SOUNDCLASH in Palm Springs!
We’re teaming up with one of my favorite labels Stones Throw for a side party on the Friday of Coachella at the Ace hotel. RSVP here, it’s free.
Speaking of Stones Throw, did you see the packaging on their new J Dilla x Serato vinyl? Kudos, gentlemen… Designed by Studio No.1.
Great interview with PB Wolf talking about some key releases in the Stones Throw catalogue. Wolf has been a dear friend for over 10 years. He put out my first record, Enter Ralph Wiggum, a 45 in 1999.
Does anyone have his first album My Vinyl Weighs A Ton on mp3? If you could post a download link in the comments that would be much appreciated!!
From Crate Kings
I should have posted this yesterday. Yesterday would have been J Dilla’s 35th birthday. The truth is, I couldn’t bring myself to decide what to post to remember my favorite producer so I just shied away from it. But it doesn’t feel right not posting anything. Here’s the wonderful, posthumous video for one of my favorite Dilla joints which for a long time was a secret weapon of mine. Before being re-released by Stones Throw, the Ruff Draft EP was a rare piece of vinyl only available on import from a German label. I’m glad everyone can enjoy it now, because this song in particular (”Nothing Like This”) is really unlike anything I’ve ever heard to this day… as the title suggests, after all.
Rest in peace James Yancey. Still the best that ever did it, if you ask me.
It’s really sad to see Dilla in a wheelchair but touching to see he still had his sense of humor. I can’t really speak on this too much, just watch the video. He talks about recording with Biggie! Shout to my man Rhettmatic in the mix too.
From Crate Kings.
I ended off my summer with a 2 week string of shows in the Old Continent, which I guess could qualify as the European (and final) leg of the Sunglasses Is A Must tour. My first show was a the Hip Hop Kemp festival in what I thought was going to be Prague. In fact it was 2 hours away, in rural Czech Republic. I don’t remember the name of the city but I couldn’t really pronounce it anyway, in all honesty. Really, I was picturing going to Prague and recreating the “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” video by myself. Instead I had a driver who blasted a Tiesto live mix in the car while dropping such jewels as “I stop at petrol station to roll joint with other driver, OK? You want sandwich?” The show itself was dope, though. 20,000 people in a field. The next day I did the Lowlands festival outside of Amsterdam, which had a great lineup but I didn’t get to see much because of heavy rain.
Last Friday we lost one of the greatest, most influential and most prolific producers in hip hop history: my favorite producer, J Dilla. Universally admired and respected in all circles of rap and beyond, no one quite did it like Jay Dee. From his jazzy, hard-hitting Ummah beats to his futuristic Busta knockers, from his soulful and syncopated R&B joints to his dark, synth-laden and genre-crossing remixes, Dilla reinvented himself constantly during his decade-long career. And that’s what made him so remarkable to me. I always thought he was an underrated rapper too. Listen to joints like “Jealousy” (on Slum’s Vol.2) and of course “Fuck the Police”. His flow even rubbed off on the well-established emcees that he was producing. Personally I was even a fan of his scratching. Everything he touched was unique. His cuts on Common’s “Dooinit” and Phat Kat’s “Dedication to the Suckers” are some of my favorite cuts on any joint ever. He just seemed like one of those dudes that had music flowing out of him constantly, wasn’t interested in any of the politics or the limelight, just stayed home and made ridiculously dope beats that influenced every other producer out there.
