J Dilla to me embodied what hip-hop is all about. Of course he made great music, but beyond that he was able to use his music to mobilize and unite people. He gave a whole city/section of the country a distinct sound for others after him to follow. However, the most remarkable aspect about Dilla is that although his time was cut short, he was able to touch an astonishing amount of people through his music. That is why he has a legacy that will never be forgotten.
– Zach Cole, Potholes In My Blog
Even though I'd heard his music before I knew who he was (like many), I was always enamored with the songs. When I started educating myself through my own digging (and a certain Facebook group), I grew to love the surprises -- the songs, the samples, the loops, and the subtle intricacies in his work. Dilla's music is the most pleasant surprise in my musical journey.
– Joanne Sainvilier, Hip Hop Lovers
J Dilla represented (and still does represent) a producer who truly embodied the term producer. His influence on the breed of hip-hop I love is unprecedented and unmatched. His beats weren't just drums and loops, they were fleshed-out pieces of music. And even when he was chopping and flipping samples, such as on Donuts, Dilla was clearly on another level. Without him, one of my personal favorite albums, Common's Like Water for Chocolate, would not have been the atmospheric, smoky masterpiece it is. R.I.P. James Yancey
– Andrew Martin, Potholes In My Blog
J Dilla meant the divine love movement. The love of the boom bap. The love of going against the grain. The love of Digging in the crates for dusty vinyl. Bridging the Gap between jazz, detroit soul, and Hip hop. Few people really understood his genius. Not only was Dilla the illest producer he was also a great musician who understood music theory. I was honored to chill with Dilla! Talk to him on the phone! Smoke L's and build with the brother before he left this plane. His Genius cannot be forgotten!!
- D Prosper
J Dilla is the personification of the future of hip hop music. He was way ahead of his time and will forever be an inspiration to me as producer. Dilla laid the blue print for a lot of folks to follow.
- Metaphysic
I wasn't a follower of Jay Dee until he passed away, I will admit. But since then, I have embraced his wonderful music and the movement he has created with open arms. His presence will be one that resonates in hip-hop for years to come. J Dilla lives!
– David Reyneke, Potholes In My Blog
J Dilla to me means so much but primarily I'd say he taught me how to look at things from a whole other angle that couldn't be seen or heard, or turning a stone on its side and seeing another part.
With sampling, it gets ragged on alot by music purists who claim there isn't talent involved. Dilla made sampling alone, an art. While what can seem like subtleties at first, I would find new meaning everytime I'd play certain records and arrangements. He taught me anyone can take something that already exists and put a new fresh spin on it, and spark emotion to boot.
He had so much style and personality to his craft. J Dilla taught me, that anything can be art, as long as u find a way to express emotion with what u r doing, whether its original or revised...Art is Art.
- Michel Desgrottes, Hip Hop Lover
J Dilla is inspiration through an MPC...soul through a morg syn-th and defying all obstacles through a sample. When I listen to his music no matter what type of situations, I'm going through his beats take my mind else where. It's almost like he's speaking to the listener through his productions. Dilla is timeless and no matter whether your a producer or an mc if you don't k know who Dilla is you need to do your research.
J Dilla was a creative being that was able to tattoo his genre with a distinctive signature, while stepping beyond it. Innovative is merely an understatement. He is a legend in his own right. What makes him relevant is what will make him live forever. A true musician that has influenced many and will continue until there is no more. His creative motions moved people. Not everyone that makes their music public can say that they're capable of doing that.
-Bronx Uber Villian, emcee
From growing up listening to ATCQ's, Beats, Rhymes, & Life, joints he did for De La Soul and The Pharcyde, to his solo albums and unreleased beat cds, there aren't enough words to describe the immense influence J.Dilla has had on my life. As a matter of fact, J Dilla's legacy/music has played a tremendous role in shaping my group, O.I.S.D. It's just sad that he had to leave this earth for people to realize how great he truly was. His sample/chop game...ridiculous!!! His production range? Eclectic. He wasnt just a beatmaker but an actual producer that played instruments as well!! Thank you for everything, glad we have the same 1st name.
Non stop bangin' like a Dilla instrumen-tal!
– J Monopoly, emcee, producer, dj
You know how people embrace like Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, as their musical heroes, well Mr. James Yancey was one of mine. From me hearing my first taste of wax of a Jay Dee production on First Down (Jay Dee & Phat Kat) in '95 I was personally attached to his sound, so every record that said produced by Jay Dee, I was purchasing 2 copies. And this was when I wasn't even doing.
He inspired all, even without them really knowing, we talking about a guy who made Common's "Dooinit" out of Rick James "Give It Too Me Baby" not to put that out there like that but his ear was crazy. He made ALL producers
wanna step they game up and go home and turn the MPC, SP 1200 on from pioneers to new producers coming out, but it was on the low, like almost it's a secret. Dilla was the peoples and fans choice not the industry choice, and that's what's so Hip Hop to me, like all the DJ shit collecting records, drum breaks, chops, loops always keeping the record element in it. I wish I could have met Jay, his music will always live through us. R.I.P. RESPECT.
J Dilla's "Climax" off of Slum Village's Fantastic Vol. 2 album was the first song of his I had ever heard. It blew my mind immediately. I had never known this style of hip hop, I had never eXpected it. Jay Dee's production was so raw and simple, yet eXtremely refined and complex. To me, music hasn't been the same since that moment. - theMarXman, emcee
J Dilla was the soundtrack to my life and I didnt even know it until I read my favorite cd's liners notes. He gave songs that changed my life their boom & the bap. In turn being the catalyst that changed the way I ultimately made/listened 2 music – Fresh Daily, emcee
When my best friend told me that Dilla had passed away, my heart stopped. The loss of an artist of his caliber is always abrupt, always cruel. No one is as genuine as Dilla. No one is as soulful as Dilla. His music reached me at a depth of emotion that nobody else has in hip hop, or any other genre. Every time I write a verse or make a song, I do so with the hope that Dilla would approve. I miss nothing in music more than being able to hear a new Dilla beat and I don't foresee that ever changing.
Although his body's gone back to the ground, J Dilla still means Present and Future of hip-hop.. there still are so many unreleased tracks more of J Dilla to come and to be discovered... he means hope & inspiration.
J Dilla means Hip Hop. J Dilla simply means real music that sprouts from the soul to engage the masses in something inexplainable.
J Dilla exemplifies what it means to trail blaze, stay in your own lane, do not what they want you to do but do your own damn thang. Dilla wasn't just digging for soul sh*t he was out the box digging through all genres. As a young producer listening trying to figure out where he sampled stuff how he created patterns I too got inspired to digg outside the box and that is the reason why my music is the way it is today. Thanks to Dilla. For him to be able to play live instruments is also inspiring. His drums patterns...totally out of this world. A lot of Dilla's drums had a different kind of soul and blackness to it to where you knew it was just special, and because it sounded so unique you had no choice but to be a fan and "Fall In Looooove..." with the music! J Dilla Changed My Life!!!
– MeccaGodZilla, emcee/producer
The first time I ever heard J Dilla was on The Pharcyde’s Labcabincalifornia album. Although I didn’t hear the album until I got to high school, years after the album’s release, “Runnin’” always stood out to me. And how could it not? When Common’s Like Water for Chocolate dropped, “The Light” ended up on every other mixed CD I made. One of my friends would bump “The Red” in the car every now and then, but had no idea who it was because it was a mix CD he found in class one day. It was just this dope mystery song that we never bothered to look up. He made all these dope songs I knew, yet I had no idea he existed. Then came Donuts and his death, and I finally put 2 and 2 together. This guy was one of my favorite producers and I didn’t even know it. But he knows it now, and I think that counts for something in the end.
– Fred Castano, Potholes In My Blog and iHEARTDilla
I didn't know about Jay Dee when I started listening to hip hop music.
Few years after I started digging in vinyls, I found out that every vinyl had 'James Yancey' or 'J Yancey' written on it which I think is mad dope. But, I still didn't know that it was Jay Dee. He passed away when I really got deep into his characteristic J Dilla beats.
I don't know if I can describe it correct in English. But, when I listen to his music, I feel love, soul, passion and strength deeply in his music. I can see something beautiful is sparkling. yes...it's all love.
J. Dilla to me is the one thing that all hip hop heads can agree on. The man was genuis. His status like the other greats that left this earth before him, are not to be argued in any of the barbershops. He was that good, and we all know this. As for what he means to me, as an artist I cant help but go after that status. The thought to inspire others is, well, quite inspiring.
In 1996, I was introduce to the productions style of J DILLA; when a friend gave me a group album called "J88".
The "J88" album was the tipping point of what was yet to come in my influences of listening to good soulful sounds of Hip-Hop music. Then the same year, The Pharcyde, Labcabincalifornia album dropped and J DILLA really did change my life. The tracks I love so much from that album are "Bullshit", "Somethin' That Means Somethin', and "Runnin". I was also happy to see that J DILLA work with A Tribe Called Quest on (The Love Movement) album, De La Soul on the "Stakes is High" album and a host of many other album projects. This is why J DILLA is my number one favorite producer of all time and has made a big impact on my life. R.I.P "James Dewitt Yancey" aka J DILLA; your life and legacy will never be forgotten. -Iveriani-The Illest Publicist
To me J Dilla represents originality in it's purest state. His music will be a huge influence in hip hop forever. LONG LIVE DILLA!!!!!!
-B. Smith, emcee
I was first introduced to J Dilla back in 2005. I was given a mix full of songs
which included tracks by De La Soul, Proofe, A Tribe Called Quest, and too many to name that I had already heard of and I was like, "NO WAY!" This man is amazing! And up until that point, I will admit-- I never paid any attention to who produced what. After that day I was searching for everything J Dilla related. The love that I have for J Dilla's music is infinite. Donuts, is by far one of my favorite albums ever. EVER. I listen to that album atleast once a month. It has been the soundtrack of my adult-life. My background music has seen the good, the bad, and the ever growing ME. He is the mirror of Hip Hop music thus one of the many reasons why I named my site iHEARTDilla.com.
-Jessica Estevez Editor in Chief of iHEARTDilla.com
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