Many notable remixes appeared during the late 90s with Jay Dee and The Ummah’s recognisable flair on them. An issue of much contention surfaced when Janet Jackson released “Got ‘til It’s Gone”, a track which sampled Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”. Though the song officially credited Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as producers, Yancey claimed in an interview that it was actually him behind the track.
Despite the controversy over “Got ‘til It’s Gone”, The Ummah provided Jay Dee with an invaluable platform for further work, and during his time in the group, he played a hand in work for De La Soul, The Roots and Busta Rhymes. His remix of Macy Gray’s “I Try” is a beautiful, down tempo edit that pairs the raspy quality of Gray’s vocals with a smooth, jazz beat.
Soulquarians and distancing from Slum Village
Aside from his membership of The Ummah, Jay Dee was a founding member of hip-hop supergroup Soulquarians. Alongside him were Questlove and James Poyser from The Roots, Common, Erykah Badu and Talib Kweli. Although no formal releases came from the group as a whole, each member was involved with the production and writing of the other’s work. It was Yancey’s involvement in Erykah Badu’s “Didn’t Cha Know” that earned a Grammy Nomination for R&B song of the year in 2001.
This greater level of success contributed towards Yancey’s distancing from Slum Village. In 2000, the group released their second album, Fantastic, Vol. 2, and their critical standing further improved. UK DJ Toddla T remembers his first encounter with Dilla through Slum Village’s second record:
When I lived in Sheffield and I’d got to the record shop when I was 13 or 14, the first thing that I ever bought that I knew was consciously J Dilla was Fantastic Vol. 2. I’d no idea who they were or what it was. I remember putting it on the turntable in the shop and thinking that it was absolutely amazing. I bought it straight away. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I realised that loads of my favourite hip hop records with other people’s cuts were Dilla related.
However, shortly afterwards Yancey announced his departure from the group, though he continued to produce their next two albums. His status as a highly sought out producer was evident in his decision to leave.
A second Grammy nomination came as a result of his work on Common’s gold selling album Like Water For Chocolate. Ten of the 21 tracks had his touch on them, and Complex later listed “The Light” as number one on its list of “The 50 Best Dilla Songs”.
At the turn of the century, Dilla had mastered his warm and fuzzy boom-bap style of production, and by the time the “The Light” hit he’d reached his peak. The next phase of Jay Dee’s production style was more digital, but this was a welcome goodbye to that era, which also gave Common the biggest hit of his career.
Solo work and the birth of J Dilla
Taking inspiration from his own stomping ground, Welcome 2 Detroit was Yancey’s first solo album, released under monikers Jay Dee and J Dilla. The album saw Dilla take up the mic to both rap and sing; “Think Twice” shows Yancey’s vocals to be soft and subtle, quite unlike the twangy assertions on tracks like “Give It Up”.
The album was followed by a separate track “Fuck the Police”, considered to be one of his best cuts. Inspired by the racially motivated interference Dilla himself suffered, the song became his most loved work as a solo rapper.
A fusion of talent: the creation of Jaylib
It seemed only a matter of time before the creative genius of Yancey was paired with someone of equal stature and respect. Otis Jackson Jr., better known as DJ and rapper Madlib, was given access to some of Dilla’s unreleased instrumental tracks, and went on to rap over Dilla’s beats. Stones Throw records, longtime supporters of Madlib and Dilla, then included one of said tracks as the B Side to Madlib’s “JFK to LAX”.
Peanut Butter Wolf, founder of Stones Throw, remembers the moment Dilla found out about this inclusion.
Dilla called me up afterwards, and was like, “Yo, what’s up with that bootleg man!” I wasn’t sure if he was like what’s up, I’m pissed off at you, or what’s up… He was like, “yo man, let’s do some shit official!”
Under this instruction, the pair went on to work together on Champion Sound, released on Stones Throw in 2003. Split 50/50 with Dilla on production and Madlib rapping, and vice versa, the album met with great critical acclaim. The talent of the pair fused together to make something DJ Rhettmattic has since described as “almost like Yin and Yang”.
Taken from Champion Sound, “Starz” uses samples from the Isley Brothers and Starcastle, showcasing the diversity of the pair in their work together; the first half of the track lyrically light but driven by a thumping bassline and vocal sampling not dissimilar from those used by Kanye West on College Dropout.
Despite Dilla’s now apparent health complications, he was still as keen as ever to perform with Madlib on a string of live shows which took Jaylib around the States. The pair created a magnetism on stage to be expected by the two stalwarts of hip-hop.
Donuts and the Legacy of Dilla
By the early 2000s, the complications Yancey had developed from his battle with lupus began to take hold, and his condition worsened. Though his output became progressively more limited, Dilla continued to listen religiously to music throughout his hospitalisation. During this time, his mother and friends would bring him records; a habit Ma Dukes makes light of during the Crate Diggers documentary on his extensive record collection.
“When I took the crate up, and he looked through it, I think out of a whole milk crate full of 45”s, I think he might have taken a dozen out of there and set them aside. He said “you can take that back to the house”. He said “none of that’s good”.”
Despite his debilitating condition, J Dilla produced his most successful solo album and arguably most influential, Donuts, for release on February 7th 2006, three days before his death. The majority of the record had been put together during Dilla’s stay in hospital, during which time he remained incredibly private regarding who could listen to his work in progress; he was known to become enraged by those who would attempt to listen to previews in their incomplete form.
Donuts, named simply for Yancey’s love of the snack, was quickly lauded as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. With a tracklist of 31 songs all under three minutes, the album, released on Stones Throw, was lauded by some close friends as “a goodbye letter”. Tracks like “Stop!” serve a poignant reminder of Dilla’s self awareness. Sampling “You’re Gonna Need Me” by Dionne Warwick, his scratching over the Jadakiss vocal creates the line “is death real?”
Made of chopped up samples, “Donuts” is a purely instrumental record, morphing the old, new and ‘future’ beats that had earned Yancey the respect that now comes every time his name is mentioned. So many tracks from the album have been cited as favourites by a diverse range of artists internationally: “Workinonit” chosen by The Horrors, and “Lightworks” by Ma Dukes herself.
In the seven years since his death, so many unreleased Dilla cuts have surfaced, but fans are united in the knowledge that the full extent of his catalogue will never be revealed. Inspired by her son’s motto that the best talent has always yet to be found, Maureen Yancey is reknown as a tireless campaigner for keeping her son’s legacy alive, starting The J Dilla Foundation in his memory to “help fund inner-city music programs, and provide scholarships to students attending schools that have progressive music curricula”.
In an interview in 2008, Busta Rhymes describes the nature of the man who played a part in every one of his solo albums:
For the most part, when I did get the opportunity to meet J Dilla, his demeanour was so calm, like reserved. He wasn’t really into the long talk, or the conversation…He wasn’t into being in all the clubs, all of the hotspots. He just wasn’t that dude…For the most part he was into the grind, just trying to contribute greatness to the game through the music.
The man known as Jay Dee may have passed, but his legacy lives on, never allowed to be forgotten by his peers, family, and many imitators.
Follow Tamara on Twitter @tamararoper
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