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Jay Stay Paid
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By Torrie Jones July 29, 2009
Music
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There is no greater irony in pop Genre Genre culture than an unheralded artist Location Location finally achieving popularity upon death. A recent striking example of Search Submit this phenomenon is the late J Dilla. After lupus claimed the influential MUSIC BLOGS hip-hop producer's life in February EAR BUD Daily Lick: Hot Buttered Rum 2006, he went from behind-the-scenes Your 12:07 pm, Friday September 4 legend builder for artists like High on Fire Begin Tracking Fifth Album 10:52 am, Thursday September 3 Common, A Tribe Called Quest, and Lands, Day 3 Busta Rhymes, to legendary in his own Outside Related Stories: J Dilla, Jay 1:38 pm, Sunday August 30 Stays Paid right seemingly overnight. What collaborators and fans admired about Article Tools Dilla was his masterful ability to flip Digg samples from diverse sources and the submit level of devotion he had to bettering his craft. As a result, Dilla left behind a wealth of jangly, neck-cracking, borderline-psychedelic beats for fans to explore for years to come.
an Event
Jay Stay Paid, the newest collection of beats from Dilla's seemingly boundless archive, reaffirms his legacy as the most sonically adventurous producer in hip-hop history. The album is tied together loosely around the concept of KJAY FM, a station that plays all Dilla, all day. Seamlessly sequenced and arranged by Pete Rock, the THIS WEEK IN MUSIC producer Dilla most admired, roughly half the tracks feature vocals American Steel Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts from Dilla or emcees who fit his leftfield aesthetic. "Smoke" is the The Minus 5 highlight here. LA underground king Blu raps for mood, not content, Killingsworth 8 Legged Monster Vol. 2 over an evocative coupling of melancholy Moog melody and Dilla's Outside Lands Lives up to Expectations trademark off-kilter drums. The best instrumental track on the The second-annual three-day, 68-band music extravaganza improved on organization, layout, and record depends on which version of Dilla you're in the mood for. logistics. Turn on the Juice and Cut Loose "Coming Back" is a soulful and reflective beat, in the spirit of 2006's Jucifer only plays its darkest, heaviest, slowest, fastest, or noisiest material live. The Shining, while the cathartic "King" juxtaposes thunderous kick drums with an angelic vocal sample. MOST POPULAR MUSIC STORIES Posthumous hip-hop albums are usually a mixed bag to a fault. Jay Stay Paid avoids the pitfalls of most "new" albums by deceased artists, thanks to the care Pete Rock and Ma Dukes, J Dilla's mother, put into making this random collection of beats a unified whole.
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