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Friday, May 29, 2009

History Feel My Heat in the Night

Posted by on Fri, May 29, 2009 at 4:54 PM

In this week's My Philosophy, Larry Mizell makes this declaration: J Dilla changed my life. 1e9e/1243639973-dilla-cover1.jpg

I do not in any way doubt the truth of this statement. Dilla not only changed Mizell but the whole of hiphop. I will go as far as to say he made a new branch of hiphop that's so distinct, so independent of the main body that it may very will be something that is other than what it originally came from. The future may very well recognize J Dilla not so much for his influence on hiphop but his creation of an art that is new and apart from hiphop. One indication of this break (and the future recognition of it) is the very fact that his music is not rapper (or even hiphop) dependent—the same is not true for Pete Rock, DJ Premier, and RZA. Dilla's mode works well, and often better, with singers.


Nevertheless, J Dilla produced rap tracks that in essence are perfect. His imagination grasped the essence of the form and manipulated it with supernatural ease. For example, "Heat" (produced by Dilla and rapped by Common), is hiphop in a state of perfection: big beats, sharp cuts, deep breaks, expert raps, percussive samples.


And so, the man who could make hiphop in its absolute mode, who could get so deep into the rich stuff of cuts and samples—this man ultimately exploded it into something else.


(Listen to J Dilla's new album, Jay Stay Paid, at the War Room this Sunday, May 31st.)

 

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