Tribute To J Dilla

When I learned about the fire that destroyed Q-Tip's record collection, I realized the magic of future A Tribe Called Quest albums was in jeopardy. In my mind, how could Q-Tip outsource production of some of the most important music in hip hop history to the Ummah? Who and what is Ummah? When I heard Dilla's drum beats later on and recognized them as the sound from Beats, Rhymes & Life, I then had someone to lay blame on. That was until I heard and fell in love with Slum Village's Fall In Love.

The mark of classic, timeless material is that you can revisit it at a later date and discover new dimensions and information you were not aware prior. I was listening to a Dilla tribute and heard one of the Donuts for the first time in years since buying the CD. It was the one with the sample of When I Die. It had not occured to me, or maybe I overlooked the fact, that he compiled Donuts before he died. Using that sample was more than appropriate. It was prophetic.

I think about the grand scheme of things especially when I can't understand why good people go too soon before what I think is their time or when tragedy strikes. Had it not been for that fire or Q-Tip even working with Dilla, there might not be a legend of J Dilla for us to speak of, listen to, write about or mourn today. That's divine intervention if I ever came close to understanding it.

For those that don't know, Donuts is not a conventional, traditional beats & rhymes hip hop album. There are no rhymes on Donuts. This is J Dilla left to his own devices before he died. The album is symbolically the last will and testament of one of hip hop’s most talented to the culture. Even non-hip hop heads reach for the album or aim to add it to their crates.


His death still impacts hip hop today. J Dilla could have possibly been one to save hip hop or at least resurrect it. With my knowledge of his importance to hip hop, I paid tribute to him on the anniversary of his death.  

R.I.P.  J Dilla

Below are some playlists to bring you up to speed.

  

Check out the player below as well as here.

The Suite Delight - February 2, 2015 Playlist:

1. J Dilla – Don’t Cry
2. J Dilla – 100,000 Watts
3. J Dilla – Lightworks
4. Mobb Deep ‎ – Hoodlum Featuring  Big Noyd & Rakim
5. Mobb Deep   ‎– Hell On Earth
6. Reflection Eternal - Fortified Live (Sensitive Ears Version)
7. Lootpack - Crate Diggin'
8. Lootpack - Long Awaited feat. Dilated Peoples
9. Diamond D - Only Way 2 Go feat. Pete Rock
10. Brand Nubian - Slow Down (Pete Rock's Newromix)
11. Slum Village - Jealousy
12. Jay Dee - Say How I Feel (Remix) feat. Rhian Benson, Slum Village & Dwele
13. Buff1 - Never Fall feat. Black Milk
14. Elzhi - Motown 25 feat. Royce da 5'9"
15. Camp Lo - Say Word feat.  Jungle Brown
16. Aesop Rock - Limelighter feat. Camp Lo

The Suite Delight - 2014- 05-27 by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

The Suite Delight - May 27, 2014 Playlist:

1. Quantic & Anita Tijoux - Doo Wop (That Thing)
2. Sola Rosa - Turn Around Ft. Iva Lamkum (DJ Vadim Remix)
3. The Seatbelts - Cat Blues (Mr. Scruff Remix)
4. James Brown - Funky Drummer
5. The Cactus Channel - Wooden Boy (Part 1)
6. The Roots – Don't Feel Right feat. Maimouna Youssef
7. J Dilla (aka Jay Dee) - Love Movin' feat. Black Thought
8. Nas - It Ain't Hard to Tell
9. Termanology - How We Rock Feat. Bun B
10. Marco Polo - Lay It Down Feat. Roc Marciano
11. Buff1 - Never Fall feat. Black Milk
12. The Extremities - New Season feat. Ohmega Watts & Moka Only
13. Lords Of The Underground - Tic Toc (Remix)
14. Lone Catalysts - The Ultimate (Kev Brown Remix)

The Suite Delight - February 25, 2014 (2) Playlist:

1. Nas - It Ain't Hard To Tell (Large Professor Remix)
2. Diverse - Uprock
3. Jay Dee - Pause feat. Frank-N-Dank
4. Strong Arm Steady - Questions
5. Souls of Mischief - That's When Ya Lost (Remix)
6. Soul Khan - Knuckle Puck
7. Quasimoto - Rappcats, Pt. 3
8. Supastition - Yada Yada
9. Murs & 9th Wonder - Murs Day
10. Mobb Deep - Win or Lose
11. Wale - Um'Ricka feat. K'Naan
12. K-Solo - Letterman (Pete Rock Remix)
13. The Extremities - Cold Cheese
14. D-Sisive x Tone Mason – Maybe I Will feat. DJ Grouch

The Suite Delight - January 14, 2014 (2):

1.       Robert Glasper Experiment - Perservere feat. Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco & Luke James

2.       Outkast - Prototype

3.       Shad - He Say She Say

4.       A Tribe Called Quest - Bonita Applebaum

5.       Keith Murray - Get Lifted (Erick Sermon Remix)

6.       Theophilus London - Life of a Lover (Remix) feat. Blu & Jesse Boykins III

7.       Edo G - Righteous Way

8.       Donovan - Get Thy Bearings

9.       Rare Earth - Born To Wander

10.   Minnie Riperton - Reasons

11.   Clarence Carter - Patches

12.   Roy Ayers Ubiquity - The Memory

13.   Easy Star All Stars - Time (Groove Corporation Remix)

14.   Elaquent - The Official

15.   J Dilla - Last Donut of the Night

Jaylib - Champion Sound (2003)

Madlib was paired with Jay Dee, as I knew him, and I couldn’t have cared less at the time of its release. Neither were champions to me. It would take my discovering Madlib’s brilliance on Madvillainy to want to return to Champion Sound for even a listen.

As mentioned in prior posts, J Dilla was not in my good books and for him to be partnered with anyone mattered not to me.



If Madlib was the common denominator between the MF Doom & J Dilla collabos, I needed to give Champion Sound my undivided, unbiased attention.

Champion Sound can and still beats a good number of albums of its time and even this present time.

Ghostface Killah

Almost everything I needed to stop me from going to the last Ghostface Killah Montreal show in had been in place.

As stubborn as I am and devoted to the idea of catching a live Ghostface Killah show, how could I stay optimistic with those cold facts facing me?

On the Saturday prior to the concert, I walked by a vacant lot where a Plateau building once stood. The only thing standing among the rubble and debris was a makeshift wooden sign post holding the poster below. I stood and watched the poster for a little while. In retrospect, the lone poster placed there was a metaphor for my opinion about hip hop. As much as hip hop’s pretty much destroyed today, I do continue to check for Ghostface Killah. If I had to take the risk of a rapper not showing up after I paid money for the ticket, it would be for Ghostface Killah. If the show did happen and I sat it out, would I be pissed? My mind was made up. I was going to Club Soda that night.



I wasn’t reassured that I would see Ghostface Killah even after having bought my ticket. The only thing I took comfort in was knowing where to go for a refund if indeed there was a no-show.

The concert fell on a Sunday, of all nights of the week, meaning I would lose sleep for the following Monday morning. I headed to Club Soda and arrived minutes before the headliner was to take centre stage.

No one was more relieved to see Ghostface stomp on stage than this blogger. In jubilation and relief, I took to Twitter to announce he was indeed in Montreal that night.

An early highlight of the show was when Ghostface Killah performed Child’s Play, the sentimental favourite track from Supreme Clientele. 

I didn’t expect him to have added that song to his set list and was all the more thankful he did. It appeared I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. The crowd unanimously hoisted their lighters during the beginning bars of the song.

Most of his biggest tracks, including a Cherchez LaGhost minus U-God, were performed.

Special guests Killah Priest and Sheek Louch were welcome additions to the night.

The only drawback of the show, and almost expected, was the duration. At minutes shy of an hour, I almost felt short-changed. That was probably my years, anxieties of not having seen Ghostface Killah live permeating through my body after the show. I gave it some thought and realized I had just seen Ghostface Killah perform in my hometown that night. 

The words classic, hip hop and album were not used often in conversations about music released at the time of its release. Ghostface Killah and gang delivered the more than the goods on the Supreme Clientele album. They laid down the blueprint for other albums to follow.

Wu-Block performed at Montreal's Club Soda in February 2013.

This year marks the 26th anniversary of his Supreme Clientele album.  The second was released late 2025.

Below is a playlist to bring you up to speed.  Click here to download.

If you haven't already, please make yourself familiar with the links below for more of your favorite show and mine to bring you up to speed. 

Feel free to request songs and artists below in the comments section below as well as onTwitter, Facebook.

Visit the Mixcloud page to listen and the Podomatic site to download them and more.

http://suitedelight.podomatic.com

The Suite Delight - 2014-07-01 by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

The Suite Delight - December 10, 2013 (2):

1. Souls of Mischief - 93 'til Infinity
2. Ghostface Killah - Flowers featuring Raekwon, Method Man & Superb
3. Three Times Dope - I Got It
4. Marley Marl - The Rebel feat. Tragedy
5. Cale Sampson - Reach Up
6. Diamond And The Psychotic Neurotics - Best Kept Secret (The 45 King Remix)
7. Danger Mouse & Jemini - Omega Supreme
8. Too Short - Buy You Some featuring Erick Sermon, MC Breed & Kool-Ace
9. Saukrates - Say I
10. SepTO - In This Town feat. Dan-E-O & Grimace Love
11. Drake - Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music 2

Nicki Minaj

I was fascinated by Nicki Minaj. 

She made quite an impact in hip hop and pop culture. 

She is currently no longer the cutie on North American chart countdowns.

 

Fader Magazine had a photo of Nicki Minaj on the cover before I would know her name, hear her rhyme or care to do either. 

It would take me after the release of Pink Friday to realize she was the young lady whose photo I saw years ago.

On the subject of Pink Friday, I was in a downtown Montreal Future Shop store and saw the CDs on the shelves when the album was released.. Days afterwards, a Future Shop gift card was given to me and I thought about possibly getting her album.

When I returned to the store, they had sold out of Pink Friday CDs. I stopped looking for more copies after the store had none in stock for over a month.

At this point in time, with what Nicki Minaj has been involved with politically, it is doubtful her music will be flying off shelves in the near future.  

Slum Village – Fantastic, Vol. 2

The first time I heard Fantastic, Vol. 2, I wasn’t hearing it. I was playing dominoes.

 
At the height of my late 90s/early 2000s anti hip hop sentiments, I was introduced to the group featuring the late J Dilla, whom I had issues with.

When the CD played I was playing dominoes and paying not much mind to the music.

Now, it's an album I would reach for and I haven't played dominoes since the album's release.

Fall in Love is easy to fall in love with especially in light of J Dilla's passing.

 

Let me introduce you to Dilla, the group and the song if  you don't already know of it.

Suite For Ma Dukes

I watched the Suite for Ma Dukes DVD late one night. 

When it came time for Fall in Love to be performed, I watched it fighting back tears. 

I either get shivers or watery eyes whenever I hear Fall in Love. 

My head nods, hands are in the air and I'm thankful for that great piece of music and the man that produced it. 



Aside from it being an extremely touching and moving musical moment, I was made painfully aware that Jay Dee/J Dilla, the man that made one of my favorite songs of the last few years & could have made countless others had he still been alive, was dead and there will be no more.

Bob Marley

You can't choose what inspires you.

I saw the most interesting thing one Sunday afternoon while I was in the metro (subway) station. There was a man singing Bob Marley's One Love, asking for change. While I was sitting and waiting for the train, two young men and two young girls approached the nearby area. The girls looked to be the daughters of the young men. The young guys were talking and the two girls were entertaining themselves. I caught sight of one of the young girls mouthing, lip synching to borderline singing the lyrics of the song. She sang to her friend who may not have known the lyrics as well as her. They grabbed hands and danced a little around their fathers' legs. Mini-Britney saw me looking and stopped cold. I turned away and saw her picking up where she left off. I had seen enough for it to have inspired me to write. 

For the young girl to know the lyrics to any Bob Marley song must mean she had already been exposed to his music on numerous occasions for it to have stuck in her mind. 

When I was roughly the girls' age, I used to see reggae as old people's music and wanted no part of it. They weren't Michael Jackson, Lionel RIchie, Prince or Duran Duran for that matter. Reggae was for old people and therefore just not cool.

Bob Marley's music used to be played on Sunday afternoons in my house. My mother would ask to use my Toshiba boombox to play a tape of Bob Marley tracks. Not knowing any better, being possessive of my boombox, pseudo serving as program director for the house and just being a boy, I would put up resistance until she finally made me relinquish the boombox for her use.

It took years for me to realize how musically vital Bob Marley is. When I was old enough to buy music for myself, I made sure to get the Songs of Freedom collection to take in more of his tunes.  

I would not put up any form of resistance if someone wanted to play Bob Marley now. I'm thankful to have been introduced to his music at a young age. I may not have been as receptive, appreciative or expressive as Lil' Britney, but it proves one thing. The timeless and positive vibes of Marley's music transcends generations, culture, race, gender and age.

In parting, this is to me a visual that is almost as beautiful as the ballad itself. This is footage of the band, as I know them, performing in unison prior to their parting ways. 

Ironically or not, while doing some shopping, I stumbled upon a CD copy of Natural Mystic.  It's a collection of his songs along with a few rarities.  I'm pretty sure I have already the CD but because there was a sale going on that day, I decided to pick it up on the strength of it being more Bob Marley that I can listen to right away.  

Happy heavenly birthday to Bob Marley.  Rest in Peace.

Donald Byrd

I have played a good amount of The Blackbyrds music during the years of hosting a radio show. In a discussion with a local DJ at the Puces Pop Record Fair, I told him that he would have to get all of The Blackbyrds albums. That is after all what happened to me. I refer to the albums Donald Byrd produced for the group as essential.

The late Guru from Gang Starr is responsible for me knowing Donald Byrd’s name as early as I did. Their 1993 single Loungin’ is still widely believed to be the most popular single from the Jazzmatazz album. It would take me years to learn that Donald Byrd gave Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth their Places & Spaces for The Main Ingredient. One of Black Moon’s best remixes owes a lot to Donald Byrd as well. I could be found playing the game of dominoes at the time but didn’t know it was Byrd who recorded the song with the same title.

In the later 90s and early 2000s, I was exploring the origins of the hip hop music I loved. Like many friends and peers, I was curious to know who recorded what, where and when. I had already started checking out jazz music by that time but it was the traditional sounds of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck Quartet, Thelonious Monk and George Benson. 

As much as I was absorbing James Brown, Sly & The Family Stone and George Clinton’s music, Donald Byrd’s music was my introduction to jazz-funk. I noticed that Donald Byrd’s name was connected to The Blackbyrds albums I was going wild for. In doing my research, I learned Byrd had recorded music as part of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers before releasing solo albums in the 60s and 70s. That was how I was first aware of albums like Street Lady and Caricatures.

As stated in The Blackbyrds post, I learned about the monetary value associated with albums sampled by hip hop artists in the late 90s and early 2000s. My music purchasing decisions were ruled by the CD format and budgetary constraints. Even if I wanted to at the time, I would not have been able to own all of those important Donald Byrd and Blackbyrds albums.

I made do with The Best of Donald Byrd CD which had the essentials in one place for basically the price I could have paid to own one of his albums.





In retrospect, it appears that Donald Byrd would have at least two more chances for his music to be revisited due to hip hop culture. Tone Loc’s 1989 album cover was heavily inspired by an early Donald Byrd Blue Note album. A compilation album of Blue Note jazz classic remixes picked up where Loc left off. Madlib in particular loved Steppin’ Into Tomorrow.

Lastly, the late J Dilla thought about Think Twice enough to add his spin to the tune.

Jazz legend Donald Byrd died in February 2013.

Brand Nubian

I am not usually happy to hear of my favorite groups or acts breaking up. I felt my chances of the group members making musical magic again would be less than likely. Between 1991 and 1995, I was subjected to heartaches galore as I watched Main Source, EPMD, 3rd Bass, Leaders of the New School, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth and The Beatnuts part ways.

The best thing that resulted from the Brand Nubian split was that there were numerous albums, remixes and guest appearances until the Foundation reunion. Whether it was Sadat X adding flavor to a track or his own solo album, Grand Puba doing what he did best or discovering Lord Jamar’s productions, I was at least able to follow what the Brand Nubian members were doing post-breakup.

I remember being slightly surprised at the darker turn Sadat X and Lord Jamar took on In God We Trust. Regardless, they were my boys and I bopped to that cassette on most days.





After 1996, my interest in hip hop faded and I didn’t get to listen to Foundation like I normally would have. I did like Don't Let It Go to Your Head a great deal.

If I didn’t know Foundation, I didn’t know their Fire In The Hole or Time's Runnin' Out albums either.

What I do know is that Brand Nubian, solo members or as a group, is responsible for many classic hip hop records and I thank them for providing the soundtrack to my teens.

Rick James - Come Get It (1978)

From 1978 to 1980, Rick James rode the wave of success.  

I was in Toronto on the eve of the Sam the Record Man store closing and left behind the Come Get It CD on the shelf.  

I already had the vinyl at home and was only quite familiar with the biggest tunes on the record.  

Upon my return to Montreal and further listens of Come Get It, I realize I should have bought the CD that day.  



I most likely will one day.  Mary Jane is one of my top 3 favorite funk breaks of all time.  

Rick James - Street Songs

After nearly 5 years of successful records, Rick James had to comeback with Street Songs, his discography's equivalent of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.  



The iconic Super Freak, Give it to Me Baby, Ghetto Life and Fire & Desire can be found there. 

Rick James - Throwin' Down

I learned about Throwin' Down much later. 

I remember the Super Freak's 1981 success then followed with Cold Blooded in 1983.  

As I type, I realize what could account for my Rick James 1982 void. 




Thriller, the album that built my pop music consciousness, dropped in 1982 so no matter what Rick was throwing down would have to beat it.

Rick James - Cold Blooded (1983)

Cold Blooded would be one of the first Rick James records I would seek when I started collecting vinyl.  

The song is funky as hell.

I remember Rick James' early 1980s era vividly. I remember Super Freak playing on the radio but it would take 1983s Cold Blooded for me to really connect with Rick.

The ballad Ebony Eyes would have registered with me more if I were older at the time of its release but I did remember being amazed Smokey Robinson would team with the reckless Rick James. Regardless of what I thought about either of them, they were label mates on Motown Records.