School of Rock
Random article All articles A–Z
2 languages

J Dilla

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

J Dilla's real name was James Dewitt Yancey and he was born in 1974 in Detroit. He came from a musical family: his mother was an opera singer, his father a jazz bassist. As a teenager he sat alone in the basement to learn to make beats with a cassette deck and his growing record collection. In 1992 the Detroit musician Amp Fiddler let him work with an Akai MPC, a sampler with drum pads. That device became his instrument.

Music and breakthrough

With classmates he formed the rap group Slum Village, which made its debut in 1997 with Fantastic, Vol. 1. Meanwhile he produced, often under the name Jay Dee, for The Pharcyde, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson. He belonged to the Soulquarians, with Questlove and D'Angelo, among others, and worked on records by Erykah Badu and Common. Later he made the album Champion Sound (2003) as Jaylib with Madlib. Characteristic of his work are long, melodic loops from old soul records, with breakbeats and vocal samples running through them.

Influence

J Dilla suffered from a rare blood disease and lupus. He died in February 2006 at the age of 32, three days after his last album Donuts was released. His influence only became fully visible after his death. His loose, lagging way of programming drums, in which the hits do not fall exactly on the beat, is still imitated by producers and drummers today.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Time: The Donut of the Heart and notice the drums: do the hits fall exactly on the beat, or just slightly early and late? Hear how the soul sample keeps returning and gives the track a dreamy feel.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: ArtistsLo-fi hip hop