Kanye West & Common in the Studio with Lil’ Royce (via roborobo)
I just put the finishing touches on the latest version of my J Dilla Muxtape. As you may have noticed, the Muxtape has been empty for a few weeks, but that gave me a chance to upload 12 new songs. This time around, we’ve got tunes from Dilla’s early days, some rare remixes, and a few classics. Tracklisting and album information below. THAT’S WHAT’S UP!
Jay Dee - Welcome 2 Detroit
Welcome To Detroit (2001)
J Dilla ft. Pharoah Monch - Love
The Shining (2006)
J Dilla - Workinonit
Donuts (2006)
Steve Spacek - Dollar
Space Shift (2005)
Slum Village ft. Pete Rock - Players
Fantastic, vol. 2 (2000)
De La Soul - Stakes Is High (Jay Dee Remix)
original on Stakes Is High (1996)
D’Angelo - Me & Those Dreamin’ Eyes (Jay Dee Remix)
original on Brown Sugar (1995)
The Pharcyde - Somethin’ That Means Somethin’
Labcabincalifornia (1996)
Busta Rhymes - Woo Hah!! (The Jay Dee Other Shit Remix)
original on The Coming (1996)
Brother Jack McDuff - Oblighetto (Jay Dee Remix)
Blue Note Revisited (2004)
A Tribe Called Quest - Stressed Out
Beats, Rhymes, & Life (1996)
Common - The Light
Like Water for Chocolate (2000)
Slum Village ft. Common - Thelonious
from S.V.’s Fantastic vol. 2 (2000) and Common’s Like Water for Chocolate (2000).
Produced by J Dilla
Common ft. Pharrell - Universal Mind Control
First single from Common’s upcoming album. Below: Kanye & Lupe Fiasco jamming with The Neptunes and Common in the studio.
Chicago did a great job breaking real talented artists into the mainstream… with Kanye, Common and Lupe. I can’t think of another city that currently has 3 huge and viable commercial artists who just representthe original ethos of hip hop.
Mick Boogie, Interview with Fake Shore Drive.
Not that you HAVE to be commerically viable, but yeah… co-sign.
Common - Heat
Video for “Heat,” a J Dilla produced jam from Com’s Like Water For Chocolate. I didn’t even know this existed until yesterday…
“Hi haters, I’m back off hiatus…”
This beat will never get old to me. It’s a 100% “I’M THE SHIT AND YOU ALL KNOW IT, OH, AND EVEN MY OWN ARTISTS ARE THE SHIT, TOO” kind of song. But it’s tense and a little bit sexy. Hell, even John Legend sings about partying on down in their honor. They deserve it.
I WILL be working on Common’s next album.
No I.D., from a recent interview with Fake Shore Drive.
No I.D., a Windy City production legend (think Common’s Resurrection and One Day It’ll Make Sense), is finally set to re-group with Com for his next one and that gets an official “that’s what’s up” from me. One of my favorite tracks of recent memory is American Gangster’s “Success” featuring Jay-Z and Nas firing on top of No I.D.’s raw, organ-led, drumset-driven beat. (favorite line: “I used to give a fuck, now I fuck less, what do I think of success? It sucks.”)
Listen: Jay-Z ft. Nas - Success (produced by No I.D.)
Common and Q-Tip, probably arguably the two rappers with the best Dilla-produced repetroire, are releasing an album entitled The Believer in November (via ).
This makes my heart flutter. The way Common describes the project (“like two jazz musicians coming together
just made me think of DILLA DILLA DILLA. Q-Tip and Com had such incredible relationships with Dilla, sonically and beyond. I would have died for a chance to spend one day in the apartment that Dilla and Common shared in L.A.
I can’t help but to think that the two hip-hop luminaries hooked up because of some void left by Dilla. This should be an interesting project to watch.