"Right Back" - Slum Village Ft. De La Soul

Hip Hop veterans and legends Slum Village & De La Soul come to together for a new cut over some J Dilla production entitled "Right Back". Look for this one on SV's upcoming LP YES!. I get the feeling I'll be bumping this alot. Hit play right below.

Dilla Day Weekend lineup

February is right around the corner, so that means it time to celebrate the life and music of Hip Hop great, the late J Dilla with 'Dilla Day Weekend'. We would usual anticipate this event happening in Dilla' hometown of Detroit but Ma Dukes decides to change the scenery and move the event to Miami, FL. Among the artists headlining this tribute are Joey Bada$$, Pete Rock, Talib Kweli, Black Milk and more. The festivities go down on Feb 5th-8th, so hit #DillaWeekend site for tickets.

"The Season" - Nas [Prod. By J Dilla]

I just wanna know...who the fuck released this without letting me know! God's Son Nas jumps on an already classic J Dilla instrumental and makes it his own for "The Season". Press play below.

J Dilla's MPC To Be Added To DC Smithsonian

You see, this is the significance of Hip Hop and its icons. It has been announced at this past 'DC Loves Dilla' event that J Dilla's prized equipment, his MPC & custom built Moog, will be added to the DC Smithsonian museum of African American History & Culture. That's so major and Dilla is looking down proud at what he has done for Hip Hop culture. Peep the clip of the announcement below.

"Filthy" - J Dilla

Courtesy of J Dilla's mother Maureen 'Ma Dukes' Yancy, there will be a project releasing called The King Of Beats(Ma Dukes Yancey Collector’s Edition Box Set), features 40 unreleased tracks from Jay Dee including this one entitled "Filthy". The box set will contain four 10" vinyl records from Dilla's "Batches" collection, a commemorative booklet containing interviews with peers and music scholars, a limited-edition 3″ floopy disk containing one unreleased J Dilla production and a cassette featuring five unreleased tracks. Damn Ma Dukes, you sure do know how to make a Hip Hop head's day. Play "Filthy" right below.

"The Doe" - J Dilla

We have more unreleased music from the late Jay Dee from the upcoming Give Em What They Want EP, this time for the cut "The Doe". J Dilla's The Diary coming soon as well. Play on below.

4 Producers Who Mastered Sampling

For those who know me well, I love instrumentals with a passion. Yes, I love lyrics as well but I personal can do with lyrics at all. In Rap, instrumentals are extremely important. A song can be completely trash lyrically but if the instrumental is great, you have a hit. Having a good instrumental can definitely be a blessing and a curse but I'm not gonna talk about that.


Sampling has become a major part of Hip Hop instrumentals in the past decade thanks to these 5 producers I will highlight. It's what Hip Hop & Rap music was built on. Beat beats are what sparked all of Hip Hop's 3 musically inclined elements: Emcee, DJ'ing & Breaking. Hip Hop has some of the best music producers to ever grace this planet but these 4 are the front runners of the sampling game.

Kanye West

Right out of the gate, even before he was a rapper, Kanye West has made sample apart of his process of making music. the way 'Ye flipped samples caught the ear of JAY Z and he immediately started making hit records for the former Rocafella general such as "Izzo", "Heart Of The City", "'03 Bonnie & Cylde" & "Encore". After that, Kanye West began his own solo career, in which he's made some of the most rapped over instrumentals ever such as "Two Words", "Diamonds From Sierre Leone", "Can't Tell Me Nothing", "Power" and many more. Not to mention, each of the song I just named contain a sample. From the smallest Young Jeezy ad-lib sample in "Can't Tell Me Nothing" to something as the man power it took to combine 5 different samples to make "Power". With that being said, Kanye West is one of the greatest sample producer ever.

J Dilla

The late great James Yancey, Jay Dee, or J Dilla will also have a special place in every Hip Hop head's heart as one of the best to ever do it. J Dilla got his start with Hip Hop collective Slum Village as an MC/Producer but later became known for his method of production and distinctive instrumentals. J Dilla has worked with Q-Tip, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu, Common and many more. Jay Dee peak struck when he released his instrumental albums Ruff Draft & Donuts. These projects alone contained samples from A Tribe Called Quest, Eric B & Rakim, David Bowie, Kirk Franklin, James Brown, Ras Kass, Lou Rawls and many many more. They way Dilla used his drums will forever be remembered by the Hip Hop community.

The Alchemist

Well, what can I say about this guy. He's very undercover with his at time but there is no doubt that The Alchemist, who is my personal favorite, is a producer who has mastered the art of sampling. Whether you release it or not, Al has producer some of your favorite Hip Hop tracks such as: "We GonnFra Make It", "Hold You Down", "Wet Wipes" and many more. Al got his start with duo The Whooligans and soon after started to venture out on his own. Producing for the likes of Mobb Deep, Evidence, Roc Marcino, Eminem, Domo Genesis and more, Al has been recognized for his unique use of samples from all over the world. Not only does he use soul samples, he uses samples from other countries. Recently, Alchemist release an entire LP comprised of tracks that only included samples from Russian music entitled Russian Roulette. Pretty good huh? That alone set Al in a different bracket that any other Hip Hop producer ever.

Madlib

Madlib or Quasimoto as some may know him as is different a master of sampling. He got his start in 1998 with Stones Throw records and the took a new route into Jazz & Electric music for a while. However in 2003, Madlib hit his peak with the release of the 2 collaborative albums Champion Sound with J Dilla as Jaylib & Madvilliany with MF DOOM as Madvillian. These 2 projects alone put Madlib at the top of his game. The 2 projects contains samples from The Isley Brothers, Gentle Giant, Cris Williamson, the film Frankenstein, Schoolly D, Lonnie Smith and much more. Recently, Madlib linked up with Freddie Gibbs for the critically acclaimed LP Pinata, which receive much praise by the Hip Hop community as being one of the most Hip Hop records release in a while. Now, that's saying alot huh?

"Give Em What They Want" - J Dilla

It's alwaysa great thing to find some unreleased J Dilla, at any time and day. Today we have another unreleased instrumental from 2002 entitled "Give Em What They Want". The label run by Jay D's family Pay Jay will be dropping a 6-track EP under the same name on iTunes and clear vinyl. Peep the track right below and enjoy the drums of J Dilla.

"Smell The Da.I.S.Y." [Mixtape} - De La Soul

Finally, De La Soul drops their much anticipated J Dilla-produced mixtape Smell The Da.I.S.Y.. This project only contains one feature by Redman and is fully produced and pays homage to the late production guru J Dilla. Peep this 10-track mixtape below.

"Vocabulary Spills" - De La Soul

De La Soul drops a new cut on us today produced by the late J Dilla, this one entitled "Vocabulary Spills" will be one their Dilla-produced mixtape entitled Smell The Da.I.S.Y. Look out for it to drop March 26th.

"Dilla Plugged In" - De La Soul

De La Soul drops a new cut for us today entitled "Dilla Plugged In", produced by the late producer J Dilla. Look for this track on Pos, Dave & Mase upcoming mixtape Smell The D.A.I.S.Y., entirely produced by J Dilla. That's gonna be insane. Peep "Dilla Plugged In" right below.

"Dear Dilla" [Official Video] - Phife Dawg

As promised, Phife Diggy provides us with his latest visual "Dear Dilla" honoring the late produced icon. Look out for Phife's solo project MUTTYmorPHosis coming soon.

"Dilla's Lightworks" - Pete Rock

As #DillaMonth continues, Pete Rock joins the tribute month of the late and great J Dilla with a tribute mix called "Dilla's Lightworks", in which you can check out below, on 'Backspin' Sirius Radio station. You can stream and download this mix above. Props to Fuse Green on the cover art.

"MadDILLAiny [Madvillain Vs. J Dilla]" - DJ Skarface

DJ Skarface took the liberty of unleashing a dynamic project entitled MadDILLAiny [Madvillain Vs. J Dilla], in honor of #DillaMonth. This project contains mash-ups and remixes of Madvillain and J Dilla tracks. You can listen to this mixtape fully above. RIP Dilla.

"Dil Jackson" - J Rocc

Iconic DJ J Rocc of the Beat Junkies unleashes his annual J Dilla inspired mash-ups and blends for honor the producer's unfortunate passing. This year's collection of mash-ups is nothing that amazing entitled "Dil Jackson", a mixture of J Dilla & Michael Jackson. You can probably guess that this combination sounds incredible. You can check out the track from Dil Jackson right below.

Dilla Day Detroit 2014 Lineup

Today, we have the lineup for the 2014 edition of 'Dilla Day Detroit', celebrating the life and music of the late production icon J DIlla. Performances and appearances from De La Soul, DJ Premier, Slum Village, Pete Rock and Phife Dawg, who will debut his music video for "Dear Dilla". Lots more happening at this event, check out the flyer above for more.

"Two Lips" - Joey Bada$$ & J Dilla [Truth Studios Mastered]

This cut is Joey Bada$$ on a unreleased beat by the legendary Hip Hop producer J Dilla that is available only on a limited 45 record. Clothing line Akomplice are taking charity donations to help buy instruments for underprivileged children in Detroit and Brooklyn for whoever buys this song. Great music for a great cause. Take a listen to this and purchase it if you like. Rest In Beats J Dilla