Whether you knew him as Jay Dee, Jay Dilla, or simply James Dewitt Yancey, when the Detroit native, super-producer/MC died from from the rare blood disorder TTP,  he had already managed to make an incredible impact during his mere 32 years (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006).  Among his family and friends, Dilla left behind an allegiance of fans, admiring colleagues, and an irreplaceable gap in the music industry.  He also left behind endless new fans, imitators who were forced to discover their own sound, and a posthumously ominous swan song entitled DONUTS, which he perfected on his death bed.

On Feb. 13, STUSSY paid tribute to Dilla through collaborations with Yancey’s estate and Stones Throw records.  Stage one involved the clothing company’s release of a limited edition T-shirt, featuring a classic image of the producer take from Raph Rashid’s photography book “Behind the Beat: Hip Hop Home Studios“.  From there, Stones Throw embarked on multi-city in-store release parties for this shirt.  The main project that was birthed through this collaboration, however, was a 3-part documentary, offering insight into Jay Dee’s character and time on this planet.  Each piece has been being released one at a time and, now that the final installment has finally arrived, we’re pleased to provide the documentary to you now with it’s pieces back to back and in it’s entirety.

Enjoy
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In the late 1990s, RAWKUS Records grabbed the title as one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, forces in the “underground” hip-hop movement.  Co-founders/label heads, Brian Brater and Jarret Myer rounded up and signed local New York artists to form a solid roster of irrefutable talent.  The label was formed in 1996, but the first couple of real releases began in 1997 with the Company Flow classic Funcrusher Plus and Soundbombing, the first  of several compilations by the label.  Soundbombing, itself, featured even more EL-P related material with the inclusion of one Company Flow track and 2 others which were also produced by the Rapper/Producer.  This, like future Soundbombing and Lyricist Lounge compilations, helped to bring attention for other label talent and assisted in creating hype and anticipation for their individual solo efforts.  Jaime “EL-P” Meline played a key role and was an undeniable factor in the success and development of RAWKUS, in general; something that he never felt that he was adequately compensated for.  Although Funcrusher Plus is considered a classic by connoisseurs, neither the EL-Producto or Company Flow would ever become household names at the level of RAWKUS artists like Mos Def and Talib Kweli.

In 1999, RAWKUS entered into a distribution deal with Priority records.  Arguably the most vocal opponent of his former label,  EL-P told the label to go fuck themselves and struck out to form his own label, later that year.  Eventually, many would follow suit, as RAWKUS would slowly, and then much more quickly, fold under itself.  Whether you subscribe to the claims of shady dealings and that RAWKUS intentionally swindled their artists out of deserved compensation, believe that they tried to sign too many too fast with poor promotion, or that they were just misguided businessmen, the label, which sold their entire catalog to Interscope/Geffen in 2004, has become little more than a memory.

From his departure until now, EL-P has successfully run the NYC-based Definitive Jux, the label that would help to define “undergound” Hip-Hop for the following decade.  While RAWKUS definitely released some great albums and did some great things for the genre in it’s heyday, it’s important to remember that its success relied heavily on the artists, which remained successful beyond the ruins of their former contractors.  As much as I respect a good deal of the output and as much as people refer to RAWKUS as an “underground” / “indie” label, they were actually financed by Rupert Murdoch’s son, James and News Corp. (the world’s second-largest media conglomerate, behind The Walt Disney Company), which officially purchased the label in 1998.  Being an artist himself, Meline took a very different approach with DEF JUX and the development of its artists’ careers.  The first release for the new label was the critically acclaimed, Cold Vein by Cannibal OX.  The album made an immediate impact on the hip hop world, solidifying EL-P as a master producer and DEF JUX as a label to be taken seriously.  For the follow-up, EL-Producto used his new found freedom to make the solo album that he wanted the way that he wanted.  Even after his previous work with Co-Flo and various guest appearances, many still refused to give the innovator the credit that he deserved.  Cold Vein eliminated any questions about his productions skills, but it wasn’t until Fantastic Damage was released that everybody else was forced to stop questioning Meline’s abilities as a lyricist.  From then on, DEF JUX continued to flourish by releasing groundbreaking albums like Dead Ringer (RJD2) and nourishing the careers of artists like Aesop Rock.  In recent years, the label has even tempted established artists like Del Tha Funky Homosapien and Dizzee Razcal to release full-lengths with the label.  Now, after a highly successful decade as an artist/producer/label-owner, EL-P has announced his intention to put Definitive Jux on hiatus…. more or less. (more…)

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The Beastie Boys made their first Bonnaroo appearance, are scheduled to perform at San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival, and have been hyping a new release titled, Hot Sauce Committee Part 1… all this year.  The 3 MC’s have been going strong for over 25 years and have always been some of the most consistent innovators in their craft.  Nothing has ever been able to slow them down… until now. (more…)

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The Roots

April 9th, 2009

Paramount Theatre

Seattle

When I was growing up, it seemed as if only a few thing were always consistent.  One of those was my love for music.  Me and my brother would lock ourselves in our rooms for hours, going through albums from Jazz and Hip-Hop to Rock n’ Roll and Punk.  It didn’t matter what it was as long as it was captivating .  In one of those sessions I was introduced to the Roots crew, Philadelphia’s stetsasonic-style hip-hoppers.  At the time, the only other rap group that I was familiar with who were accompanied by instruments, in addition to their turntables, were the Beastie Boys.  I was already very fond of the New York trio, so I became an instant fan of The Roots, and was extra stoked when Dead C asked me to review their recent Seattle show at the Paramount Theatre.   It was a show that I would obviously need to take my big bro to. (more…)

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Stones Throw records and MF DOOM have ventured into the realm of childhood whimsy in the past.  Their newest collaboration with RBST (aka Robeast) falls right in suit with the Adult Swim related albums, as well as the vinyl Madvillain and Lord Quas figures released by Kid Robot.  This Madvillain (Mad Lib and MF Doom) inspired creation (pictured above) is called a “Cubeecraft” and is available through a free downloadable PDF file, which then can be folded into the character above. (more…)

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(To read part 1 about the N8 Van Dyke art show CLICK HERE)

I was surprised to get a call from my friend John telling me that he was having trouble getting tickets, earlier that day.  I saw Kool Keith at the exact same location (Neumos) about 5 years ago and I didn’t have any issue buying tickets at the door.  Unless everybody went out and bought the “Grandma’s Boy” soundtrack, I’m at a loss as to why Keith’s popularity would have skyrocketed since then.  I did hear that they stepped up the advertising for this show, which would make sense, but the major consensus seemed to be that people just really wanted to see “Kool” Keith Thornton “battle himself on stage“.

Keith’s latest release, Dr. Dooom 2, is a sequel to 1999′s First Come First Served; also released under the Dr. Dooom Moniker.  Rocking a phony strap-on beard and pushing the “Funky Redneck” pseudonym, DJ/Producer Kutmasta Kurt is back to collaborate with his old friend for this follow up, as well.  Much like the first Dr. Dooom effort, part 2 has a strong emphasis on killing off Dr. Octagon, arguably Thornton’s most “successful” persona.  The first video released for the album is for a song called “R.I.P. Dr. Octagon” and, like the subsequent video for “Take That Ride“, it has a really nice, grimy 1970s horror film look to it and the track is solid.  The tour itself has been promoted as “Dr. Dooom VS Dr. Octagon“, which further helped to fuel the idea that Thornton’s personas would, somehow, be going head to head in a lyrical battle in front of the crowd that night. (more…)

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