J-Dilla: Deception After Death
I grew up on hip-hop music but never really fell knock-out head over heels in love with her till the mid-nineties. Growing up in LA during that time I was fed a hefty spoonful of N.W.A., DJ Quik, 2Pac, and other west-coast pioneers of that era. Despite my environment of G-Funk rap, it wasn’t till 1996 in the 6th grade where my true love for the art blossomed.
J-Dilla, known as Jay-Dee at the time, was responsible for a string of classics during that year including the Pharcyde’s “Labcabincalifornia”, A Tribe Called Quest’s “Beats, Rhymes, & Life”, and Busta Rhyme’s “WOO-HAH (bounce and other shit remix)”. From there I was enamored with the art of hip-hop production, specifically Dilla’s signature sound.
Over the next ten years Dilla’s music on albums such as D’Angelo’s “Voodoo”, Common’s “Like Water For Chocolate”, and Slum Village’s “Fantastic Vol. 2” played as the score to my life. I remember on February 10th, 2006 I read that Dilla had finally passed after struggling with a blood disease called TTP in his home in LA, a few days after his 32nd birthday. In fact, most of the posthumous releases you hear from Dilla he created on his death bed; music was truly James Yancey’s reason for existence. That morning I put all my favorite Dilla songs on a playlist and just vibed out to them all day while rolling blunt after blunt, in honor to a man who helped me find the biggest love of my life, hip-hop.
Dilla’s story doesn’t end there unfortunately, his mother Maureen Yancey was left with an unrealistic amount of medical bills to pay after her son’s death, not to mention two toddlers named Ja’mya and Ty-monae. The proceeds of his posthumous albums have, supposedly, gone towards paying off these medical bills and Dilla’s estate. Unfortunately many faux-fundraisers have been setup so that people intending to give charity towards Dilla’s estate have been scammed. Also, numerous artists have taken beats from his and have unlawfully used them as “Dilla tracks” for their own profit without ever contributing a dime to his estate.
The person appointed by Dilla to manage his music after his death, Johnathon Dworkin, has taken out an ad on Billboard, (pictured at the top), demonizing unlawful beneficiaries of Dilla’s music and merchandise. It gets even more twisted when the beneficiaries of the estate claim to have not received adequate payment. Dworkin stated that if the estate is not distributing the appropriate amount of money to his family then it is the fault of the executors and attorneys of his estate, not on him. Hopefully it all gets worked out soon, till then it’s hard to believe who’s honest and who’s out to simply rape Dilla’s name.
J-Dilla, known as Jay-Dee at the time, was responsible for a string of classics during that year including the Pharcyde’s “Labcabincalifornia”, A Tribe Called Quest’s “Beats, Rhymes, & Life”, and Busta Rhyme’s “WOO-HAH (bounce and other shit remix)”. From there I was enamored with the art of hip-hop production, specifically Dilla’s signature sound.
Over the next ten years Dilla’s music on albums such as D’Angelo’s “Voodoo”, Common’s “Like Water For Chocolate”, and Slum Village’s “Fantastic Vol. 2” played as the score to my life. I remember on February 10th, 2006 I read that Dilla had finally passed after struggling with a blood disease called TTP in his home in LA, a few days after his 32nd birthday. In fact, most of the posthumous releases you hear from Dilla he created on his death bed; music was truly James Yancey’s reason for existence. That morning I put all my favorite Dilla songs on a playlist and just vibed out to them all day while rolling blunt after blunt, in honor to a man who helped me find the biggest love of my life, hip-hop.
Dilla’s story doesn’t end there unfortunately, his mother Maureen Yancey was left with an unrealistic amount of medical bills to pay after her son’s death, not to mention two toddlers named Ja’mya and Ty-monae. The proceeds of his posthumous albums have, supposedly, gone towards paying off these medical bills and Dilla’s estate. Unfortunately many faux-fundraisers have been setup so that people intending to give charity towards Dilla’s estate have been scammed. Also, numerous artists have taken beats from his and have unlawfully used them as “Dilla tracks” for their own profit without ever contributing a dime to his estate.
The person appointed by Dilla to manage his music after his death, Johnathon Dworkin, has taken out an ad on Billboard, (pictured at the top), demonizing unlawful beneficiaries of Dilla’s music and merchandise. It gets even more twisted when the beneficiaries of the estate claim to have not received adequate payment. Dworkin stated that if the estate is not distributing the appropriate amount of money to his family then it is the fault of the executors and attorneys of his estate, not on him. Hopefully it all gets worked out soon, till then it’s hard to believe who’s honest and who’s out to simply rape Dilla’s name.
1 comments:
You have a bunch of your facts twisted. Reread the posts.
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