Mixed by some of the illest. Peep the track list and download link after the jump. (more…)

Last month, VIBE magazine published this heartbreaking article about the state of J Dilla’s family and estate. It is really unfortunate that the lawyers and accountants take over like this, especially when influential people pass away. The family can’t even use his name or likeness for any commercial purposes…what the fuck? Like really come on! It’s a complicated case, and I guess you just gotta hope that the “professionals” involved do the right thing, and the situation works out for the best. Check out the article, its a very good read.

One of the illest tributes to drop. Featured several new and unheard gems. Includes High as posted earlier. Peep the tracklist and download link after the jump. This is a MUST HAVE! (more…)

Ahhh! This beat is oh so soulful! Bo Bo Lamb doin’ his thing on the track, funny as hell! You can catch this track on Jay Love Japan.

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Here is a collection of  the illest interviews by Dilla’s closest friends/fam. The 4 parts touch on Dilla’s Ruff Draft EP, the infamous shirt, a trip to Cali and his ppl’s memories of him. I remember listening to the EP for endless hours of the night for months and cruising down the streets blasting The $ and Crushin’. The original was released back in ’03, but did not include Wild on it. The re-release was pushed by Stones Throw and issued with a limited packaging which included: a TURN IT UP t-shirt, Ruff Draft Cassette, a custom Reckless Driving ticket and a J Dilla photo. Peep the rest of the interviews after the jump.

Interview #1: Dilla’s surprise gift from Common when he reached Cali and his new friendship

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGZrjd6hMPc&feature=PlayList&p=BCC679871C27755E&playnext=1&index=5[/youtube]
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I was going through my externals and came across a bunch of old Dilla tribute mixes and beat tapes. I’ll be posting ‘em through out the day, but I’ll leave out the beat tapes. I’ll letcha’ have the fun of scavenging around for all 3 of ‘em. There’s a couple more, but most of them have repeats.

The here’s a fine collection of Dilla’s work, accompanied by his close friends x fans. Static Slektah and Q-Tip pulled together joints from Common, De La Soul, Termanology, Erykah Badu, Hi-Tek and many more. Peep the tracklist and download link after the jump.
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MF Doom rocks out to Dilla’s guitars on Sniper-Elite while Ghostface Killah slaughters on Murder Goons. Not much (hardly any) Doom collabos exist, however GFK was able to squeeze 2 beats from Dilla for his Fishscale album. Sadly, Dilla wasn’t around long enough to hear the finish product. The mp3s for the following 2 tracks can be purchased on Stones Throw (here) for only $0.99 cents each.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip1pIO9cgCA&feature=related[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGi3tqA_vtU&feature=related[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb7GcgaD-Y8&eurl=http://nahright.com/news/index.php?s=j+dilla[/youtube]

Via: NahRight

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OxH8riGZl8&feature=related[/youtube]

Frank-N-Dank give ya’ll a quick tour of the Dilla studio. Common’s in the studio, possibly working on tracks for the Electric Circus.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRzkGVW7z0Q&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div[/youtube]

I wish there was more to this. Dilla speaks on how he met up with Madlib and formed the sooper group Jaylib. There are hardly any interviews on the two speaking on each other. I wish someone has and leaks the Champion Sound studio sessions. One can only dream!

DJ Soul put together an ill tribute mixtape by mixing and collecting your favourite artists over Dilla’s Donuts and left-over beats. The mixtape features heavy weights such as: Notorious BIG, Ghostface Killa, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Jadakiss and much more. Peep the track list and download link after the jump.

Jay-Z x The Escorts – Cry [Remix]

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Most slept on! I will be posting the Dillagence mixtape later today, which includes this shiny gem.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBMROA7A7-I[/youtube]

Very rare and hard to find track. Off the 2nd Boondocks mixtape. Don’t mind the Ni99a Moment intro.

In my opinion, here are some of the illest rappers to rhyme over some of the illest Dilla beats over the past years. If I failed to mention someone, believe me, I’ve already included them in one of the other posts. If not, feel free to blog-hate on me until the end of the day, ha. There was an art to rhyming over a Dilla instrumental and not everyone could do it. Those who were close to him knew the method and those who followed him for a minute developed it over the years. Here’s a list of my 10 in no order what so ever.

1. Lupe Fiasco – Much More

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With the crazy buss behind the Jedi rapper, it wasn’t until this track that I began taking an interest back in his mixtape era. A very wise selection for a beat with the pretty Yummy Bingham on the hook.

2. Black Milk x Guilty Simpson – Freestyle

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Dilla played a mentor to both of ‘em and you can definitely hear the influence in Black Milk’s chop game. I was always a fan of Simpson’s raw delivery and slick word play.

3. Kid Cudi – Cudi Get

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As dope as Cudi is, he get twice as more respect for jumping on this classic beat (Wild off the Ruff Draft EP).

4.  MED – Push

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Possibly one of the illest slept on street/club bangers. It made the noise, but I always felt this joint was always unappreciated it. Shout outs to MED! That last MED x Just Blaze collabo was straight pineapples!

5.  Jay Electronica – A Prayer for Michael Vic & T.I.

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*I have no clue who this guy is but his Uzi weighs a ton.      *sarcasm

Peep the rest of ‘em after the jump. (more…)

The title and the shirt say it all. Dilla’s mother is battling with the same blood disease, lupus, which claimed her son’s life. It’s a very unfortunate and sad situation, therefore all $$$ from the shirts will go directly towards Ma Dukes foundation. The tee is designed by the artist known as Parra, who has helped design several other items for the Stones Throw catalog. Parra was not happy with the recent Vibe article, so he decided to act and raise awareness. I just ordered mine and am waiting for it sometime this week. Every dollar counts, so please help out for a great cause. The shirts are only $29.00 and can be purchased directly from the Stones Throw website (here) or a listed retailers after the jump.  (more…)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N6aiRogcSA[/youtube]

We all got that one song that really hits hard and made us stop what we were doing and pay close attention to the sounds of Dilla. For me, it was The Official by Jaylib [Jay Dee x Madlib]. I had always appreciated Dilla’s work through Common/De La Soul/Q-Tip, but it wasn’t until I heard this joint when sh-t really started to make sense for me. And everybody who knows me has already heard about my story bout how I was at the Under Pressure jam back in ’03 andcompletely lost my senses when I heard Dilla’s vocals dancing around this horn/bass friendly track. I kept annoying the sh-t out the DJ until he gave me the name of the record, the artists and the company behind it. It was ’03, so we was on our Limewire-ish, me and Flash were scavenging the net for a couple days before he managed to finally get it. There wasn’t much information available at the time, so I decided to order the CD through HMV, who charged the hell outta me for it being a “limited” release or some sh-t. But those $28 dollars were the greatest investment of my life everrr. I had never heard of 2 producers just making beats for one another to rap one like they were doing. Champion Sound definitely opened the doors to several production/beat making techniques for myself. I’ve got a vault full of Dilla inspired beats (just like everyone else). A lot of those are personal and not everyone may understand the process behind ‘em. Commercial music has sucked the life out of real, soulful music. No one makes music for the love of it any more. If ya got that ONE Dilla track that did wonders for you, do leave a comment.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rTtdfeHCo0[/youtube]

J Rocc was courteous enough to drop a brand spanking new Doom x Dilla track @ a Jay Dee Tribute party. Not much info is out, except for this sooper dope footage of Rocc spinning the bass-heavy track with the crowd going apeshit. Same beat as Jay Elec’s Dimethyltryptamine.