I keep a lot of random artifacts, and recently I came across this article from Detroit's Metro Times weekly free newspaper from October of '96. I'm posting this now to recognize the birthday and memorial of James Yancey a/k/a Jaydee a/k/a J. Dilla, who most of you know passed away a couple of years ago (2/74-2/06). Interesting analyses of the Detroit hip-hop scene at the time... No mention of Eminem which is funny.
Historical trivia fact about J. is that he was originally known as John Doe, but abandoned the name when he realized it was taken- only to switch up to Jaydee (his middle name being Dewitt) and have that coincidentally adopted by Jermain Dupri. The game misses you, Jay.
2 comments:
Thanks for putting this up, I wasn't aware of some of the artists & the music of that era from detroit,
So now im looking up the 12"s and music from these artists ..to see if i can add some of this stuff to my collection...
I remeber going to Sony studios to hook up with Phife years ago and the control room was full of all these synths..not keyboards but "synths" im talking quarter inch plugs, knobs for days and wood sides...
i was like "wow, tip is on some new s**t"...phife was like "na, thats jaydees stuff" ....who??
So I sat and kicked it with Dilla for a lil over an hour while they all waited for the session to start...(and for tip & Ali to get there)
this was EARLY in his work with tribe (I dont even think they had a name for the team of them yet..) he had a incredible mind for hip hop music and his knowledge of records & musical styles was incredible
I would see him around from time to time at sessions, shows, and record shopping and he was a great guy, always had a minute to talk shop...
It's strange not seeing him around, he will be missed!!
THANK YOU!!
i was still pretty young back then and could only get in to drew's if shoes snuck me in the back door, but remembering what that vibe felt like is incredible.
i don't think anyone knew how much of an impact those times would have... i just feel blessed to have been in the city...
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