James Yancey (J Dilla/Jay Dee)

James Dewitt "J Dilla" Yancey, son of Dewitt and Maureen "Ma Dukes" Yancey, was born in Detroit on February 7th, 1974. Dilla was born into a musical family and he began to build upon on the legacies of his musically focused parents from a young age, showing an inclination towards music from early youth. Dilla began using the Akai MPC in his teenage years. His approach towards the machine was that of a self-taught virtuoso, as he learned its functions without any help from the instruction manual, creating his own unique cognitive schema in regards to music production. Dilla was heavily inspired by Q-tip and Pete Rock, taking the jazzy sound of Tip and combining it with the perfectly mixed and swung drums of Pete Rock.

One of Dilla's biggest innovations on hip-hop production was that he turned off the quantization within the MPC, programming the drums by hand without computer-correction, contrasting the somewhat robotic drum patterns prominently heard at the time. This choice brought a human quality to his music, as the slight rhythmic discrepancies present mirror those of live recordings. Dilla purposely programmed his drums and bass-lines off of the grid provided within the MPC, however, his timing was so impeccable that they always managed to find their way back to the beat, creating a unique swing that has yet to be topped. His rhythmic ability and encyclopedic knowledge of samples granted him complete creative liberty in his production. Dilla also broke the 'commandments' of sampling, choosing to source from cassettes and other

Dilla first broke into the hip hop scene with a group of kids from his high school, known as Slum Village. Slum Village was known for their off-kilter approach to hip hop, as they paired the unconventional production style with rhythm-focused rapping, instead of the typical lyrically inclined approach. Dilla then moved on to work with a Tribe Called Quest after bonding with Q-Tip over production. Eventually, Dilla joined forces with the likes of Common, Eryka Badu, Q-Tip, D'Angelo, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and a few others to create the super-powered Soulquarians Collective. The collective recorded countless records in the 90s and 2000s, pushing the boundaries of music by combining elements of Rnb, Soul, Jazz, Hip-hop and many other genres.

Dilla developed Lupus and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (a rare blood disease). This did not stop him from creating music. He produced his final album Donuts lying in his hospital bed, armed with a Boss SP-303 sampler and a stack of 45 records, hence the name Donuts. The album displayed Dilla's prowess with sampling and mixing, showing off his ability to change tempos and interpolate samples in wildly creative ways. He died three days after his birthday and the release of the album on February 10th, 2006, due to cardiac arrest.

Dilla's legacy remains prominent in hip-hop production today, as he is widely referred to as "your favorite producer's favorite producer". His techniques and sound are mimicked in many genres today, especially in syrupy-smooth filtered bass-lines and crisp, snappy un-quantized drum breaks.

Studio albums

2001: Welcome 2 Detroit

2003: Champion Sound (with Madlib as Jaylib)

2006: Donuts

Posthumously released studio albums[edit]

2006: The Shining

2007: Jay Love Japan

2009: Jay Stay Paid

2016: The Diary

Extended plays[edit]

2002: Vol. 1: Unreleased

2003: Vol. 2: Vintage

2003: Ruff Draft (2003 release)

Compilations[edit]

2007: Jay Deelicious: The Delicious Vinyl Years

2009: Dillanthology 1: Dilla's Productions for Various Artists

2009: Dillanthology 2: Dilla's Remixes for Various Artists

2009: Dillanthology 3: Dilla's Productions

2013: Lost Tapes, Reels + More

2015: Jay Dee a.k.a. J Dilla 'The King of Beats' (Box Set)

2015: Dillatronic

2016: Jay Dee a.k.a. J Dilla 'The King of Beats', Vol. 2: Lost Scrolls

2016: Jay Dee's Ma Dukes Collection

2017: J Dilla's Delights, Vol. 1

2017: J Dilla's Delights, Vol. 2

Posthumously released work[edit]

2006: Donuts EP: J. Rocc's Picks (EP)

2006: The Shining

2007: Ruff Draft (Reissue)

2007: Jay Love Japan

2009: Jay Stay Paid

2010: Donut Shop (EP)

2012: Dillatroit (EP)

2012: Rebirth of Detroit

2013: The Lost Scrolls, Vol. 1 (EP)

2013: Diamonds & Ice (EP)

2014: Give Them What They Want (EP)

2016: The Diary

2016: Back to the Crib (Mixtape)

2017: Motor City