Benz and a Backpack

I came across Dilla‘s solo album, The Shining as a freshman in college, but something about that title has always struck me. I remember hearing the line “…deep like The Shining/sparkle like a diamond...” from “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” and just being stuck. You know? The song goes on, but you still got that one line on your mind. It usually happens when I catch some clever wordplay, but this line in particular struck me for reasons I still can’t understand. The. Shining. Still gets to me.

Point is, that line was the reason I gave Dilla’s work a chance. iTunes suggested I listen to the album, but if it wasn’t for that title, I would have overlooked it. I had seen all the hype. Heard all the “R.I.P. Dilla” shout-outs from my favorite emcees, but I didn’t give any of his work a chance till I came across that album title (Turns out I had heard his work before then, I just didn’t know it). I didn’t give his work a chance because I just assumed he was the producer. Back then I wasn’t interested in instrumentals, beats, or production. Didn’t seem like there was that much to it.

Obviously I was wrong, the producer brings a lot to the table. Shit, the producer brings the table. He inspires the emcee. J. Dilla was the best at doing that. He brought out the best in every artist he ever worked with.

but I digress…

Today, as you may already know is James Yancey’s birthday. He passed away from Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura back in 2006. J. Dilla/Jay Dee will live on forever; if not for his music, then for the countless musicians he’s inspired and continues to inspire. I was scrolling through some youtube videos listening to some of his music (shoutout to @djdiz for his tweets this morning!), when I came across this documentary. There was that word again. Shining. I checked it out. Ended up skipping my class watching the whole thing.

I encourage you to check it out, whether you’re a fan of hip-hop or not. The dude is a inspiration. he’s more than that though. The dude shines. Brings light to everything he touches. I admire that. A lot of other people do to.

If you don’t know, now ya know. Hit the skip for part 2,3, and 4 of the documentary. Shoutout to Brian “@Bkyle_” Atkins for his directing. Check out giftedfilmsinc for more info on him. Read the rest of this entry →

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3 dope tracks for $3.

It’s a small price to pay for Knxwledge’s newest EP, a dreamy seven minute tape chocked full of resonant vibraphones and sophisticated drums. At the rate Knxwledge is dropping shit, every car in Philly’s gonna need a car wash. Listen and buy after the jump.

Previously: Knxwledge – ShadySide.EP || Flowrs.EP || Komposure.EP || Old.Klouds.LP
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Yesterday Stones Throw Records announced winners #10-6 of its Video Contest, featuring visuals for Quasimoto, J. Dilla, Koushik, Gary Wilson, and CX Kidtronik. Today brought about the top five, with top honors going to Tuomas Vauhkonen and Jeremias Nieminen’s “Last Donut Of The Night” off Dilla’s masterful album Donuts. Peep them all at the Stones Throw website!

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On the heels of his Old.Klouds.LP, talented beatsmith Knxwledge drops off another distinctively atmospheric tape aptly called the Komposure.EP. The tape is comprised of short, twitchy grooves that utilize a variety of source material and drums (including some sounds from the late great Dilla). If you’re in the business of supporting good music, grab this for just $8 via Knxwledge’s BandCamp.

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Last Donut of the Night from Tuomas Vauhkonen on Vimeo.

With the deadline for the Stones Throw Video Contest fast approaching (submissions will be taken until July 1st), it’s the perfect time to check-in and see what people have come up with so far. Above is a Finnish take on J Dilla’s “Last Donut of the Night” directed by Tuomas Vauhkonen and Jeremias Nieminen. Submissions have ranged from Dilla to Jaylib, Madlib (and Lord Quas) to Madvillain, DOOM to Mayer Hawthorne to SES to the Natural Yogurt Band. You can check out all the submissions (there have been over 100!) on Vimeo, and if you’re keen on shooting something do it quickly!

Kinetic Rappcats from Eric Cunha on Vimeo.

Jaylib – “The Heist” from Rory Gamble on Vimeo.

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We love everything the big homie Moon does over at CK, and this is no different.

Culture King presents For The Love, A Tribute To The Works Of J DIlla by Culture King

Download: Culture King Presents…For The Love (J Dilla Tribute) ft. Moka Only, DJ Pocket, Willie Green, Anacron & Lex Boogie

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CULTURE KING + M_K_ _N_Y • D_ P_CK_T • W_LL_E GR__N • _N_CR_N • L_X B__G_E

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28 || “FOR THE LOVE” || A TRIBUTE TO THE WORKS OF J DILLA

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No words for this one…

I wasn’t sure I would ever tell anyone this story, but I feel like it needs to be heard, because muthafukas need to really understand the power of music. I might even be posting it in the wrong forum, but I don’t give a fuck.

It starts over a year ago, on Feb 10th, 2006. I was in Fribourg, Switzerland w/ SV & we were eating pre-show dinner in the back of the venue. The European tour mgrs phone rings. Nobody pays too much attention, we just keep eatin’ & talkin’ shit. Howi (the EU tm) gives T3 the phone, & says “It’s Tim” (SV’s mgr). T3 listens for a minute, then gets a totally blank look on his face. Totally absent of any type of emotion. He hands the phone back to Howi & looks @ all of us (me, El, & Dez) w/ a blank expression, not saying a word, his mouth forming a small “O”. Finally I spoke. “What, nigguh? Who the fuck got killed THIS time?” He turned around to look @ me. & said, “Dilla just died”. Nobody said a fucking word for a few seconds. Then Dez said, “Man, I gotta smoke.” T3 went in the back to use the computer, Elzhi sat @ the table looking numb, & I went in the back to check on T3. Mind you, this is approximately 30-45 minutes before the FIRST date on this EU tour, I think it was about 12-15 dates. Howi asked me did we still want to do the show-no brainer-”YES”. There’s no way Dilla’s death was going to silence his music in any way, shape, form, or fashion.

The show must go on.
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T3′s Stamp of Approval

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Late last week, rumors were confirmed via Twitter that the lyrical monster eLZhi would no longer be a part of the legendary hip hop group Slum Village. The rumors had been circulating for a couple weeks, but their affirmation made real something SlumVill fans everywhere could only hope wasn’t true. The group endured two particularly harrowing tragedies, losing two of their three founding members (master-producer J Dilla in 2006, then spiritually-gifted emcee Baatin last year). The lone founding member of the group, T3, seems just to be just that: alone. Accusations emerged from several different camps that T3 had handled the business around the most recent Slum Village album, Villa Manifesto, in a shady fashion.

These managerial mishaps are nothing new for SV. In 2003, just a year into eLZhi’s tenure with the group, Baatin stepped away to handle a mental health issue and lapsed briefly into a coma. Upon waking up he found out he’d been completely terminated from the group. Allegations of misdoing in that case were leveled mostly at Barak Records (SV’s home), but in 2010 they’re aimed squarely at the surviving third of the original Slum Village triumvir: T3. Elzhi’s claims that he personally was cut out of much of Villa Manifesto (and the subsequent video) aren’t even the most extreme. Detroit emcee Phat Kat, a longtime collaborator with Dilla, SV and many of Detroit’s best hip hop artists, called T3 during his interview on the Motor City’s 98WJLB and declared that T3 “single-handedly dismantled the whole group.” We got a chance to catch up with the homie T3, and in addition to touching all the musical topics we could conjure, he delved into the politics of his relationship with eLZhi and the future (or lack thereof) of Slum Village.

Dizzy: How do you feel about Elzhi right now? You guys have your differences, is he fam in that same way?

T3: You know what, I support Elzhi. What happens is this: he had issues with the label. Okay, I get that El, I’m not mad at that. And I’m still not mad at El, because you gotta handle your business. But my situation with the label is different, because you know I was signed before him. We have different situations. It is what it is, I just don’t like anybody discrediting the legacy of Slum Village. I’m not saying that El was doing that, what I’m saying is that’s when I have to say something. But as far as me supporting El, I support all of his stuff. I don’t get into the drama, and that’s why you don’t see me responding to El. You know El this and that, nah I’m not getting into that. Because at the end of the day, me and El could end up doing something else down the line. And not only that, I feel like El paid his dues with Slum Village, he was there for 8 years, and he paid his dues. He is always gonna be a part of Slum Village. There is no Slum Village without Elzhi. It is what it is, I just think there are too many people around both circles. And that just happens in business, I just don’t like the fact that it’s out in the open. It’s cool to have beef, or have situations you need to rectify, but I don’t put my business out in the open, I don’t think it’s necessary.

Dizzy: That’s a very last resort for me. If it can’t be resolved in a discreet way, then you might just have to air it out, just to you know… it’s like the President going public; he can’t get shit done with Congress so he goes directly to the people.

Hit the skip for the audio and full transcript.

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In preparation for our forthcoming Slum Village interview, the official visuals for “Tainted” off SV’s 2002 album Trinity (Past, Present, and Future). Trinity marked SlumVill’s first album with Elzhi on their official roster and Dilla off it (although he did handle production on three cuts). “Tainted” juxtaposes the different styles contained within the then new-look Slum Village: T3′s consonant-heavy rhythmic flow, Baatin’s high-pitched incisiveness (R.I.P.), and Elzhi’s quick-witted smoothness– AND it’s got Dwele on the hook. The track was a musical blessing from other-worldly drummer and sometimes-hip-hop-producer Karriem Riggins, a close friend of Dilla who has also done work with Erykah Badu, Madlib, KanYe, Common, and more.

Karriem Riggins with J Dilla and Common

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The visuals for this dropped a while back, but given everything that’s been going down with SlumVill recently this is more topical than ever. Amidst Twitter beef (foreal?), it has come out that Elzhi is OUT of Slum Village, leaving T3 and Illa J on the roster. Notice how few verses EL has on Villa Manifesto? Notice that he’s not in the “Reunion Pt. 2″ video at all? All of these bizarre goings-on will be explained in our upcoming interview with Slum Village. Keep your eyes peeled!

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The homie Doss The Artist just dropped his newest mixtape called Computer Blue, a collection of intelligent tracks drenched in warmth and resonance as well skilled production and very thoughtful lyricism. Featuring guest spots by Dom Sirius, Anomaly, Haz Bey, LO5, PJayD, a Dilla beat and a Flying Lotus remix, the album thrives on the strength of Doss and Hir-O, the producer behind the majority of its tracks and the project as a whole. Detroit natives, they are both dexterous and poignant in their own rights, and the combination is even more holistic. In other words, the mixtape is bananas, and there is nothing else out now that sounds like it. Start with these tracks, then listen all the way through:

Doss The Artist ft. LO5 – gOing gOing gOne [prod. Hir-O)
"Nah it's not Chicago/no I ain't from Cleveland/I am from the city in the midwest where the sky is always evening"

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Doss The Artist - Lois Lane [prod. Hir-O]
The shaker and under-snare make for a syncopated pocket, perfect to display Doss’ versatility on the microphone as a vocalist. “Don’t hate me for flying/like you can’t blame Superman/for playing Clark Kent sometimes/I bet it drives the homie stupid/how you gonna be an ubermane/when you still have to save Lois Lane/how you gonna be Christ figure when ya/can’t let the green ice near ya”

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Doss The Artist – Princess Peach [prod. ACB]
The bass-heavy (as opposed to treble-heavy) beat puts Doss on his fantastical flow; he’ll be your freakin’ prince (blat!).

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Download: Doss The Artist – Computer Blue
OR
Download via Hir-O’s Bandcamp: Doss The Artist – Computer Blue

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