WHY J.DILLA IS THE GREATEST HIP-HOP PRODUCER EVER
15 years ago today we lost the greatest of all time.
James Dewitt Yancey is the greatest hip hop producer of all time. Is this debatable? Sure. You’ll always be wrong but do what you want. Here are the reasons why J.Dilla is the greatest hip hop producer that lived.
Dilla could make a beat in 10 minutes. Now i’m sure you’ve heard producers boast about creating a beat quickly but nigga did it sound like a Dilla beat? no the fuck it didn’t. For Dilla to create a beat in 10 minutes and sound how it sounds is some supernatural and mystical shit. Dilla was Thanos with all the infinity stones but wasn’t an asshole and minded his business.
Everybody takes something musically from Dilla. Every producer and musician in the culture will admit it. Even the ones who haven’t said it they have but they’re just unaware of it. There is no option of whether you want to bend the knee. You don’t have a choice. He’s the John Coltrane of this shit so just like musicians from all genres took things from Coltrane back in his era the same shit is happening with Dilla.
He was revered by his peers during his time physically and after he passed. Everyone likes to say “Give them their flowers while they’re here” well dilla definitely got his flowers because it was hard not to be reminded to tell that man how great he was. Go down the list. Pete Rock, Q-Tip, Large Professor, Dj Premier, Pharrell, Kanye West. Just those names alone are 2 Mt.Rushmore’s of producers that praised J.Dilla. When people say Dilla is your favorite producer favorite producer that is not an opinion that is a fact.
Dilla was the most un-orthadox clean producer I ever heard. He did things that made people think he was psycho. He took what was taught traditionally or classically and experimented on it with no fear. The most known is him turning off the quantize feature that would make his kicks or hats arrive before or after the beat. It gave a more human element to his production and that’s why Dilla production would feel different. That is un-orthadox but he was still technical with how everything was presented and placed. Everything sounds like it is where it needs to be. He was truly a scientist. He was the type that would always make discoveries. You could hear through his music that he was an perfectionist. He lived a very simple life too. Wake up, shower, eat, go to the record store, make beats, strip club, repeat. There are numerous stories of how he operated. Erykah Badu said that all the things in his refrigerator were all facing the same way, neatly placed. J.Dilla’s longtime friend and producer J Rocc stated that he kept all his vinyl in a certain order and knew where every vinyl was and could tell if anything was out of place. Dilla was O.C.D and you could tell through his music. He was unconventional but very clean at the same time and that’s how he achieved most of his sounds.
Sample King. Period. Shut the fuck up. Don’t say any other name. Just listen to “Climax” and tell me you knew those samples. Please go google what was sampled on Climax by Slum Village and then listen to Climax and listen in amazement of how he took samples so small and made the finished product. That is so surgical. Even the Slum Village “Players” sample is insane. I never heard anyone who could reshape samples the way Dilla could. He could weave multiple genres together in one song and make that shit sound like the greatest hip hop shit you ever heard.
Dilla production had the touch. It was like everything he produced could touch you in your spirit that other production couldn’t. Dilla production operated at a depth that even as a listener made you question “How did he do this?” I remember I seen a clip of Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers breaking down in tears because of a J.Dilla EP (Ruff Drafts) touching his soul. Flea didn’t even know J.Dilla. His work just had that touch on people.
Dilla did it til the death. LITERALLY. He had a portable record player and his drum machine and gave the world Dounts. He made that classic while in excruciating pain. The man was dying. His fingers would swell and blister up while working on Donuts from his hospital bed and his mom would have to massage his fingers. I remember reading that and thinking about all the things I complained about before creating things. Dilla was in a wheelchair on stage performing his heart out. He was in no condition to do live shows but he did them. He was different. That’s how much his art meant to him. That’s how much music meant to him. He never took it for granted and he showed us that until it was his time to leave.
The Greatest Of All Time.
Peace.
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