In honor of Dan Charnas’ new and much needed Dilla tome I thought I’d start a thread. Very few people have had as much influence on the way music sounds. I feel like he threw all the rules out and dealt with a lot of co-optation including from people in his own circle.
Share thoughts and favorite moments in this thread if you wish.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8Wr7X6ONENfDFs2Oee8rq3uPJadnP5PS
Moodymann was showng off a well nice boxset on his insta the other day.
I like a lot of his productions but never got the God like worship a lot of people have for him tbh
He was insanely innovative and brave in his choices musically. I think sadly when you die you’re elevated from a person to a deity. But as my friend once said the only thing worse than dilla Stans are jaydee deniers.
I just love the music!
I know he was supa talented, loads of people i respect, like my hero Q Tip, think he was the GOAT, he’s just not my fave producer.
It’s the J DILLA CHANGED MY LIFE!! fanboys who get on my nerves a tad lol.
He’s deffo worthy of a thread because of his rich back catalogue.
Always loved this which was on the bootleg LP I bought before the actual release dropped.
Also worth a mention is ATCQ Beats, Rhymes and Life and Commons Water For…
i think there’s a lot of reeeaaally good producers that are close to his equal, but maybe not as prolific in their era. as @Doctorbrowncelray said - dying early also tends to elevate great to godlike.
i’m certainly a fan - almost more of his body of work and what it did for the industry sound. i’ll forever be a believer that hip hop works best when it’s innovating via recycling.
dilla seemed to be the face of those who kept clever sample flips alive during an era where everyone was moving towards keyboard hip hop (neptunes) or sampling the most boring-ass mainstream records ever (puffy).
Him and Madlib were pretty much the only ones (+ some other Stones Throw stuff) that I have records by since I was a young teenage skateboarder bitd
Top thread, so much love for J Dilla! Felt like he could turn his hand to anything, and obviously such a deep knowledge of music. Killer use of a sample, three faves….
The use of the Persuasion sample in this is pure genius
