In Memoriam | J Dilla | 1974-2006 | “We reminisce over you”

A lot of people don’t know this, but before I went to law school, I worked at a small boutique entertainment law firm in Santa Monica, CA. One of our clients was the production company that had signed Slum Village as an artist. One of the first albums I got my entertainment law hands dirty with was “Fantastic, Vol. 2”. I took great pride while working on the project because I knew there was something special with the talent in that group, particularly the talent of the producer J Dilla, who produced the ENTIRE album, which is amazing.

When I entered my second year at law school, I decided to work part-time, splitting my time hustling in the class room, and hustling in the office. Though J Dilla decided to move on from Slum Village, he produced a couple tracks off of Slum Village’s next album, “Trinity (Past, Present and Future)”.

James Dewitt Yancey, pka J Dilla, born February 7, 1974, passed away February 10, 2006 from a blood disease, and I remember feeling a great sense of loss. He was part of my professional evolution and maturation, and is a reason why I love this business so much. To work, albeit somewhat remotely, with talent makes it all worthwhile.

His instrumental album “Donuts” and his first solo album “The Shining” are 4 and 5 star albums based on my own personal rankings. NPR, in their obituary, stated that J Dilla “was one of the music industry’s most influential hip-hop artists, working for big-name acts like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, The Pharcyde and Common.”

This is a terrific four part interview of J Dilla from back in 2003. You want and in-depth take of his come up and the way he produced, and what inspired, his music? You need to set aside 40 minutes of your day and listen to this interview.