Yancey, pt. 2
Since James "Jay Dee/J Dilla" Yancey passed away last week, after having battled the effects of Lupus for the last few years and another incurable blood-illness, I wanted to put up a slice of his Slum Village work as an example, in the hopes that folks that don't know what he was capable of will go seek out his music.
This song comes from the Vill's brilliant Fantastic Vol. 2 (named as such because the first version of the album wasn't on a label, but was so popular that it reportedly holds claim to being the most-bootlegged hip-hop record of its time), all produced by Jay Dee, featuring his own vocal talents along side Baatin and T3 ( Jay Dee left the group after Vol. 2 to work on his own, but the other guys kept working as Slum Village), as well as guest appearances by Busta Ryhmes, Kurupt, Pete Rock, D'Angelo, Q-Tip and Common - most of whom Jay Dee did production work for on their own records.
Anyway, it really is a sad thing that Jay Dee passed away - he was sick for quite a long time, so in one sense, it is good that he is no longer suffering. On the other hand, he never stopped the creative processes he had inside him - see his new instrumental record, Dilla's Donuts released just last week on Stone's Throw Records (they've got a tribute up to James here) - and supposedly he had another full-length in the can, as well as another one in production. It's a shame.
Buy Fantastic Vol. 2 from Amazon, or from your local indie hip-hop retailler, like Turntable Lab (NY/LA/Online), who are selling a version of Vol. 1.
There is a public-viewing of his casket in Detroit today in LA (details on the Stone's Throw homepage), to be followed by a private funeral.
Rest in peace, James.