Jay Dee Albums (5)
What The Critics Say
Jay Stay Paid is a set of stray beats plucked by Pete Rock and Maureen "Ma Dukes" Yancey, Dilla's mom. Presented like a radio show slash mixtape, with snippets from radio interviews, nonintrusive interjections from Rock and Ma Dukes, and brief testimonials as part of the fabric -- not to mention an appearance from Illa J, Dilla's younger brother -- the hourlong program contains productions laid down during the last eight years of Dilla's life. Any producer not attempting to make a run at the charts would likely love to claim much of this work as his or her own; scholars won't be shocked that Dilla banked discards of this quality and range, but it's another thing to have a fraction of the man's surplus lovingly converted into a finished product. Several cuts are bound to scratch an itch you did not know you had. "Lazer Gunne Funke" makes like a Swizz Beatz demo for Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" stripped down to kick-clack percussion, bomb-drop F/X, and laser taps, left to bake in a decade's worth of direct sunlight. "On Stilts," "Glamour Sho75 (09)," and "9th Caller" deal impossibly gnarled funk, while the "Unadulterated Mix" of "Make It Fast" contorts David Essex's "Rock On" to such an extent that it comes out sounding like Edwin Starr's "Easin' In" (either that, or both songs are fused to the point of indivisibility). The curveball of all curveballs comes on "See That Boy Fly," where Dilla does to Caravan's "A Very Smelly, Grubby Little Oik" what he did with Billy Paul's "Let the Dollar Circulate" (as heard on Steve Spacek's "Circulate"), transforming the vocal into a vapor trail. Just over a third of the tracks feature MCs, a mixed assortment of veterans and newcomers, from surly/silly DOOM to eager Diz Gibran. Black Thought turns in a lyrically gimmicky update of Public Enemy's "She Watch Channel Zero" on "Reality TV." Raekwon and Mobb Deep's Havoc -- and that's actual Havoc, not sampled Havoc -- pop up on "24K Rap," kicked back over a nervous, noir beat worthy of The Infamous. M.O.P.'s Lil' Fame sounds as amped up and spluttery as ever, seemingly egged on by the chaotic two-part combat theme that is "Blood Sport." While it is neither as monumental as Donuts nor as exemplary as the Dillanthology discs, Jay Stay Paid is close to a must for any casual Dilla admirer. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
'Jay Love Japan'
Release Date 1/1/2007
Tracks 10
Label Operation Makeout
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Besides being a posthumous release, the Jay Love Japan EP was a much delayed release by the time it landed in 2008, having been originally announced in 2005. As the logistics were worked out with late producer's estate, numerous bootlegs, test pressings, and promos appeared. This final, official version differs little from any previous underground incarnation, and while the soulful beats are as good as the three years of Internet message board discussion has declared, the package, as it always has been, is woefully short. Ten tracks, mostly instrumental, fly by in just over 20 minutes with only the two vocal cuts -- "Say It" with Ta'Raach and "First Time" with Slum Village member Baatin -- sounding truly finished. The good news is that fanatics finally get decent packaging around these cuts, but the set is much less satisfying than his grand beat album Donuts. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Months before he passed away, J Dilla asked fellow Detroiter and longtime associate Karriem Riggins to help him complete The Shining. With the album apparently 75 percent complete, Riggins -- an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and producer in his own right -- was handed the masters and went about the completion of the album as if he were inside the mind of Dilla. Though it's disjointed, a little bumpy, and -- in places -- perceptibly unfinished-sounding, The Shining is a very worthy addition to Dilla's discography. A slightly more in-depth synthesis of studio creations and live instrumentation when compared to the productions that have trickled out during 2005 and 2006, the album is drenched in soul -- save for a couple space-age basslines and other fleeting forms of alien synthetics -- and features an impressive raft of Dilla's favorite MCs and singers, big names and relative unknowns alike. And though it's less than 40 minutes in length, Dilla was always about brevity, which means the meandering is kept to a minimum. On "Baby," Dilla swaps lines with Guilty Simpson and Madlib in what amounts to an amusing locker-room boast fest. (Simpson, apparently a fan of The Surreal Life, claims he'll "Beat your dog like Flavor Flav.") The shamelessly gooey "So Far to Go," featuring Common and D'Angelo, expands Donuts' "Bye" to six minutes, allowing wide shafts of light to pour through the spaces between the subtle backbeat. "Dime Piece" is some prime 21st century quiet storm, a Dwele feature that coasts through twilight. Fittingly, the closing "Won't Do" is all-Dilla, from the beat to the nasty MCing to an impressive vocal hook that's nearly as dapper as anything delivered by Dwele. (Dilla's not given nearly enough credit for being a top-flight R&B producer from the very beginning; compare the Pharcyde's "Runnin'" to Mya's "Fallen," or check the instrumental versions of just about any one of his tracks.) It's impossible not to wonder exactly what this album could've been, or where Dilla would've gone with his skills after its release. But it's just as easy to marvel at the amount of quality music he generated while he was on this planet. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Donuts was made on a hospital bed and in a home studio, on a stripped-down setup with a stack of vinyl. Released on its maker's 32nd birthday, three days before he passed away, the album has a resonance deeper than anyone could've hoped for or even imagined. Some who were close to Dilla have said that there are hidden messages in the samples, the track titles, and who knows where else. It's impossible not to speculate about some things, like the track titled "Don't Cry," the looped "broken and blue" from a version of "Walk on By," the presence of Eddie Kendricks singing "My people, hold on," or the fact that there are 31 tracks, a possible signal that Dilla survived a little longer than he expected. Then again, for every possible message, there are two or three elements that could've been designed to throw any analysis off its trail. After all, if there's one single image that the disc brings to mind, it's that of Dilla goofing off, having fun with some of his favorite records, and messing with some heads in the process. (And you could probably make the album's title out to be a metaphor for the circle of life, but sometimes a donut is just a donut.) Armed with sources that are either known to novice sample spotters or only the most seasoned diggers -- surprisingly, the former greatly outweighs the latter -- Dilla's also just as likely to leave his samples barely touched as he is to render them unrecognizable. It's fitting that Motown echoes, a predominant theme, are often felt, from the use of Dionne Warwick's Holland-Dozier-Holland-written "You're Gonna Need Me" (on "Stop"), to the shifting waves of percussion plucked from Kendricks' "People... Hold On" (on "People"), to the Stevie-like piano licks within Kool & the Gang's "The Fruitman" ("The Diff'rence"). Most of the tracks fall into the 60-90 second range. It's easy to be overwhelmed, or even put off, by the rapid-fire sequence, but it's astounding how so many of the sketches leave an immediate impression. By the third or fourth listen, what initially came across as a haphazard stream of slapped-together fragments begins to take the shape of a 44-minute suite filled with wistful joy. Like everything else Dilla has ever done, Donuts is not defining; in fact, elements of its approach bare the apparent influence of Jaylib collaborator Madlib. His mode has always been too slippery and restlessly progressive to be equated with any one track or album, but Donuts just might be the one release that best reflects his personality. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Jay Dee made a name for himself as one-third of A Tribe Called Quest's beat-making faction (the Ummah). Thanks to his work on Common's critically acclaimed Like Water for Chocolate and Q-Tip's post-Quest endeavor Amplified, Dee has also established himself as a hip-hop super-producer. While Dee's stock continues to rise (working with Janet Jackson, Erykah Badu, and Macy Gray), his underground projects have been less fruitful. Reason being, when it comes to enlisting new MCs to collaborate with, Dee has yet to locate a lyricist capable of augmenting his sublime production. This fact became apparent during Dee's short-lived stint as a member of Slum Village, and the trend continues with his first solo outing, Welcome 2 Detroit. Here, Dee continues to showcase a diverse assortment of sensuous melodies and booming funk samples. The Detroit-bred MCs who Dee chooses to highlight -- Phat Kat on "Rico Suave Bossa Nova" and Beej on "Beej-N-Dem, Pt. 2" prove to be very mediocre lyricists. Yet Dee did manage to round up a few hometown prospects, as Frank N Dank liven up "Pause" and Elzhi rips a few furious verses on "Come Get It." Though Dee flips a few clumsy bars as well, Welcome 2 Detroit really takes off when he sticks solely to an instrumental script, retouching trumpeter Donald Byrd's "Think Twice" and transforming Kraftwerk's indelible "Trans-Europe Express" into the strippers'-anthem-in-waiting "B.B.E. (Big Booty Express)." ~ Matt Conaway, All Music Guide
