Blueprint 3 and well, that’s just something you don’t pass up.

Anyway, he’s just released this short little clip detailing a day in the life of DJ Neil Armstrong. If you don’t know…..

MOS + SEMTEX

Part 2 of the Mos Def interview with DJ Semtex.  Click Clack.

That’s Wednesday folk.

Get it.

Trip.
www.ppfhouse.com

This mixtape is mix by Dj CornBreeze…he let me hear some of it..and it sounds very dope and you can tell he put his heart and soul in the project. So when it drops show support to the homie Cornbreeze

“Prepare to realize a woman’s worth, “Sonic soul music for the foward thinking female”

twitter.com/djcornbreeze

Cornycollinsshow.blogspot.com

-Noa James

HHHTired,

It’s Sunday, and surprise surprise, I’m not feelin so chatty today.  Had a late night, early morning and now my fingers just wanna chill out.  Luckily, I got me a good amount of viewing material to get up a worthwhile post so lemme get my baby boy Bangs on and take u to da movies again….

SLUM VILLAGE

As they reminisce…..

Talkin bout Fantastic Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and Elzhi’s entrance.

Dilla

**BONUS**

ELZHI – THE LEFTOVERS UNMIXEDTAPE

MOS DEF

The newest single off the Ecstatic:

MOS DEF – SUPERMAGIC

Mos interview with DJ Semtex.

SOULS & THE G.O.A.T.

Agree or not, it’s always interesting to hear this discussion amongst some of the dopest to ever do it.

That’s me.

Relax day.

P’s

Triple.
www.ppfhouse.com

The Leftovers UnMixedtape is exactly what it sounds like: A compilation of one of the game’s most talented Emcee’s unreleased and featured works. Whether it’s a promo joint from a few months back (eLZhi and Black Milk – Deep), a feature from another artist’s project (Danny Brown – Contra feat. eLZhi), or just a rare gem from years past (eLZhi and DJ Dez – Living), these Leftovers would have passed for a fresh cooked meal if you didn’t know better. It’s raw, uncut, unmastered, fresh from the studio and ready for your ears. No DJs, just eLZhi and his comrades, your speakers and you. Without the Leftovers UnMixedtape, most of these songs would never have seen the light of day, so consider this a gift, and come get your grub on!

DOWNLOAD: Elzhi – The Leftovers UnMixedtape

Here we have a mix which doesn’t contain any actual Dilla tracks that produce but more so a mixture of samples and interpretations of his beats. The mix is cool and a ride from beginning to end. Enjoy

DOWNLOAD: RP3 – Dilla Midnight Snack

Boonie Mayfield

Hey All!!!

Took a break last week and I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving Holiday. This week I have a special treat for you. Early last week I got a chance to conduct a phone interview with one of my absolute favorite producers of all time. Boonie Mayfield exemplifies musically absolutely all that Old Soul in a Young Man encompasses. I often strive to reach the production level of his work. He comes to us from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He began break dancing at age 13 which really served as his personal gateway into the whole bboy/Hip-hop movement. He began MCing at age 16 and making beats between ages 19 and 20. He was a duo of the once Soundclick popular , Y.E.S.S.U.R.R. which was primarily a rap group, but topped the charts time after time with bangers ranging from all genres. The group eventually split from creative differences but both parties continue to make music. Boonie Mayfield gained much of his internet success from this past, but began posting Youtube videos of him in his personal home studio after being a victim of “beat thievery” on Rocbattle.com a website for producers to earn money through beat battles. His Youtube catalog has since grown and allowed him to reach many listeners over the years. I personally have been a fan for 7 or so years.  Boonie Mayfield calls on influences of a tribe called quest,j dilla, premo,pete rock,ski beatz, battle cat warren g and daz, many of whom I have posted tracks from. Below is a Youtube example of Boonie May working on 2 beats in his studio. It was great to have the oppurtunity to speak with him, and hopefully you all will enjoy his work. (Below the youtube linke is a link to the finished version of “Just Lay Back”)

Boonie Mayfield in the Studio

Link to final version of “Just Lay Back”

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8356321

Shout out to Chris the Intern at Tres Records for the footage…

Apparently – Tres Records’ artist Paten Locke and his people Keith Beats missed the official Dilla Walk – but decided to do their own.
Paten Locke is mad funny and we definitely feel the love – Thanks yall!

This is hip hop…

For more on Tres Records click HERE and check their BLOG too.

For More on Paten Locke click HERE

And Chris the Intern has an alter ego named DJ GIANT SQUID -click HERE for more on him.

2tall, DJ Clockwork and Kper present a decades worth of quality hip hop in a megachuck of a downloadable mixtape, yeah, it’s still called a mixtape even though tape bit of the mix ain’t been used since last week.

What’s on it?

Dilla, Spacek, Mos-Def, Co-Flow, El-P, Flying Lotus, Matty G, Loefah, Samiyam, GLK, Ras G, Mike Slott, Danny Breaks, Nosaj Thing, Group Home, High & Mighty, Shawn J. Period,  J-Zone, Lootpack, Madlib, Pete Rock, Cannibal Ox, Rdj2, DJ Shadow, Boards of Canada, DJ Vadim, Busdriver, Pharoah Monch, Slum Village, Jaylib, De La Soul+MF Doom , Dabyre, Vast Aire, Roots Manuva, Prefuse 73, The Bug, Boom Bip, Oh No, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Modeselektor, Onra, Rustie, Jneiro Jarel plus about three giga more.

Download here

Thanks to Daily Swarm for the heads up.  How goes it Todd?

Here is the artwork for one of the most highly anticipated albums in my opinion for this year. It could be the sole fact that I am a huge Slum Village fan.

suffice it to say… performances like this are the only reason Jimmy Fallon’s show still stays on my radar =)

BlackStar keeps shinin yall, ‘98 to now…  & the  Roots crew is so nice with that Dilla beat.

YouTube - Mos Def & Talib Kweli – History (Late Night With Jimmy Fallon – 11-25-09).avi.

Thought I’d share some of the music that’s on repeat on my iTunes.  It is pretty random & eclectic but I do hope you enjoy! Every song strikes me in a different way and fits a different mood that I’ve been in lately.  Whether it be lyrics, a melancholy melody, or a beautiful guitar intro… you will probably find it here.

Chrisette Michelle – “Blame It on Me”

I ain’t a quiter
I just ain’t the type
I tried to see you through
I tried to make it to the finishing line
Every once in a while you think you figured it out
Sometimes your not right
Yes I love you but I really got to lose you
Freedom is where I want to be
Yes I’ll probably always love you
But I’m moving
I got to do this for me

BLU – “Untitled(Loved U)2″

See the way I feel about ‘chu is like nothin’ left without you
but I doubt you think its nothin’ more than game.
But the game is lame,
and the fame ain’t special since I met you, I have nothing more to gain.
‘Cept your love!
And harmony!
Who’s to say that I just can’t go and give you all of me?
Just relax your mind,
Ask some time, if you wanted me.

I love this song!  Blu’s tracks are always so soulful and melodic and this is my favorite track off of  Her Favorite Colo(u)r, his mixtape album that was released earlier in February.  I suppose you can call this a “break up album”.  But this is not your ordinary, in ultimate Blu fashion, it is seriously fresh, creative, and innovative; incorporating clips from indie films like Closer & Life Aquatic and samples from Billie Holiday, Radiohead, and Jummue Hendrix.  Ultimately I love his lyrics which fit the jazzy undertones like a glove.  He takes you on love’s journey after it has gone from sweet to sour.  But these tracks aren’t anywhere near depressing, but instead give of a feeling of accepting what love has ultimately become when it is all over whilst allowing you to reminisce a bit.  In “Amnesia” he samples Billie Holiday’s classic song “Am I Blue” and paints these vivid lyrics of lost love:

Blu – “Amnesia”

I used to have peace and serenity
teaching divinity
break bread, sippin’ the blood, eating with enemies
blind, pearl on my mind thinking we meant to be
this, that and a third
boy did I learn – tables turn…
homesick and i haven’t been home since…
blu heart, red skies
true art died in the heart of my mind
kept trying to fulfill this blank scrip of realness…
used to speak sweet with sympathy
tees to mimick me
sunshine every line you ever sent to me
heaven sent, heavenly sent the later crippled me…
shit simple men don’t learn
where is your empathy
couldn’t see the fork in the road.

 

Talib & DJ Hi-Tek – Love Language

It’s like one big mind game that everybody playin and
Niggas say bitches is trife, bitches say niggas is
We just don’t understand our fundamental differences
I’m still learning though, actually

L’amour n’a pas de, frontiere (Love has no boundaries)
Restes car je t’aime comme tu es (Stay because I love you as you are)
J’ai traverse l’ocean du verbe (I crossed an ocean of words)
Et je t’ai trouve (And I found you)

Women thrive on emotions, men refuse to acknowledge
So when we arguin nobody winnin’
Words get in the way time and again
Sticks and stones break your bones words break your heart
Whether you in touch with that part or not say “word”
Words are weapons for the revolutionary
Used for evil make the situation very scary
Word up, but love is brave
It flies in the face of fear

 

—–  these next tracks make me feel HAPPY —–

De Phazz – “Kiss Me”

The Roots – “Star/Pointro”

Dilla – “Mythsysizer”

NUJABES – “Peaceland”

U-N-I – “Beautiful Day”

—– this inspires me to pick up my Guitar and play it! —-

BJORK – “So Broken”

Here I go
Trying to run ahead of that,
Heart break train,
Thinking,
It will never catch up with me.
I’m trying to land,
This airplane of ours gracefully,
But it seems just destined to crash.
I’m so broken.

If you haven’t seen the live version of this song on Youtube you will appreciate the song a lot more.  Some folks might think she looks completely insane in the live performance but I see it as an artist in a trance and feeling the depth of her song.  The guitar accompaniment is beautiful and is a constant reminder of how I need to learn how to play like -  YESTERDAY!

Dope mix..

Here is Slum Village with a cut off their upcoming EP Villa Manifesto which will be released on December 8 (My birthday) via digital distribution. The track is fresh!!!

DOWNLOAD: Slum Village – Dope Man

Writing a J Dilla post is not exactly a task that can be undertaken lightly. It’s hard taking a unique approach writing about a subject who so much has been said about, and the motivation here isn’t to add to the legend, but to showcase the music. While Dilla’s beats are obviously most often associated with hip hop, an important facet of the listening experience is to disassociate his beats from a genre, and allow them to stand on their own. The idea that his beats are made for hip hop would insinuate that Donuts is missing vocals inherently, when that is not at all the case, and that’s the magic behind Dilla, that he was able to produce such consistent standalone beats that neither needed nor would benefit from the addition of vocals.

I’ve been wrestling with the idea that J Dilla’s untimely passing is intrinsically linked to the listening experience merely because I knew he had died before I first heard the music. Because of this I will forever make the association between his music and his death, while Dilla’s associations and motivations behind the music he made were likely all together different. Would my listening experience be drastically changed if Dilla were alive today? I can’t think of a more heartbreaking catch 22, that it took Dilla’s death for fans like me to be exposed to his music, and if he were still here, I’d never be able to make these deep emotional connections that are such a big part of the listening experience.

It’s hard to leave this post somewhere. I can’t think of another artist that elicits gut wrenching thoughts of both amazement and unexplainable guilt. But maybe you are lucky enough to be able to listen to music and not have a million thoughts race through your head related to it(artist personality/life, marketing strategies, recording techniques, record label info, the studio experience, does or does not this artist smoke weed, is this song as good/bad as I’ve convinced myself). This usually leads me to having to listen to any song 5-10 times before I really start to soak it in, which is not necessarily such a bad thing, as in J Dilla’s case.

MP3: “Waves” – J Dilla

You, breathe life into me
For life, I’m in too deep
I’m addicted.
Something tells me you’re the one

All I need in my life is.
There is nothing like this…
I never felt quite, LIKE THIS.

I am fond of many of Jay Dee’s tracks, but “Nothing Like This” is easily my favorite Dilla “love song”. This track was originally released in the Stones Throw and Adult Swim compilation ‘Chrome Children‘ in 2006. If you are a fan of Adult Swim, I’m sure you are quite familiar with their “bumps” which are usually paired with really dope hip hop beats from artists like Madlib, Oh No, and of course Jay Dilla; they also feature indie and electronic tracks.

Dilla’s vocals on this track is beautiful and haunting. There is a sense of yearning and it is communicated beautifully through they way the vocals shine. The pauses through which the words are sung conveys patience for love… wether it be for a lost love or one that has just entered your life.

What I found equally delightful is how perfect the video eventually released for this track by the Mixtape Club is. It is enchanting and dreamy. The psychadelic style captures the essence of this song: that people we love can be lost at anytime; which also ironically imitates Dilla’s premature passing.

Last night I decided to watch the video before going to bed and came across a clip of the making of this video! I was thrilled to learn of the creative process put behind this track. When you watch the detail and time placed to create the individual elements you can’t help but be WOWed! I hope you enjoy the making of “Nothing Like This”. Simply stated, it breathes LIFE and LIGHT to this wonderful Dilla track while mirroring the detail and heart he places in the vocals, beat, and synth of the track!

J Dilla – Behind the Scenes of “Nothing Like This” click here for the VIDEO via the Vimeo site

J. Dilla – Nothing Like This [video]

Greetings from the J.Dilla Project,

Thank  you to everyone for their support in helping to show that Hip Hop brings more to the table than music and fashion!

We have shown them the compassionate and caring side of the culture, and that a change can be made in medicine, as well as technology.

As we continue to fight the battle for James Yancey aka Jay Dee aka J.Dilla, his mother, Ma Dukes and many others who have lost their lives, or have been affected by this dreadful disease,we must take the time to celebrate our accomplishments over the past three years since our very first Lupus walk in October 2006.

Therefore – we have deemed October 24th,2009 -  Dilla Day in the A!

We will start the day with our walk at Highwoods Century Center Office Park (I-85 at Clairmont rd.  exit 91)  – right after the walk we will head over to the Bench, located at 602a Marietta St. Atlanta,Ga.

The Bar-B-Q begins at Noon, with DJ sets going on throughout the day; from 2pm  to 6pm will be the first installation of Dilla’s Dream Camp, which consists of Production, MPC, Emcee and B-Boy lessons for kids (16 and under) who sign up and participate in the Walk for Dilla.

EVERYONE is enlisted to please help us recruit those kids who really want to learn these skills – we are seeing the rot of the culture, let’s help bring it back to the fundamentals.

At 7pm we will have the Name Blessing Ceremony for Dilla Premier Wonder Jackson, officiated by the Minister Server of the Temple of Hip Hop.

At 8pm – the live performances will begin -we will showcase some of Atlanta’s underground artists with a special performance by Illa J (little brother of J. Dilla).

The entire day will be hosted by Ma Dukes and Uncle Herm, and if you could please pass the word, sign up and come out and enjoy this special day with us.

Here is the sign up link http://walk.lupusresearch.org/goto/jaydee ….you can contact us at disfadilla@yahoo.com or officialmadukes@yahoo.com ….also check in often here at www.officialmadukes.com for any thing you need to know about Dilla…much peace love and Donuts