Various media reports are talking about the new Dan Charmas-penned book, Dilla Time.

One interesting Prince-related(adjacent) note:

The clap in the original Linn drum machine, that Prince used extensively in the 80s, was a recording of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers clapping backstage as a favor to Linn who was struggling with getting a good clap sound.

Dilla died in 2003 from a rare blood disease.

Equal parts biography, musicology, and cultural history, Dilla Time chronicles the life and legacy of J Dilla, a musical genius who transformed the sound of popular music for the twenty-first century by pioneering a new musical time-feel, an accomplishment on par with the achievements of Louis Armstrong and James Brown. Dilla, with only his drum machine, transformed the way traditional musicians play.

AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK, HARDCOVER, AUDIO & EBOOK.

Says the Hardback is already out. This seems great. The emphasis on what he did for loosening the rigid timing of drum machines is a great hook. He absolutely changed the trajectory of beats/drum machine-based production once he hit the scene.

GOAT Hip-Hop producer. Donuts is a great entry, but don't stop at just that and the Jaylib record. His best stuff was his productions for other rappers.

Something futuristic hype-electro like Busta Rhymes "Make It Hurt" or laid-back watery beats like Que D's "Rock Box".

My fav. Dilla beat might indeed be "The Jam" by Mad Skillz. Instrumental.

And anything he did with Phat Kat was fiyah. "Dedication the Suckers", "Dedication 2004", "Cold Steel", etc.

[Edited 1/25/23 21:51pm]

[Edited 1/25/23 21:51pm]

Wasn't there a whole thing about Janet's "Got 'Til It's Gone" and Dilla? That he came up with that beat or something and wasn't credited for it?

WhisperingDandelions said:

LoveGalore said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Wasn't there a whole thing about Janet's "Got 'Til It's Gone" and Dilla? That he came up with that beat or something and wasn't credited for it?

Yeah, there was an old clip where he recounted the whole night him with The Ummah and Janet made it, then talked about when it came out there was another name on the credits.

It was also why he titled his remix "Ummah Jay Dee's Revenge Mix".

Remix is better, too. Joni Mitchell never lies. Revenge Mix

[Edited 1/27/23 5:33am]

My fav. Dilla story in maybe the Prince opening for the Rolling Stones show school of "everybody's not going to always be ready for something new" is one of the members of The Pharcyde freaking out at the loose percussion in Dilla's original version of "Runnin" to the extent where he like sat behind Dilla at his sampler and made him fix every loose kick drum and off-timed snare and get them closer to more early 90s generic timing . There was this interview with The Pharcyde eventually where they set the record straight and said it was one member who really hated the off-timing... the others seemed kinda embarassed about it taking place.

Dilla always had some animosity toward discussing or working with members of The Pharcyde after that, despite being probably his first major act that used his production. That was his whole artistic thing, clearly must have been friggin' belittling to go through so early in his career.

Anyway there was a CD Single of "Runnin" that had looser drum patterns on one of the extra tracks vs. the album/radio version.

[Edited 1/27/23 5:57am]

RJOrion said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Wasn't there a whole thing about Janet's "Got 'Til It's Gone" and Dilla? That he came up with that beat or something and wasn't credited for it?

Yeah, there was an old clip where he recounted the whole night him with The Ummah and Janet made it, then talked about when it came out there was another name on the credits.

It was also why he titled his remix "Ummah Jay Dee's Revenge Mix".

Remix is better, too. Joni Mitchell never lies. Revenge Mix

Someone posted a pic from the book. There's a section on "Got 'Til It's Gone." Being a huge Janet fan, I'm quite interested to hear the whole of that story with fresh eyes.
And I do think I remember that remix you posted. It wasn't too long ago that Dilla came up in this whole discussion, so I think someone probably pointed us (me) to it.

When that song came out, I was living in Minneapolis. I just remember the drums being so piercing and loud, Janet's voice so low and moody - it sorta irritated me. I liked the chords and synths, but I felt the drums were too loud. It was sort of a funky patchwork of sounds, samples, and melody. Ultimately, I grew to greatly appreciate the song and that monumental watershed album. The likes of which are only rivaled by Unbreakable.

RJOrion said:

Dilla's best work by far was when he was part of rap crew Slum Village...his beats and his criminally underrated rap skills are on full display on the album Slum Village - "Fantastic Vol 2" He also produced beats for hit records by Busta Rhymes, QTip, Frank N Dank, Common, The Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Qwest, The Roots, DeLaSoul, Eryka Badu, etc...and thats just off the top of my head.. One of the most talented (if not THE most talented) men in hiphop history...gone too soon.

J Dilla formerly known as Jay Dee was very underrated as well as Slum Village.

Great rap group before disagreements and tragedy broke them down.

I dug a lot of his work with the artists you named