The Detroit legend who's known for his soulful production was behind classics for several artists/groups from Janet Jackson to Busta Rhymes to A Tribe Called Quest to Common amongst others. When I got home I thought I'd do my top 10 favourite J Dilla beats but there's no way I could make a definitive list in a few days. I'm not one for rushing greatness. So instead I've decided to pick 10 beats and post up one minute snippets. Check them out... (The videos might not work on your phone but it should on your laptop.)
Slum Village- Look Of Love Remix
This is the remix to the original from Slum Village's Fan-tas-tic Vol 1. Both classics but I prefer this to the original. The lady's background vocals makes the tune 10x doper than it already is.
D'Angelo- Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Remix
Here's another remix I prefer to the original. This is one of my fave J Dilla productions. The original is from D'Angelo's classic Brown Sugar album.
While J Dilla isn't best known for his 'hood' tracks, this is as dope as any you'll hear. Any hip-hop head will appreciate this.
Little Indian- One Little Indian remix
Though this is quite an obscure track, this smooth tune is one of my favourites from Dilla. I have little knowledge of the artist but his bars on this are just as dope as the beat he spits over.
Slum Village- Players
This is arguably my favourite J Dilla track. So simple yet so dope.
Bizarre- Butterfly
'Throw your hands in the air, put your blunts in the sky/ grab a cutie pie and do the butterfly'.
J Dilla was working with Bizarre before he became the 'popularest guy' of the group D12 (apart from Eminem of course). Lyrically, he's known for his horrorcore bars and hilarious but disrespectful delarations about women. On this 1997 head-nodder however, he's keeping it calm with the internal rhyming and a catchy chorus that's written above.
Busta Rhymes ft Q-Tip- Ill Vibe Remix
This remix is my current favourite J Dilla production. The original was produced by Q-Tip and is on Busta's debut solo LP The Coming. Both are great but yo right now, I'm feelin' this version.
The Pharcyde- She Said Remix
The original's a certified classic and the West Coast quartet released it as the third single for their 1995 sophomore LP Labcabincalifornia. Guess what I'm gonna say though? Yeah I prefer this to the original. I had this chilled-out tune on repeat when I heard it and I still zone out to it to this day.
Common feat Erykah Badu, Pharrell and Q-Tip- Come Close Remix
The original from Common's Electric Circus LP was produced by The Neptunes and is one of my favourite hip-hop love songs ever. You know what though? I'm not entirely sure which one I like more. Either way this tune is dope.
J Dilla feat Dwele- Think Twice
I felt it was only right to make the last tune by the man himself. Taken from his debut solo album Welcome 2 Detroit, this is a beautiful piece of audio art and arguably one of the best beats to have been made by one of hip-hop's all time greats. As far as his solo work goes, this would be viewed as his signature tune.
That concludes this post. Check the vids and let me know what you think.
Peace Out!
