A conversation with Young RJ and T3 about what it was have Dilla as a mentor, and their latest, Jay Dee produced album"Yes."
| The Modest World According to A-F-R-O | January 26, 2015 |
Max Bell is second cousins twice removed with Lil Dap. Dismiss the teen renaissance of dense and dusty, jazz-inflected rap songs and you denounce Doom and Dilla. They’re the perennial link between the boom-bap of old and most contemporary iterations, their influence over high school rap fans as strong as it was when Tyler and […]
| My Shit Don’t Sound Like Dilla: An Interview With Black Milk | October 24, 2014 |
The Motor City producer opens up about his new album. no longer feeling like a new artist, his long term vision, and just how he feels when every damn review and write-up feels the need to mention James Yancey.
| De La Soul x J Dilla Mixtape: So Much More | April 2, 2014 |
Chris Daly pairs his doughnuts with daisy flavored IPA’s Here we are, just wrapping up the Q1 books on 2014 hip-hop, and it’s been a mixed quarter for the iconic De La Soul, but the PotW experts still list this crew as a “must buy.” To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the seminal 3 Feet […]
| Shots Fired, Episode 48 — Featuring Guest, Ty$ | September 26, 2013 |
For the latest installment of Shots Fired, we had on Ty$, the soulful singer of rap music and ratchet Spanish Fly, who was especially calm, cool, and relaxed despite having a hit single called “Paranoid.” Credit it to the blunt tucked behind his ear or the fact that his song is on radio multiple times […]
| Dilla & Diamonds | August 2, 2013 |
Great rap producers usually rhyme like coaches sons playing basketball. What they lack in natural ability, they always know what spots to be in. They anticipate the rebound or the defense closing in or the right patterns to take. Dilla was one of those rappers. His most effective moments came on Champion Sound because Madlib […]
Max Bell is not fragile. If you’re reading this, you’ve heard of Jonwayne, the “rap game Sam Beckett,” the “open toed Blowedian.” (see here, here, here, or here). Yesterday, marked the release of Cassette 3: The Marion Morrison Mixtape, the third tape in the “Cassette Trilogy.” Taking its name from actor John Wayne — his […]
| Video: J Dilla’s Vinyl Collection | March 20, 2013 |
Part tribute to Dilla, part record collector porn, part King Tut’s tomb. Fuse heads to the D to scope out Dilla’s record collection. It’s 26 minutes but worth watching for Ma Dukes divulging the secrets of how to sample and the ruthless entertainment and diligence of J Rocc and House Shoes There is the usual […]
While everyone on the Internet continues to mythologize Dilla on his born day (and I can’t knock the impulse), it’s important to remember that he was a real human being — not some Yoda-like alien chopping up records through the force. This an extensive and pretty essential long interview with Dilla from 2003, conducted in […]
| Beat Traps: ?uestlove’s Hour-Long Dilla Set in the Boiler Room | November 30, 2012 |
Chris Daly beats in the trap. There only are so many hours in the day, and taking an hour to watch ?uestlove spin amidst head-nodding hipsters may not be your top priority — even if Questo is sporting a dope Prince tee. Hell, there are new episodes of Adventure Time to consume. We get it. […]
